One Way Witch

Skipping ahead many years from the events of She Who Knows, Nebula Award winner Okorafor picks up heroine Najeeba’s life after the loss of her daughter, Onyesonwu. After not using her spiritual powers for the majority of her adult life, Najeeba embraces her self-taught ability to transform into a kponyungo, a mystical creature, in middle age. Through magic, she discovers that, though Onyesonwu has erased the history of Okeke slavery and genocide from the land, some evils remain. Among them is the Cleanser, a mysterious figure who takes young girls from Najeeba’s hometown and returns them strange and altered. To kill him, Najeeba knows she’ll need to improve her kponyungo abilities and turns to her daughter’s old teacher, the sorcerer Aro. So begins her journey to become a full-fledged witch, all the while dealing with grief, processing her trauma, and carrying the weight of being one of the only souls left that remembers the old history of Okeke. Okorafor’s straightforward and succinct prose lays bare Najeeba’s turmoil and struggles alongside the pride and strength of her witching accomplishments. The plotting is loose, setting things up for book three more than telling a self-contained story. Still, the strength of the world, and the heroine, makes this one shine. Agent: Angeline Rodriguez, WME. (Apr.)