To be dada is incredibly rare, and many false stories and superstitions say that the dada are troublemakers, bad luck, no-good witches. From the time she was born, Zahrah has been different than anyone else – she is dada, born with locks of hair interwoven with living vines.
Thirteen-year-old Zahrah Tsami lives in a small town called Kirki, right on the border of the jungle. From the time they are children, the Ooni people learn to fear the Greeny Jungle and steer far away from its mysteries. Or, if they do come back, they’re crazed and sick. Everyone knows that to enter the Greeny Jungle is to invite certain death from monsters and magic – those who have entered the jungle never come back. The kingdom is bordered by a vast expanse of wildlife that covers Ginen, known to all as the Forbidden Greeny Jungle. Though their world is huge, everyone knows that humans only live in the few hundred miles of cities, towns, and villages that comprise the Ooni Kingdom. The planet of Ginen is a world of lush vegetation. Then, I saw it was a Nnedi Okorafor book, published just over 5 years ago, and of course I started it immediately for this week’s Old School Wednesday pick. When I saw this middle grade fantasy novel about a girl with vines for hair, I was instantly hooked. Why did I read this book: First, I need to read more diverse SFF – not just featuring diverse characters, but written by diverse authors. Standalone or series: Standalone novel (although I believe The Shadow Speaker is set in the same world) Only Zahrah can save him, but to do so she’ll have to face her worst fears alone, including the very thing that makes her different. He pushes her to investigate, edging them both closer and closer to danger. But then something begins to happen-something that definitely marks Zahrah as different-and the only person she can tell is Dari. Only Dari, her best friend, isn’t afraid of her. Others think she’s different-they fear her. Zahrah Tsami doesn’t know anything about that. In the Ooni Kingdom, children born dada-with vines growing in their hair-are rumored to have special powers. Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Middle Grade Today, Thea tackles middle grade science fantasy novel Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor!Īuthor: Nnedi Okorafor (originally credited as Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu) What better way to snap out of a reading fugue than to take a mini-vacation into the past? We came up with the idea towards the end of 2012, when both Ana and Thea were feeling exhausted from the never-ending inundation of New and Shiny (and often over-hyped) books.
Old School Wednesdays is a weekly Book Smuggler feature.
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