Book Review: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okonafor

I learned about Nnedi Okorafor in Afrofuturism. She is a young American writer of Nigerian descent who has been winning accolades and awards for her sci-fi novels. My ten year old daughter is always looking for books to read, and I saw that Ms. Okorafor had also written a book for young adults, so I ordered it. My daughter devoured it; since I have enjoyed her novels for adults, I decided to give Acata Witch a try.  It turned out to be a real treat!

Let me start by saying that the first way in which Okorafor differs from other authors of “juvenile” fiction is that she can actually write. This is not formulaic claptrap with predictable characters and plots, it is a fully-formed novel that is written for a young audience. She does not condescend to her readers by oversimplifying her language, plot, or character development. She touches on some tough themes: ethnic and religious prejudice, serial killers, poverty, even weird food.

Sunny, an albino girl of Nigerian descent, has recently moved from the US back to her homeland. Bullied by her classmates, she is taken under the wing of some other misfit kids, who turn out to be magicians. There is a worldwide society of people with magic and psychic abilities which the Nigerians call Leopards. Reminiscent  of some of HP Lovecraft's stories, Leopards are able to create, perceive, and enter secret spaces between the three dimensional space that we non-magicians (AKA Lambs) cannot perceive. Magic, conflict, and much spiritual development ensues.

Many reviews I’ve seen liken Akata Witch to the Harry Potter series, but I think this comparison sells Akata short in a number of ways.

The most obvious departure is that all the characters are black - Nigerian or Nigerian-American, to be precise.  But Okorafor doesn't really make a big fuss about the characters' blackness or Nigerian-ness. They are just characters, and their race and ethnicity are simply part of the texture, and rarely a focal point.

The story is set in a real place - Nigeria, in fact all the locations are, for the most part, real places in Nigeria. Okorafor uses the various Nigerian tribes - and the tensions and mistrust that exist between them - to help develop the characters and plot. Rather than filling our heads with an imaginary place like Hogwarts, we learn quite a bit about Nigerian culture and everyday life in the course of reading Akata Witch. The magically gifted children play soccer, not some made up game on broomsticks. In fact,  so deftly are the two interwoven that it's sometimes hard to separate fact from fiction.

Much of the magical practice and philosophy appears to be based on real Nigerian Igbo tribal practice. Unlike most authors of kiddie wizard series, it is clear that Ms. Okorafur is sympathetic to many of the beliefs she describes. She stresses the idea that all acts, good or bad, return to a magician, and that retribution can come in the form of karma, human judgement, or both. In any case, it can be swift and merciless. A lot of the metaphysical practices that Akata describes are based on real African beliefs and magic, which adds realism, depth, and genuine spiritual knowledge to the novel.

All of the characters come from true-to-life places and situations, and they have rich back stories. Many are misfits, both in the Leopard community and the profane world of the Lambs. The characters are deep and believable, and they have real personal issues - one is dyslexic; another has been thrown out of school for disciplinary reasons and sent to Nigeria to shape up,and he does, to some degree.The main character is not a princess or endowed with superpowers.  In fact, while most magical kids have magicians for parents, Sunny is a “free agent”, meaning neither of her parents are magicians. Part of the dramatic tension is Sunny's need to hide her magical activities from her disapproving parents.  Her lack of magical heritage may put Sunny at a disadvantage, but is a clever narrative device to backfill the reader’s knowledge (or lack thereof) of Nigerian magic and culture.

The protagonists don't always get along with one another, and they suffer from insecurity and a certain amount of old-fashioned corporal punishment at home. There is genuine darkness in the tale: the kids' magical mentors put them in real life danger to help them progress, and there is a vicious ritualistic serial killer on the loose killing children.

The book is infused with an underlying compassion and respect for all the characters, nature, and life itself that is also often absent from fantasy books. There is a sense of realism in the book - in the characters, the settings, the situations, and especially in the magic, which suspended my disbelief of some of the more fantastic elements that are de rigueur in a fantasy series. And magical prowess doesn't come cheaply - even though each of these kids has a couple of innate abilities, they must study, practice, and grow spiritually in order to reach their magical potential. There are rules that must be followed and very real consequences for screwing up, or taking shortcuts.  

Like most good young adult fiction, Akata Witch is essentially a coming of age story. In spite of its unreal theme, its feet are firmly on the ground. Ms Okorafor is not afraid to grapple with isolation, peer-pressure, bullying, racial and social prejudice, and the feeling of otherness that so many tweens and teens feel. And she doesn't offer any pat answers or endings. The book doesnt so much end as taper off into another day with school and magic to learn.  Just like real life, except if you are an Acata Witch, the underlying magic of everyday life is a little more obvious. Acata Witch is a great gift for a tween reader, and if you start browsing it yourself, you may have trouble putting it down. But please hold off on the Harry Potter comparisons.