"Akata Witch" by Nnedi Okorafor review

Celadon James

LS5623

Week 6: Fantastic Fiction

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Okorafor-Mbachu, Nnedi. Akata Witch. New York: Penguin Books,  2011. Print.

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Although Sunny was born in New York City, her family currently lives in Nigeria. However, that’s not her most unusual characteristic: Sunny is an albino, with pale skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair, which sets her apart from her peers in school. Even with her unusual looks, Sunny becomes friends with her classmate Orlu and his friend Chichi. Through their friendship, she discovers that she has magical powers, the ability to manipulate juju. The magical world is a fast-paced one, and her teachers have little patience for those who cannot keep up with their increasingly harder lessons. Just as Sunny feels she is beginning to understand the secret world she is a part of, she and her friends are given a deadly assignment that could kill not only them, but the entire world.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS characters, plot, setting, theme, style, authenticity

Akata Witch is a stunning book that deserves more recognition than it currently has. It’s a coming of age story from another culture. In some ways, it shares similarities with Spirited Away, a movie by Studio Ghibli. Both are coming of age stories that, while the larger themes are ones that any reader/watcher would relate to, the specifics and how characters may act show exactly how different cultures can be. For example, in Akata Witch, the adults and teachers that Sunny encounters are much harsher with the teen main characters, quick to discipline, unafraid of using physical punishment, and in no way coddle Sunny and her friends when teaching them difficult subjects. They are hardly the warm mentor figure that Dumbledore cuts from Harry Potter, but even with these differences, you can feel the care they have for their charges and the weight of worry they carry with them for the problems encountered. This different perspective makes even minor characters with few lines dynamic and full of depth.

The main character, Sunny, and her friends, Orlu, Chichi, and Sasha, are the characters that truly shine. Sunny is a realistic teen who deals with common problems, like bullying. Her reactions to the situations she is put in make sense, and teens will find her very relatable. Although there is some romance in this book, it is hardly the forefront point of the book, which is a breath of fresh air after many forced romances in other YA books.

The plot itself, as touched on earlier, is a coming-of-age story. However, the trials Sunny goes through are not as flashy as, perhaps, Harry Potter’s were, though they have just as eye opening results. Additionally, the most intense trials and tribulations Sunny faces are not from her teachers or adversaries, but from herself or those she holds most dear.

As a piece of fantastic fiction, Akata Witch fills a much needed hold: most fantasy fiction, in the tradition of Lord of the Rings and other classic fantasy literature, takes place in England or in an England-equivalent area. Having fantasy branch out to another country brings new types of magic with different rules, a refreshing new look at how worlds can work. Teens looking for fantasy books, books that are culturally diverse, or books that have a strong main female character will find what they are looking for in this book. This book should be appropriate for all teens.

4. CREATIVE ACTIVITY

Passive Programming Idea:
Around the World In 80 Books or Where Do Books Take You?

One of the goals of a librarian, especially a youth librarian, is to make sure that our collections are not a “one story” collection; in other words, different stories should show different facets of people, race, and gender. An excellent passive programming way of illustrating this to our youth patrons is directly, through a map.

Supplies needed:

• Create or buy a map. Large ones can be bought for about $50, but a projector (to enlarge an image for tracing) and some butcher paper would also work, depending on budgets.
• Push pins/map pins
• String
• “Book Location” papers that both you and your teen patrons can fill out. I have an example here, but you can make your own as you see fit If you like this template, you can download it as a page here.

  An example of a finished “Book Location” paper

• 

• A list of teen books that are set around the world so that you can start the map off, though the hope is that teens will also join in and add the books that they read as well.

