A review by adamskiboy528491
Lionheart Girl by Yaba Badoe

4.0

Arise, arise, O sons of Ghana land,
And under God march on for evermore!
Arise, arise, O sons of Ghana land,
And under God march on for evermore!

[b:Lionheart Girl|58361928|Lionheart Girl|Yaba Badoe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1623949883l/58361928._SY75_.jpg|91522270] by [a:Yaba Badoe|2892443|Yaba Badoe|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1555070197p2/2892443.jpg] takes you places you don't expect them to go. An utterly immersive and evocative account of a young girl's rite of passage within her life, own femininity, body, heritage and connection to the land and her ancestors tangled with magic on her ascent to the future Queen Mother of the village with no name.

Sheba is a descendant of West African Witches, and magic runs through her veins. As she grows up, she starts to discover her powers - her touch allows her to view other people's thoughts, memories and secrets. Oh, and Sheba's a shape-shifter too. But she also learns about her mother and her prophesied destiny which brings conflict to her life. The story moves along nicely as Sheba grows and learns about herself and her family. We meet her friends, her aunts and grandmothers and her absent father, about whom her mother is unwilling to talk. We learn about her heritage and her growing powers.

This book makes me curious about the country it was set in and the mythology that goes along with it. Like their history, African people's traditional beliefs and practices remain largely unfamiliar and unknown to the European and American public compared to more popular worldwide mythologies like the Greco-Roman, Norse, Celtic, Aztec and Mayan pantheons. Though it's a mildly developing country, Ghana has been growing steadfastly in the later years, especially the tourism branch, which attracts all kinds of wealthy Americans, Europeans and others. It also has a bit of a computer industry developing, thanks to many charities sending computers to the country. It's pretty fascinating understanding this country.