2023/040: Binti — Nnedi Okorafor

2023/040: Binti — Nnedi Okorafor

My tribe is obsessed with innovation and technology, but it is small, private, and, as I said, we don’t like to leave Earth. We prefer to explore the universe by traveling inward, as opposed to outward. No Himba has ever gone to Oomza Uni. [p. 21]

Binti is 16, a mathematical genius, and the first of her people to leave Earth and go to the prestigious Oomza Uni. As a Himba, she braids her hair in coded patterns, covers her skin in otjize (a mixture of clay and botanical essences) and wears steel anklets to protect her from snakebite. Despite her differences, she begins to make friends among her fellow passengers. Then disaster strikes:( Read more... )