Title – The Gilded Ones

Author – Namina Forna

Publisher – Usborne Publishing

Published – February 9th, 2021.

Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.

But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity–and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.

Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki–near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire’s greatest threat.

Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she’s ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be–not even Deka herself.

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Title – Brimstones & Rainbows: Memoirs of a Child Bride

Author – Ololade Akintoye

Publication – 2020

Publisher – Narrative Landscape Press

Genres – Adult Fiction

In this intriguing realistic fiction, Ruby, an orphaned child bride who suffered from Obstetric Fistula, a debilitating childbirth complication, became stigmatised and ostracised from her community. Having lost everything in the village of Ojiji, Ruby set out to the city of Eko on a path to healing and recovery and a chance to find what lies on the other side of the rainbow

Trigger Warning – Rape, Child Abuse, Child Molestation, Child Marriage, Female Genital Mutilation

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Title – With the Fire on High

Author – Elizabeth Acevedo

Publisher – Quill Tree Books

Published – May 7th, 2019.

From the New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award longlist title The Poet X comes a dazzling novel in prose about a girl with talent, pride, and a drive to feed the soul that keeps her fire burning bright.

Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions—doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it’s not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.

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