"Witch-laden West African myth and magic blaze through this thrilling YA adventure"
At once steeped in richly-conjured West African myths and landscapes, and a page-turning thriller with real-life resonance (courtesy of its unforgettable protagonist), Yaba Badoe’s Lionheart Girl is a wonder of YA fiction. This is magic realism at its most powerful, exploring as it does universal themes of family bonds, fleeing and finding your way, through language that’s brilliantly enmeshed with its setting and subjects: “my heart, big as a lake in the wet season, shrivels to a slick of water in the dry.”
Sheba was born into a family of witches, to a line of powerful women who can shapeshift, whose touch can uncover people’s deepest desires and fears. The story begins with Sheba fleeing her village to find her father, spurred by “the fizz in my fingers whenever I touched Ma’s hair”. In time, Sheba’s overbearing mother reveals, “We royal women are special. Our blood is enriched by generations of ritual and magic. Magic flows through us”. And so Sheba unknots her own powers, and secrets of her past, in a tale that rails against convention while feeling utterly timeless.
| Primary Genre | Fantasy |
| Other Genres: |
African myth and magic beat in the dark heart of this fable about witchcraft, superstition, the bonds we choose and those we cannot. Born into a family of West African witches, Sheba's terrified of her mother who can turn into a crow. But like mother, like daughter - magic runs through her blood and Sheba discovers powers of her own.Her touch can unravel people's innermost thoughts; their hopes, their fears - their secrets. Sheba too can shape-shift. Through the communion of ancient magic, blood and friendship, she slowly uncovers the murderous truth about her stolen childhood and steels herself for the future. She must protect the hunted from the hunter - her mother.
Lionheart Girl features in the following genres: Fantasy, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Magical realism / Magical fantasy, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Family and home stories, Fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational
Lionheart Girl is available in Paperback, Hardback, CD-Audio
Lionheart Girl was written by Yaba Badoe and published by Zephyr an imprint of Head of Zeus
Lionheart Girl has 336 pages
