Books for Kids and Grown Ups
While searching for books to add to this list, I discovered that so many middle grade books set in Africa focus on magic or refugees or hunger and other forms of suffering (all of which are valid). More everyday living stories would be so, so welcome.
That said, the books on this list are brilliant and I love all the colorful covers. I’ve read a few of them that I especially love. I hope you find some great ones too. Just remember that there’s more to Africa than the stories in these books.
Last Gate of the Emperor is a middle grade Afro-futuristic sci-fi novel co-written by Kwame Mbalia and Prince Joel Makonnen. Yared Heywat lives in Addis Prime, a rundown reimagined Ethiopian city. Although Addis Prime is light years ahead of our current tech scene, it still has remarkable technology, from holovids (which allow holograms of kids to attend classes, instead of the actual kids) to sky sailing transportation. However, several unreasonable rules seem to stifle more than they protect the people. Plus, no one ever believes the stories Yared tells about a long-lost city in the sky named Axum — stories his uncle Moti shared with him.
