By Johanna McCalmont

This year, I was lucky enough to kick off my summer holiday with a long weekend in Berlin for the African Book Festival. It was a magical time catching up with bookish friends, soaking up the sun and trying our best to get to as many of the thought-provoking panels, readings, and performances as possible. Carefully curated by Ghanaian storyteller Ivana Akotowaa Ofori, this year’s programme also included three YA writers: Mamle Wolo and Ayesha Harruna Attah from Ghana, and Tendai Huchu from Zimbabwe. Naturally I came away with a stack of books which I’ve been slowly enjoying all summer. All I can say, is I can’t wait to read more from these writers!

Flying Through Water

Flying Through Water opens with a mysterious note left by fifteen-year-old Sena for his family to read once he is far, far away. But where has he gone? And why does he leave his village in Ghana just as he hopes to start senior high and has finally plucked up the courage to talk to the girl he has secretly admired for years? Uncle Jack Diamond is the reason. A regular visitor to the small village where families toil hard to have enough to eat, Uncle Jack Diamond lures boys in with his big car and free drinks, promising them a bright future if they drop out of school and work for him. But little do they know he will sell them to harsh boatmasters, forcing them into 4 years of bonded labour where they will risk their lives fishing on the man-made lake created by the Akosomba Dam built in 1965. It is only by relying on what his late grandfather taught him about nature and the river Volta, and by connecting with the spirits of his great-grandfather and Mami Wata in the lake, that Sena manages to not only survive but eventually thrive when he escapes and makes a life for himself on an uninhabited island in the middle of the lake before ultimately finding his way back to his family.

Inspired by the stories she heard from children across Ghana, Wolo’s characters are authentic and full of life in this book suitable for younger YA readers (or upper MG). She draws us into their dreams, hopes, passions, fears and frustrations in a sensitive way. Never to be defeated by the challenges of his harsh situation, Wolo keeps us rooting for Sena’s success right to the end. She brings Ghana’s landscapes to life by honing in on vibrant details in often poetic prose. Through Sena’s grandfather’s stories of his childhood, she also explores questions raised by the destruction of villages in the 1960s in the name of progress. A coming of age story where resilience and harmony with nature are key to survival.

The Kaya Girl

It’s the long school holidays and 14-year-old Abena has been sent north to help out in her auntie Lydia’s fabric shop. Makola market is the last place Abena wants to be, but it’s not long before she connects with Faiza, a Kaya girl who transports shoppers’ purchases carefully balanced on her head. Worlds apart, the girls discover each other’s language, food, traditions and culture. They share their dreams and secrets and bond over the two brothers who have caught their eye. Confronted with her own prejudices, Abena also gradually recognises her own privilege, a stark contrast with Faiza’s daily struggle to survive and desperate quest to find her cousin Asana who ran away to escape an arranged marriage.

Ever attentive to details and inspired by the many children with whom she has worked, Wolo explores the vibrant diversity of Ghana and its regions, from the flavours of the food the girls share, to the sounds of its languages with a generous dose of Ewe, Twi and Pidgin scattered throughout the book. Suitable for lower YA readers (or upper MG), The Kaya Girl doesn’t shy away from harsh realities or subjects like forced early marriage. Wolo’s characters are fully empowered and written with dignity. A coming of age story that concludes on a hopeful note when Abena and Faiza reunite years later.

The Library of the Dead

The first in the five-book Edinburgh Nights series, The Library of the Dead plunges readers into a desolate dystopian Edinburgh of the future right from the start. Life is hard for 14-year-old Ropa who has dropped out of school to use her talent as a ghost-whisperer to support her Gran and little sister Izwi. Passing messages from dead souls stuck in limbo in the EveryThere to relatives in the present, no-nonsense Ropa finds herself caught up in a perilous search for a missing boy. Nothing is what it seems, but with the help of her best friend Jomo, who has just started working at a secret library deep beneath Calton Hill, and her new friend Priya, Ropa discovers not only the Society of Sceptical Enquirers but also new ways to harness and use her own magical gifts. She finds her gifts stronger than she had ever imagined, using them to ultimately defeat evil in the Outworld and discover what happened to all those children who had mysteriously disappeared.

Combining sci-fi and fantasy with a touch of historical fiction as he reimages his adopted home of Edinburgh, Scotland, Zimbabwean T. L. Huchu offers readers not only a gripping page-turner of thrilling mystery, but also his own take on key figures that shaped both the history of the city and the world. Through the eyes of a resilient, strong-willed, passionate young woman hungry for knowledge and justice, Huchu questions the very foundations on which the city was built, encouraging readers to reflect. I’m dying to find out what happens next!

The Deep Blue Between

Set in the 1890s, this YA historical fiction spans the Atlantic—the deep blue between of the title—covering Ghana, Nigeria and Brazil. Narrating alternate chapters, twins Hassana and Husseina become separated when their village is burned to a crisp during a raid when they are 10 years old. Yet the girls remain connected through their spirits and dreams. Hassana ends up with Christian missionaries before secretly running away to Accra to be closer to the water she keeps seeing in her dreams. Husseina, meanwhile, is rescued from an abusive relationship and whisked away to greater safety in Brazil by a woman who initiates her into a new religion, Candomblé. The years pass, but the twins continue to miss each other and 15-year-old Husseina, now called Vitória, boards a ship to Lagos to reunite with her sister, leaving behind a community she helped save, along with her young love Joaquim.

Without wanting to give away the ending, I will say that Ayesha Harruna Attah has masterfully woven together a story full of hope, despite the stark historical context she carefully evokes. So much history in just 252 pages, all tied together with the page-turning tale of a bond between twin sisters that will not be broken. The Deep Blue Between is a story I won’t quickly forget!

About Johanna McCalmont

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