Akata Witch

 

    Although 12-year-old Sunny is Nigerian by blood, she was born in America and moved back to Nigeria at age 9. As if that was no bad enough, she is albino, suspected of being a witch. One night while in her room, she foresees the end of the world. Furthermore, it turns out that her friends Chichi and Orlu are Leopard People, a type of witch that performs juju (magic). They tell her that she is too. Sunny is introduced to a whole new world, one in which her albinism is not looked down upon, but rather revered.

    Together, Sunny, Orlu, and Chichi travel to Leopard Knocks, a secret town specifically for Leopard People. They meet Sasha, a boy who moved to Nigeria after summoning a spell upon his American classmates. At the same time, a killer is running rampant across Nigeria known as Black Hat Otoko. This vision that Sunny had is not inconsequential as it turns out to be real, the ending of the world that will occur unless Sunny and her band of friends stop it. Together, they must band up and stop the Black Hat before he summons the eater of worlds. Throughout this all, Sunny is hiding her juju from her parents although it is becoming more and more difficult to justify leaving for hours at a time.

    This book is relatable to many readers. The characters are very real, each having their own struggles, motivations, and hardships. They each face their own problems and have their own ways of overcoming them. However, what I did think that the book was quite slow with an anticlimactic ending. The whole book felt like it was building the characters only. You heard small things about Black Hat, but the main plot was still about Sunny hiding her magic from her parents and discovering more things about herself that she did not know. All of a sudden, the ending is sprung upon you, and all of a sudden a beginner magician is forced to confront the greatest threat to mankind with a one hour warning. Furthermore, the final 'battle' was a glorified monologue, where Sunny spoke of her problems to Black Hat and somehow killed him. This book had so much potential but threw it away because the author did not think to add a climax.

-Joseph