Witches and Women in Genre

   The witches in "Akata Witch" by Nnedi Okorafor are not your typical witches. Most of us think a witch has green skin, a pointy nose, wears a pointy black hat and cape, rides on a broom and cackles when she laughs. She scares little children and boils creepy things in her cauldron. In Akata Witch, Sunny and her friends are nothing like this. She lives in Nigeria but born in America so some of the local people dislike her for that. Also, she is black but does not look like it because she is an albino. It is ironic that her name is Sunny because she cannot go outside in the sun. She learns that she is a free agent leopard person. This means she does not have magical parents. After she gets he spirit face, the sun does not burn her anymore. She has an ability to disappear and go between this worlds and the spirit world. Orlu is a leopard person who tried to help Sunny. He has dyslexia so has trouble in school, but his special power is the ability to undo spells. Chichi is the third member of their group. She had a bad temper but she can also be a good friend. Her special ability is memory, she remembers anything. Sasha is the last member who also had a bad temper and the same special ability like Chichi. A special woman in the story is Chichi's mother. She is a priestess. She lives in a mud house because she rejects wealth to serve the spirit world. Another strong woman is Taiwo. She is a scholar in the leopard people who have respect for all creatures. Suger Cream is the Librarian, who has all the
knowledge. She can shapeshift in a snake. She is Sunny's mentor. The black hat group are the bad guys and the leopard people must stop them.

   Some of the people in this story remind me of Harry Potter. The kids in those books don't seem like traditional witches either. However, the kids in Akata Witch have a strong connection to animals and the spirit world. The adult women in the story seem to have the most power, but they also have the most wisdom. It will be interesting to see what happens between the leopard people and the black hats in the sequel.