Ikenga
Nnedi Okorafor's first novel for middle grade readers introduces a boy who can access super powers with the help of the magical Ikenga.
Nnamdi's father was a good chief of police, perhaps the best Kalaria had ever had. He was determined to root out the criminals that had invaded the town. But then he was murdered, and most people believed the Chief of Chiefs, most powerful of the criminals, was responsible. Nnamdi has vowed to avenge his father, but he wonders what a twelve-year-old boy can do. Until a mysterious nighttime meeting, the gift of a magical object that enables super powers, and a charge to use those powers for good changes his life forever. How can he fulfill his mission? How will he learn to control his newfound powers?
Award-winning Nnedi Okorafor, acclaimed for her Akata novels, introduces a new and engaging hero in her first novel for middle grade readers set against a richly textured background of contemporary Nigeria.
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Nnedi Okorafor
Before Africanfuturism had a name, Nnedi Okorafor was already weaving its tapestry—melding ancient myth with high-tech dreams, and reshaping what speculative fiction could look like when rooted in African cultures rather than merely referencing them. Her stories aren’t just tales of distant planets or magical beings; they’re fiercely alive, humming with ancestral memory, political edge, and the uncanny rhythm of the unexpected.
Born in the United States to Nigerian immigrant parents, Okorafor has always stood at the crossroads of cultures—and that liminal space pulses through her work. Whether it’s a semi-sentient spaceship shaped like a giant shrimp (Binti), or a Nigerian girl wielding ancestral powers in the shadow of climate catastrophe (Who Fears Death), her narratives defy the conventions of both Western science fiction and traditional fantasy. They don’t just bend genre—they build new worlds from the bones of old ones.
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