Akata witch
by Nnedi Okorafor
Middle grade · ages 10–14 · grades 5–9 · 820L · 349 pages · 2011
Why we'd hand it over
A fierce, culturally rooted coming-of-age that centers albinism and Blackness without apology—Okorafor weaves Igbo cosmology and Lagos street life into the magic system, and kids see themselves as the hero, not the exception.