April 15, 2025 by Scholastic Press
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Afia lives with her parents, who are crystal merchants, and her twin sister in the city of Dafra, in West Africa. When children come of age in their community, they have an initiation rite, and are introduced to their inherited trade. Afia and Aya go to the market to purchase jewelry for the event, and Afia, who is balking at spending the rest of her life in Dafra, meets a young carver who offers to take her away to a land of wonders if she meets him at midnight. She doesn't, but after an unpleasant evening with her parents, she runs away from the initiation ceremony. She finds the young man, Bakame, in the woods, which is usually off limits. He takes her on a perilous journey to Queen Ukiwa and introduces her to a life of unparalleled luxury. This comes at a price, Afia finds out, and when she uncovers the cruelty of the queen and the cost of the lifestyle, she runs away and begins a treacherous journey back to her family in Dafra.
It took me about a third of the book to realize that this was a reimagining of Carroll's Alice in Wonderland; when Afia is offered a cake that says "Eat Me"! There are a lot of parallels after that, with a Cheshire cat type character, Ojike, a teaparty, and the Queen saying "Off with their heads!"
The real draw of this book, which the author spent many years writing and illustrating, are the gorgeous pictures. This is set in a West African kingdom, and draws from 10th-16th century history and folklore. I can see this being popular with fans of Diane Zahler's or E.D. Baker's work, but feels much more like a classic such as D'Aulaire's Greek Myths or Napoli's Treasury of Norse Mythology. I just wish this had been around ten years ago, when different versions of Cinderella were taught in the 7th grade, and the 6th grade did a huge world folklore unit.
Clark, P. Djèlí. Abeni’s Song #2
Abeni and the Kingdom of Gold
April 29, 2025 by Starscape
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
This was sort of like Cashore's Graceling or other Young Adult titles that have titles like The Court of Sorrows and Swallows or Mansions of Might and Magic, where the heroine fights against the odds to save her world, but with African culture that we've seen in Okogwu's Oneyka and the Academy of the Sun. I liked it, but the cover looks so much younger than the text. This is the sequel to Abeni's Song.
From the publisher:
After rescuing the Children of Night, Abeni and her friends are in search of the elder spirits—who they hope can protect Asha. But before the group can reach their destination, they’re captured and held prisoner by the Kingdom of the Gold Spinners, whose magics manipulate gold to build and achieve wonders. To secure their freedom, the companions make an agreement to retrieve the kingdom’s sacred and mystical Golden Throne, the very soul of their people—said to be hidden in a lost city beneath the sands and guarded by a terrible dragon. For Abeni, the quest for the throne becomes a race against time—the only means to assure she and her friends do not suffer the fate of being turned into living statues of gold forever.
But there are other dangers.
The Witch Priest has learned of Asha’s existence and has sent his forces to find her. Leading this search is a mortal teenage girl, who the Witch Priest has adopted almost as a daughter. With a pack of minions including the frightening Bat Riders and new villains like the coldhearted Huntsman and his three monstrous hounds, she sets out after Abeni and her friends—driven by a determination to prove her own strength and worth, to both her unforgiving “father” and herself.
Abeni will find herself facing these new challenges as she seeks to bring back the Golden Throne, evade the Witch Priest’s hunters, and fulfill her own quest to find the disappeared people of her village.
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