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Akata Witch

Nnede Okorafor

352 pages

Publication Date: April 14, 2011

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Source: Library

Age group: MG (Middle Grade)

No matter which way you look at it, Sunny is an outsider. She lives in Nigeria with her family but spent almost the first decade of her life living in the United States. On top of that she’s an albino, used to the stares and taunts from people especially her classmates. But when strange things start happening: visions in a candle’s flames and the revelation that one of her classmates have magical abilities (and she does too), Sunny’s life drastically changes. She’s introduced to magic, people, and places that she didn’t even know existed. There’s a war coming between the forces of good and evil and it seems like Sunny will be in the middle of it.

There is so much to enjoy about Akata Witch. With many novels there’s an introduction into the character’s life before the action starts. Not with this book. Right from the very beginning readers are thrown into Sunny’s story as she sits alone in her room, watching a vision so intensely in the flame that her hair catches fire. Pretty much every chapter in this book is filled with action and readers are able to see Sunny’s growth as a girl who’s already sure of herself become a girl with that same self-confidence but who’s also willing to put herself in danger to help others.

With its setting in Nigeria the magic, myths, landscape, and culture that readers encounter in the book are different and refreshing from the magic that’s usually found in fantasy novels. Learning about the different ethnic groups and languages in Nigeria was slowly embedded in the story and it didn’t feel like

Bollywood Babes by Narinder Dhami
14 yr old Geena, 12 yr old Amber and 11 yr old Jazz are sisters and very close. In Bindi Babes their Auntie from India moved to England to look after them. After the sisters stopped trying to marry Auntie off, everyone got along.

Auntie agreed to help put on a Bollywood party to raise money for the girls school. The sisters find out Molly Mohal, a former Bollywood star is living very close to them. Amber is the sister with the great ideas. These schemes never work out but the sister's still try. That's part of the fun and the charm.

This time Amber thinks it would be a great a idea to invite Molly Mohal to be a guest of honor at the Bollywood party. When they find Molly, she's about to get evicted. Amber invites her to stay with them. The former Bollywood star is still a diva, and all the women in the house want her to leave. Especially Auntie, Molly's wearing all of her good clothes. All the men are wowed by Molly. Even the girls dad is acting different.

This is the second book in this series. I enjoyed this one even more and now it's offical I love this series. Dhmai's created some wonderful characters. The sisters play off of each other very well. Auntie can hold her own with them as well.

I love that the author takes the time to develop a few secondary storylines that will continue throughout the series. Allowing for the surrounding characters to play a larger roll. When I picked up Bollywood Babes I was excited to enter the sisters world again. You can read this first but I highly recommend starting with Bindi Babes. This is great tween chick lit fun. 11up