Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun: A superhero adventure perfect for Marvel and DC fans!

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I’ve always had a fondness for anything maths so particularly enjoyed Onyeka’s self regulating using the Fibonacci sequence. Adanna’s synaesthesia was also an interest point. You can find out a little more about synaesthesia in my Kandinsky blog post here. The winners of The Farshore Reading for Pleasure Teacher Awards 2023, highlighting the work schools are doing to encourage a love of reading, have... Before she can even wrap her mind around all this new information, Onyeka finds herself, along with her Mom, on a private jet being whisked off to Nigeria. Their destination is the Academy of the Sun, a school developed just for Solari.

But Onyeka and her new friends at the Academy soon have to put their powers to the test as they find themselves caught up in an epic battle . . . one that puts the future of all Solari at risk. In London, Onyeka only has 1 friend and her mother. While at AOS, she gains a group of friends and a relative she didn’t know existed. She learns that family isn’t just who you come from. Sometimes it’s the people you surround yourself with. Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun (Onyeka #1) by Tolá Okogwu". www.publishersweekly.com . Retrieved 2022-12-10.

Look,” says Cheyenne after a short pause. “It’s my birthday, and your mum finally let you do something other than go to church. I’m not letting you waste it by acting moist in here.” I also really liked the worldbuilding in this book. The Nigerian culture was elegantly and subtly woven into the plot, with little details here and there that just really enhanced the story as a whole. I really liked the Nigerian setting, as it’s one I haven’t really seen in books before, so I found it interesting. The concept of the Solari and their powers, how they came to be, etc. was also VERY unique and the simplicity of the magic system really worked. So, yeah, that was great!

Cheyenne’s got Turner’s syndrome, and she has to take special hormones to help her grow properly. Her mouth is plenty big though. I once watched her shut down a Year Eleven girl with just one sentence. The girl was chatting about my hair, so I guess she deserved it. This is definitely the beginning of what is going to turn out to be an extremely fun middle grade fantasy series. As a comic book fan, it was nice to see the way Okogwu used certain comic elements to create this narrative. If you're a fan of superheroes like X-Men, I think you'll enjoy this one.It was such a distinctive and daring choice by Okogwu to have Onyeka’s power be derived from her hair. It was beautiful to witness Onyeka’s transformation in her feelings regarding her hair. She went from hating it and thinking it needed to be fixed/contained to loving it and relishing the strength it provided her. Stripped down to its fundamentals, the setting of ONYEKA's universe is not wholly unique either, but the secret superhero school is located in an oft-forgotten area in children's literature, Africa, specifically the city of Lagos in Nigeria. Technologically advanced, Lagos is given the spotlight as Onyeka and her friends explore the local areas, giving the book an original flavour of set pieces and places of interest.

Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun would make a brilliant class read, rich in cultural references, for children in UKS2, both those who love superheroes and those who love a good story. The ending implies there is more to come from Onyeka, which I look forward to reading! She knows it too and pounces immediately, like a cheetah from one of the wildlife documentaries Mum loves. We watch them together the rare times she isn’t working. Yes, you heard that right. The only thing saving Cheyenne and Onyeka that day was the power of Onyeka's hair. Onyeka and the Rise of the Rebels continues just where we left off in book 1. I want to be careful not to give away any spoilers for either book 1 or 2. Here goes… Onyeka and the rest of Nchebe are on the run. Each safe haven becomes more perilous. Soon they are forced to ally themselves with the most unlikely of people to try and help return Niyì’s Ike superpower and save those they love. Not to mention trying to enlighten and save the whole Solari race. There you go again, always exaggerating,” Mum replied. “Don’t you go to school? Am I imagining your presence beside me at church on Sundays?”Moving on to the writing. I really enjoyed Tọlá Okogwu’s writing style- it was smooth, descriptive and really easy to read. There was real heart in the book and I could practically feel the author’s love for her world and the characters in it. It was so sweet and cute 🥰🥰 Arriving at the School, Onyeka is overwhelmed by it all. She has to learn about this entire hidden world she knew nothing about before. When her best friend Cheyenne has a freak accident at the pool not even Onyeka can explain what happened. Her mother knows and knows it’s time they must return to Nigeria, even with the danger this poses. They must find Onyeka’s father.