71. Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor

The Library Coven

This week we’re discussing Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor. This story follows Zahrah, a 13 year old girl who is born with special hair called dadalocks. When her best friend falls into a coma after a snake bite, Zahrah, who is scared of pretty much everything, has to take a journey through the jungle to find a cure.

This is Okorafor’s debut from back in 2005 if you can believe it. The world building is NEXT LEVEL, our MC is feisty and relatable, and there’s a beautiful friendship at the core of the story. What’s not to love?

This was the book choice of our wonderful Patreon patron Grey from@grey_reads. Follow them on instagram for reviews of a wide variety of books. Thanks so much for this one, Grey!

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• Recommend if you like…
  • Matilda (although we’ve only seen the movie)
  • Alice in Wonderland – which gets a few mentions in the book, although with a slightly different title
  • Ms. Marvel – either the comics or the show
  • A Blade so Black by L.L. Mckinney*

* we’ve done episodes for this book! but you don’t have to take our word for it – go ahead and scroll thru our episodes page

• we looked it up, first iPhone was from 2007
• Headspace app/site (not an ad! Jessie just enjoys it)
• collective group names for vultures
• This novel is dedicated to Virginia Hamilton, a Black author who has won ton of awards for her writing and is one of the few Black people to have won a Newbery
• “Friendlove” episode of How to Survive the End of the World podcast
• “I’ve Got a Friend” by Maggie Rogers (visualizer on YT)

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Our cover art is by the talented artist nimsby. The podcast theme song is “Unermerry Academy of Magics” by Augustin C from the album “Fantasy Music”, which you can download on FreeMusicArchive.com.

We support #LandBack. The Library Coven is recorded and produced on stolen indigenous land: Arapahoe, Cheyenne, and Ute (Kelly) and Chickasha, Kaskaskia, Kickapoo, Mascoutin, Miami, Mesquaki, Odawa, Ojibwe, Peankashaw, Peoria, Potawatomi, Sauk, and Wea (Jessie)