Hugo and Nebula Award winner Nnedi Okorafor (Binti; Binti: Home) seamlessly blends southeast Nigerian culture, fantasy elements and contemporary themes in her first middle-grade novel, Ikenga, a comics-like adventure grounded in reality.
After 12-year-old Nnamdi's father, the police chief of a southeastern Nigerian town, is murdered, Nnamdi feels hopeless and angry. His mother now has to sell tapioca to make ends meet, the crime rate in the city is rising and Nnamdi hasn't avenged his father's death. If only Nnamdi could be more like his favorite superhero, the Incredible Hulk, so he could "dive into danger when it was at its worst and win."
On the one-year anniversary of his father's death, Nnamdi is visited by his father's spirit. His father gives Nnamdi an "Ikenga," an ebony figure that, the spirit explains, in Igbo means "a place of strength" and can be used as a guiding force only if Nnamdi remains calm and stays focused on the tasks at hand. With the Ikenga, Nnamdi is able to become the Man, a being "tall like an iroko tree... very strong" and "black-skinned, as if he were stitched from the night." In his new persona, he thwarts criminals--like his "father 2.0"--but he has minimal control over his powers, and Nnamdi is soon seen by the townspeople as a violent vigilante. With the help of his best friend, Chioma, Nnamdi has to learn to manage his anger so he can use the power of the Ikenga for good.
Corruption and power are two prevalent themes throughout Ikenga: criminals are treated like "Nollywood movie stars" and the town's local newsletter thrives on "embellished overblown stories." Okorafor makes these heavy topics accessible to middle-grade readers by showing them through the eyes of a kid superhero and his equally young sidekick. Nnamdi not only ticks off every box on a classic superhero's profile--dead parent, seeks vengeance, enemies with odd calling cards (such as "Bad Market... known for causing a bad smell after he'd 'collected' from people in the market")--he's also a sympathetic, vulnerable person who seeks justice yet struggles with how to achieve it. "Outspoken, upbeat, and playful" Chioma is the perfect balance to Nnamdi, who has "always been on the quiet and intense side." Her friendship, with its ups and downs, compels Nnamdi's transformative journey as she helps him learn the importance of responsibility and how to keep anger from ruling his life.
With its enduring themes, charismatic characters and exhilarating events, Ikenga powerfully shows spiritual and fantastical elements confronting real-world problems. --Lana Barnes, freelance reviewer and proofreader
Shelf Talker: In her first middle-grade novel, author Nnedi Okorafor deftly explores grief and corruption through an original southeast Nigerian Igbo superhero origin story.