Sunny lives in Nigeria, but she was born in New York City. She looks West African, but is so sensitive to the sun that she can’t play soccer during the day. She doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere.
Then she learns why.
Her classmate Orlu and his friend Chichi reveal that they have magical abilities – and so does she. Sunny is a “free agents,” overflowing with latent power. And she has a lot of catching up to do.
Orlu and Chichi have been working with their teacher for years. Sunny needs a crash course in magical history, spells, juju, shape-shifting and dimensional travel. Her new world is a secret from her family, but it’s well worth all of the silence, exhaustion and sneaking around.
Still, there is a dark side. After she’s found her footing, Sunny, Orlu, Chichi, and their American friend Sasha are asked by the magical authorities to help track down a criminal. Not just a run-of-the-mill bad guy. A real-life hardcore serial killer – with abilities far stronger than theirs.
Ursula Le Guin and Diana Wynne Jones are Nnedi Okorafor fans. As soon as you start reading Akata Witch, you will be, too.
The series
Magic here doesn’t come cloaked in ancient European robes—it pulses through dusty footpaths, sings from hidden forests, and crackles beneath skin like lightning waiting to strike.
Read full series description
The Nsibidi Scripts isn’t just a fantasy series—it’s a reimagining of what fantasy can be. Set in a richly textured Nigerian landscape where secret societies rule the shadows and ancient symbols carry living power, the story follows Sunny Nwazue, a girl caught between worlds. Albino, American-born, and living in Nigeria, Sunny begins the series feeling like an outsider in every way. But when she discovers the world of the Leopard People—a secret society of mystics and scholars—everything shifts. Her strangeness, once a source of alienation, becomes her strength.
There’s an otherworldly energy humming beneath each page. Okorafor doesn’t just build a world—she channels one. The Leopard world is chaotic, unpredictable, governed by its own brutal elegance. Learning is earned through risk. Power demands sacrifice. And nothing—absolutely nothing—follows the rules of a typical magical education.
What sets this series apart is its unapologetic grounding in African mythology, its vivid celebration of cultural specificity, and its refusal to flatten its complexity for the reader’s comfort. It’s as much about claiming identity as it is about wielding power. As Sunny’s journey deepens, so does the magic—layered, symbolic, and deeply tied to heritage and self-discovery.
For readers drawn to young adult fantasy that steps boldly beyond the familiar, blending the supernatural with coming-of-age and social tension, this series offers a rare kind of storytelling—one where the magic feels alive, and the danger always feels close.
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