My older teen daughter is currently obsessed with Africa. She’s memorized the countries, cities, and flags and has just bought a book of folklore. She loves history but not the “famous men, famous battles, famous events” kind of history…more about history from a culture, daily life, etc., perspective. Any suggestions on books related to any of the countries/cultures of Africa?
by artemis_meowing
13 Comments
If historical fiction is ok, I cannot recommend Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (Ghana) highly enough. Also Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria).
For nonfiction:
Born A Crime by Trevor Noah (South Africa)
Unbowed by Wangari Maathai (Kenya), the autobiography of the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
I don’t have specific recs, sorry, but “social history” might be a useful search term. That’s the inside baseball term for the kind of history your daughter enjoys.
Africa is not a country
Maya Angelou’s book “All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes” – written about her time living in Ghana in the early 60s.
Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park
I suggest Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen. It’s a YA fantasy based on West African water spirit mythology and is set during the slave trade era, so it mixes folklore and history.
While it’s not a history book, I think she might like *African Fractals* by Ron Eglash, it’s a deep dive into how fractals manifest as a design element all over the continent.
*The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros* by Galadewos is a hagiography of an Ethiopian saint that’s been translated and published in English. I would recommend the concise edition.
*The Mande Blacksmiths* by Patrick McNaughton is a really charming look at these blacksmiths, a lot of information about how they work and the aesthetic elements of their creations, and a bit about their place in the wider society.
A good novel based on Nigerian traditional beliefs is “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” by Amos Tutuola.
A more “realistic” story of growing up in colonial West Africa is “The African Child” (aka “The Dark Child”) by Camera Laye.
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Walter Rodney
In the Shadow of the Sun
When the Ground is Hard by Malla Nunn
A Girl is A Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Kibogo by Scholastique Mukasonga
The first two are YA-ish and the second two are aimed at adults. All are fantastic reads.
{Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor} is a post-apocalyptic science fantasy book, but it’s a fantastic read and is based on the belief system of the Igbo people, iirc.
An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi. A sweeping overview across the continent. It is very surface in review but a great intro to regions and periods.