1. “Books, Teens, and Magazines”, a blog that reviews teen books and magazines, has a very short starter list of popular books from other countries, including books like Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys. https://booksteensandmagazines.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/ya-books-around-the-world-part-1-europe/
2. The Teen Blog of Wellington, New Zealand has a good starter list from each area of the world (though it hasn’t been updated in two years), located at http://www.wcl.govt.nz/blogs/teens/index.php/book-lists/books-from-around-the-world/
3. The Lawrence Public Library has put together several lists of books from various places around the world. For example, this is their Japan list: http://www.lawrence.lib.ks.us/2014/01/around-the-world-through-young-adult-literature-ya-novels-set-in-japan/

Activity:

On the map, stick pushpins in the countries (or cities) that are the setting for books, and use string to connect the pushpins to a “Book Location” report to give teens basic information about the book. Although the librarian should make some of them, the hope is that teens will get involved and add books that they have read to the map as well (librarians might have to print out small 1.5”x1.5” book covers of the books teens choose to glue to their “Book Location Reports.” If planned programming is created to go along with this wall (programs that focus on various parts of the world, such as the following activity “African Masks”) this could help launch teen interest in various parts of the world.  

Goal:
As the name is based off Jules Verne’s famous book Around the World in 80 Days, the goal would be to eventually have 80 books on the map, though this number is a very high goal.

Programming Idea: African Masks

To go along with the passive programming idea above, programs can focus on parts of the world and teens can watch movies, create crafts, and play games based on various parts of the world. For Africa, it’s a great opportunity to talk about traditional African masks (which play a large part in Akata Witch) and have teens use their creativity to make their own mask.

The librarian should go over traditional masks in Africa and show pictures of examples.

• Rebirth Africa has a great deal of information about the history and meaning of masks from different tribes in Africa but has almost no pictures: http://www.rebirth.co.za/African_mask_history_and_meaning.htm
• Arty Factory has less information, but has drawn examples of masks: http://www.artyfactory.com/africanmasks/
• The African Art Museum is probably the most comprehensive resource with extensive information about dozens of tribes specific masks as well as pictures of the actual masks. It includes masks and information about the Igbo, who are the people that Sunny identifies with in Akata Witch: http://www.zyama.com/

In Akata Witch, Sunny and all others with magical powers have a “spirit mask” or the face of their spiritual self that shows itself as a ritual mask. Its look is based on their personality and their powers. Using this as a basis, teens should brainstorm what their own mask should look like.

Next, students will create an African mask. There are many ways to do this using clay, cardboard, or paper. There are many tutorials out there, but Larry Prescott and Tracy Albert have made one that would be appropriate for teens here: http://www.incredibleart.org/lessons/elem/papermask.htm

5. RELATED RESOURCES

• The Serpent and the Rainbow by Wade Davis is a nonfiction account of an ethnobotanist and researcher in Haiti and his encounters with hoodoo/voodoo, the kind of magic that the magic system that is in Akata Witch. This would be a good further reading resource for teens interested in history.
  Davis, Wade. The Serpent and the Rainbow. New York: Touchstone, 1997. Print.
• There were many links in the activities about African masks and history that can be used for more information on those subjects.  

6. PUBLISHED REVIEW

"AKATA WITCH by Nnedi Okorafor | Kirkus." Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus, 28 Mar. 2011. Web. 15 July 2015.

Works Cited

"African Masks - Information and Examples." African Masks. Artyfactory. Web. 15 July 2015.

"African Masks History and Meaning." Rebirth Africa. 2000. Web. 15 July 2015. <http://www.rebirth.co.za/African_mask_history_and_meaning.htm>.

"Around the World Through YA Literature: YA Novels Set in Japan." Lawrence Public Library. 2014. Web. 14 July 2015.

"Books From Around the World." Teen Blog RSS. 1 Mar. 2013. Web. 14 July 2015.

Prescott, Larry, and Tracy Albert. "African Paper Masks." Art Lesson: Paper Masks. Web. 15 July 2015.

"Tribal Masks and Statues of Africa." African Art Museum. Web. 15 July 2015.

"YA Books Around the World - Part 1 - Europe." Books Teens and Magazines. 15 Feb. 2015. Web. 14 July 2015.