Witches Blog - Akata Witch by Nnedi Okafor, Aunt Maria by Diana Wynne Jones

 Akata Witch - Nnedi Okafor


Akata Witch is a tale about a 12 year old girl named Sunny. What makes her such an interesting character is her weakness to the sun due to her albinism. This struck me as something a witch would experience. It reminds me of the Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy throws a bucket of water on the Wicked Witch, accidentally killing her. 

I like Sunny's name, as it's really forwardly, ironically directed to the story. Her name is Sunny, but she can't enjoy the sun! I see Sunny as an underdog character. She is an intelligent girl, but is bullied by her peers because of her appearance and her sex. this story reminded me of Peter Parker's character in the Spider-man stories, a young intelligent underdog character who is good at science. He is bullied for being a nerd, but acquires super-human powers. In the case of every Spider-man story, he uses his powers for good. Sunny can cast spells, create potions, and summon spirits. She also has this very unique connection to the wilderness. It makes me wonder how she will use these powers later in her life.

I imagine witches having some sort of supernatural powers, as well as weaknesses. In the case of Sunny, her classmates Orlu and Chichi have magical abilities while Sunny is considered a "free agents," an interesting term which means that her powers are not hereditary. In other words, her powers were not passed down to her from her family. While she does have her weaknesses, she is very good at soccer. Later in the book, she becomes less deterred to being different and learns from herself and her experiences that she does matter, and that she does have a purpose. I really enjoyed this story because of how inspirational it was and the interesting character arcs of our protagonist. 


Aunt Maria - Diana Wynne Jones 


In this story, we explore a mystery in which a family steps into a world similar to the twilight zone where our protaganist Mig, her brother Chris, and their mother. move to a weird town. The three characters go to stay with Mig's aunt, Maria, after Mig's father is killed in a terrible car accident in which he swerves off the road. the characters reside in a quiet town called Cranbury-on-sea. While the town seems to be humble and barren, we soon realize that something seems to be off about the place. Most of the women in the town are in charge while the men don't do much. Most of the children in town are kept in the orphanage. Later in the story, we learn that Maria is the grand dragon, the real villain.

I really enjoyed how the story played out and the character Maria. On the outside, she appears to be soft and caring. However, she is a controlling tyrant who rules the town. The most eerie aspect of the story is that everyone else in the town seems to be lifeless, or unaware of what is going on. At one point in the story, Chris is transformed into a wolf. Mig's goal is to uncover the truth behind the town while experiencing her odd family life. I was hooked in every scene of the story, just waiting to find out why this was all happening. Could Maria be casting her witch like spells on the people of the village? 



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