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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Hendrix, Isi

Adia Kelbara and the Circle of Shamans

352 pp. | HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray | September, 2023 | Trade ISBN 9780063266339 $19.99 | Ebook ISBN 9780063266353 $10.99
(2) 4-6 When twelve-year-old Adia Kelbara is placed as an apprentice cook at the Academy of Shamans for her "year of practicality," her exploitative aunt and uncle try to forbid her from leaving their repressive village. Adia somehow causes an earthquake that destroys the village, then flees to the Academy in the resulting chaos. Afraid that she must be possessed by an evil demon to have caused such destruction, she hopes one of the shamans can perform an exorcism, but the Academy has been taken over by rich foreigners, none of whom can do any magic. Then, while searching the school's libraries for information on exorcisms, Adia inadvertently eavesdrops on three Alusi (celestial guardians) and learns that the emperor of Zaria, Darian the Warlord Child, has been possessed by Olark, a rogue Alusi, for a year now. If Adia follows the wisest Alusi to watch her exorcise Olark from the Warlord Child, perhaps she'll learn how to exorcise her own demon. Igbo cosmology forms the basis of this engaging fantasy, and Hendrix not only uses the surviving mythology but also depicts some of the ways Western hegemonists have contributed to its loss. Adia's emotional growth remains central to the narrative, which lays out intriguing tidbits that build over the course of the novel to support the satisfying reveal at book's end
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

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