Onyeka and the Rise of the Rebels

Tolá Okogwu's Onyeka and the Rise of the Rebels is a superhero adventure for 8 year olds about a girl whose hair holds a power that's slowly making her ill.

What happens

This is the second Onyeka book, and it helps a lot to have read Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun first. Like her friends, Onyeka is a Solari, one of the kids with special powers called Ike. They've learned some hard truths about their school in Nigeria, and now they're hiding out on her Aunt Naomi's farm.

Onyeka's Ike lives in her hair. It can whip out like a rope, smash a cupboard door or spin above her head like a giant fan (brilliant). But every Solari has a sickness that gets worse the more they use their power, and Onyeka's is worse than most. There's a serum that could fix it, and who takes it first turns into a really tricky question.

Her friend Niyì lost his power protecting her, and he's struggling. Adanna can read emotions and seems to quite enjoy blowing up hard drives. Hassan slips in and out of Pidgin English and flickers invisible when he's nervous. They bicker like a proper family, and they look out for each other like one too.

Onyeka is still searching for her missing parents, and the danger is getting closer. Someone is creeping into all their dreams at night. How do you keep your own mind safe? Aunt Naomi teaches them a trick, and it's a lovely idea.

There's a lot to love in the setting. Nigeria here is full of tech, from a housebot and delivery drones to a supersonic jet hidden in the barn. There's akara for breakfast, Milo with far too much sugar and chin chin snacks to squabble over.

This one is darker than plenty of superhero stories for this shelf, though. It opens with a dream of a war, in which a very sick little girl has nothing to eat, and later armed soldiers storm the farmhouse. A friend has been in a coma since before the story starts. A sensitive reader might find the war dream upsetting. If your reader loves a high-stakes team adventure, though, it's gripping.

What to read next

If your reader is hooked on kids with hidden powers and a family member to find, Amari and the Night Brothers follows a girl whose brother vanished while working a secret job that nobody believes he had.