African myth and magic beat in the dark heart of this fable about witchcraft, superstition, the bonds we choose and those we cannot. Born into a family of West African witches, Sheba's terrified of her mother who is deadly dangerous. But like mother, like daughter magic runs through her blood and Sheba discovers powers of her own. Her touch can unravel people's innermost thoughts; their hopes, their fears their secrets. Sheba too can shape-shift. Through the communion of ancient magic, blood and friendship, she slowly uncovers the murderous truth about her stolen childhood and steels herself for the future. She must protect the hunted from the hunter her mother. Praise for Lionheart Girl: 'A dark and dazzling coming-of-age novel, rich in atmosphere and magic realism' Guardian Best Books of 2021 'Lionheart Girl is deeply atmospheric, stunningly original, and sizzling with ancient myth and magic. Utterly unmissable' Sophie Anderson, The Castle of Tangled Magic 'Loved it! Yaba's best so far a wonderful tale of magic and family' Catherine Johnson, author of Queen of Freedom: Defending Jamaica

 

 

This book has been graded for interest at 12 years.

There are 352 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2022 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC .

Yaba Badoe is an award-winning Ghanaian-British documentary filmmaker and writer. In 2014 Yaba was nominated for the Distinguished Woman of African Cinema award. A Jigsaw of Fire and Stars was shortlisted for Branford Boase Award 2018 and has been nominated for the 2019 Carnegie Medal. @yaba_badoe