SỌMADỊNA

A 15-year-old fights internal and external obstacles to save her brother after he’s kidnapped.

Sọmadịna and her twin brother, Jayaike, know that they’re not like the other young people in their town. Instead of maturing like the others, their bodies “shot up like maize stalks, tall and thin and smooth,” and the expected gifts of magic from “the primordial mother” god, Ala, at first didn’t bloom in them. When their gifts finally do come, the power the twins carry is greater than anyone imagined, and it attracts the attention of a mysterious hunter who spirits Jayaike away, spurring Sọmadịna, who has never before left their island, to chase them, pushing the boundaries of her nerves. The story, set in a West African–influenced world populated by Black characters, is crafted with careful attention to the details of its magic—for instance, led by older sister Nkadi, a dịbịa (or master of medicine and intercessor for Ala), Sọmadịna is able to travel by “folding” the land to create magical shortcuts. However, the development of the characters and their relationships is less comprehensive. The world Emezi builds is tantalizing, but the opportunities to explore it are fleeting as readers are carried along in a rushed coming-of-age journey. Still, themes of moral duality and self-determination in the face of the unknowable spirituality of humans and their gods will reel readers in for the ride.

Magic is packed into every corner of this lush if unevenly developed tale.