Akata Witch

Akata Witch
By Nnedi Okorafor

This book is kind of a Teens-Turned-Superheroes thriller set in Nigeria! Very original!
Full of magic--and black magic--strange twists and turns, realism and fantasy, I wasn't really sure how this wild story would unfold, up to almost the last page.
It has plenty of fantastical elements, but also stark realism--about fitting in, about racism, about being different, about accepting oneself...It's an interesting novel, for sure!

The Sleeper and the Spindle

The Sleeper and the Spindle

By Neil Gaiman
Illustrated by Chris Riddell

I love other books by Neil Gaiman that I've read--Coraline, The Graveyard Book--so I was intrigued by this slender, new book with incredibly detailed and beautiful illustrations by Chris Riddell.
It is a fairy tale...of sorts! Or perhaps a few different fairy tales you may recognize, but twisted together, distorted, and combined in a surprising way--with a little dark magic thrown in.
Who says Snow White has to wear a dress? Who says it must be a man who kisses Sleeping Beauty? Who says any given princess is even good?
Read this book and be challenged in what you've heard of princesses who go to sleep for a hundred years, and the heroes who rescue them...