Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun (Onyeka #1)
by Tolá Okogwu (Author)
Onyeka has a lot of hair---the kind that makes strangers stop in the street and her peers whisper behind her back.
At least she has Cheyenne, her best friend, who couldn't care less what other people think. Still, Onyeka has always felt insecure about her vibrant curls...until the day Cheyenne almost drowns and Onyeka's hair takes on a life of its own, inexplicably pulling Cheyenne from the water.
At home, Onyeka's mother tells her the shocking truth: Onyeka's psycho-kinetic powers make her a Solari, one of a secret group of people with super powers unique to Nigeria. Her mother quickly whisks her off to the Academy of the Sun, a school in Nigeria where Solari are trained. But Onyeka and her new friends at the academy soon have to put their powers to the test as they find themselves embroiled in a momentous battle between truth and lies...
Locate at a Library Near You WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog, helping you find library materials online.
Find books about:
More books in the series - See All
Kirkus
A delightful blend of adventure, heart, and Afrofuturism.
ALA/Booklist
A story of a young girl’s journey to self-acceptance, this title will leave readers on the edge of their seats in anticipation for the next part in this new series.
Publishers Weekly
Okogwu's immersive Afrofuturist middle grade debut centers a British Nigerian girl with a blue-fire-tinged "tangle of curls, coils and kinks" that "has broken more combs trashed more hair-dryers... than I can count." In London, Onyekachi Adéyemi Adérìnólá lives with her hardworking mother, who makes her learn and repeat the Fibonacci sequence--imbued in the girl's mind with colors, textures, and tastes--to help control her emotions. When her British Nigerian best friend Cheyenne, an anime fan with Turner's syndrome, nearly drowns in a busy pool's deep end, Onyeka's feelings take over, and hair forms a bubble of safety around them both. Onyeka soon learns that she is Solari like her father, who disappeared after making a genetics breakthrough in Nigeria. To find him and learn more about her powers, she and her mother head to Lagos, seeking her father's mentor--founder of the elite Academy of the Sun, where Solari go to learn to use their abilities. But as Onyeka navigates the new surroundings and encounters other Solari, her mother, too, disappears. In Okogwu's vividly created Nigerian world, technology and an exploration of emotional internality interplay with a child's literalized relationship with her hair, making for an enjoyable X-Men-leaning series starter. Ages 8-12. (June)
Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Review quotes
"An empowering blend of action and mystery, featuring superpowered showdowns, lovable characters, and jaw-dropping twists. Kept me flying through the pages!" —Xiran Jay Zhao, New York Times bestselling author of Iron Widow
JUV001000 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure
JUV013060 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Parents
JUV030010 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | Africa
JUV012050 - Juvenile Fiction | Legends, Myths, Fables | African
