Akata Witch

Book one of The Nsibidi Script Series

**Affectionately dubbed "the Nigerian Harry Potter," Akata Witch weaves together a heart-pounding tale of magic, mystery, and finding one's place in the world.**

One of Time Magazine's 100 Best Fantasy and Young Adult Books of All Time!

A Nebula Award nominee

Sunny lives in Nigeria, but she was born in New York City. She looks West African, but is so sensitive to the sun (due to her albinism) that she can’t play soccer during the day. She doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere.

Then she learns why.

Her classmate Orlu and his friend Chichi reveal that they have magical abilities- and so does she. Sunny is a “free agents,” overflowing with latent power. And she has a lot of catching up to do.

Orlu and Chichi have been working with their teacher for years. Sunny needs a crash course in magical history, spells, juju, shape-shifting and dimensional travel. Her new world is a secret from her family, but it’s well worth all of the silence, exhaustion and sneaking around.

Still, there is a dark side. After she’s found her footing, Sunny, Orlu, Chichi, and their American friend Sasha are asked by the magical authorities to help track down a criminal. Not just a run-of-the-mill bad guy. A real-life hardcore serial killer-with abilities far stronger than theirs.

Other Books in The Nsibidi Script Series

Akata Warrior

Book Two

Akata Woman

Book Three

Praise

“The book puts a unique, inclusive spin on the timeless tale of the misfit chosen to save the world.”

-Time Magazine

“Okorafor’s novels tend to reflect both her West-African heritage and American experiences, but in this series she creates a stunningly original world of African magic that draws on Nigerian folk beliefs and rituals instead of relying on the predictable tropes of Western fantasy novels.”

-Time Magazine

“There’s more imagination on a page of Nnedi Okorafor’s work than in whole volumes of ordinary fantasy epics.”

-Ursula K. Le Guin, award-winning author of A Wizard of Earthsea

“The most imaginative, gripping, enchanting fantasy novels I have ever read!”

-Laurie Halse Anderson, National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Speak

“I always loved science fiction, but I didn’t feel I was part of it—until I read first Octavia Butler, and now Nnedi Okorafor.”

—Whoopi Goldberg

“Highly original stuff, episode after amazing episode, full of color, life, and death. Nnedi Okorafor’s work is wonderful!”

—Diana Wynne Jones, award-winning author of The Chronicles of Chrestomanci

“Jam-packed with mythological wonders.”

—Rick Riordan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series

“Okorafor’s imagination is stunning.”

—The New York Times Book Review

“A marvelous and uplifting read, heartwarming in its portrayal of true friendship, heartbreaking in its portrayal of headstrong youth and the perils of pride.”

—Cory Doctorow, award-winning author of Little Brother

“Fresh, original, and smart. We need more writers like her.”

—Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Name of the Wind

“Nnedi Okorafor is opening doors into strange and beautiful new worlds. Her heroes are beguiling, her magic firmly rooted in real places and real things. Rich, mysterious, and convincing, Akata Witch takes fantasy in a haunting new direction.”

—Jonathan Stroud, New York Times bestselling author of The Bartimaeus Trilogy

“The voice of Nnedi Okorafor does not obey the rules of distance, time, or place. Hers is the voice that fuses matter and imagination. She shows us just how close we are to that alternate reality.”

—Tchidi Chikere, Nigerian award-winning film director and screenwriter