Mayowa and the Fire of Speech

Mayowa and the Fire of Speech is the second book in Chibundu Onuzo’s middle-grade fantasy trilogy about a girl whose unusual “book-jumping” magic allows her to access and channel the emotions held inside stories. Eleven-year-old Mayowa travels to Nigeria to visit family and discovers that her gift connects her to deeper secrets about language, identity, and inherited power. Near Lagos, Mayowa meets her enigmatic great-aunt Iya Ibeji in the peaceful community of Alaafia. There she learns esin l’oro, an ancient art that reveals how spoken words can shape reality. When oil is found beneath Alaafia and threatens the community, Mayowa must use both her book-jumping ability and her growing command of words to protect her family and decide where she belongs.