(2) YA Illustrated by Karen De la Vega & Marcus Williams. Former NHL player Aliu made headlines in 2020 when he shared stories of the racism and hazing he faced as a person of color in professional hockey. The son of a Nigerian father and Ukrainian mother, Aliu was born in Nigeria and spent his early years in Russia before his family immigrated to Canada and he discovered his love for hockey. His adoration of the sport was tested by persistent and devastating racism throughout his adolescence and beyond. This graphic memoir follows him from childhood through his exit from the NHL and to the formation of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, which makes hockey accessible to "children from diverse communities ­underrepresented in the sport." The narrative is notable for its emotional clarity and the strength with which the concise text carries both Aliu's pain and his resolve. Dynamic comic-panel art serves the story with expressiveness of motion and feeling. Grabbing readers at the intersection of sports and social justice, this is a welcome addition to the graphic-memoir genre.

Reviewer: Anne St. John | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(2) YA In this absorbing novel, a Nigerian Canadian girl navigating tumultuous circumstances learns to trust friends and family. Suspected of fraud, her parents have become fugitives; Summer first lives on her own and then at the homes of friends, looking forward to the legal "true freedom" that will come with her approaching eighteenth birthday. Her outward aloofness and attitude that she can handle being abandoned and betrayed belie her longing for a stable home. When a social worker discovers her situation, Summer is sent to live with a cousin, Olu, whom she barely knows. Olu is only two years older than Summer; a popular singer in Japan, she now resides in Toronto. The relationship between the cousins is fraught with tension as Summer continues to rebuff Olu's attempts to support her, and she learns that Olu has consequential problems of her own and plans to return to Japan. A traumatic incident with a family member precipitates a period of reflection that leads Summer to make a life-changing decision and to realize what matters most. Onomé's skill at conveying the complexity of teenage emotions is notable. Her sympathetic portrayal of Summer as a teen who, because of past experiences, is guarded in her relationships with adults and sometimes with peers is both authentic and believable in a resonant coming-of-age story.

Reviewer: Pauletta Brown Bracy | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2023

(2) YA While busy, high-achieving seventeen-year-old Nigerian Canadian high-school senior Adanna Nkwachi helps to plan her cousin's traditional wedding to a Nigerian superstar, she is also dealing with her own feelings for two totally different boys. Additionally, her older brother, Sam, has left home following a fight with their parents, and Ada now feels the weight of their expectations resting solely on her. She begins to question whether law school--their plan for her--is really what she wants. When she and Sam eventually reconnect, Ada's discovery of his choice to be a poet, against their parents' wishes, inspires her to contemplate other paths for herself. Deftly drawn, charismatic characters bring a measure of humor to the story and reverently ­convey aspects of Nigerian culture. Themes of cultural appropriation, parental expectations, familial relationships, first love, and finding one's own voice are seamlessly interwoven in a fluid plot that is honest and satisfying.

Reviewer: Pauletta Brown Bracy | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022