The more Chike saw the ferry-boats the more he wanted to make the trip to Asaba. But where would he get the money? He did not know. Still, he hoped.

Eleven-year-old Chike longs to cross the Niger River to the city of Asaba, but he doesn't have the sixpence he needs to pay for the ferry ride. With the help of his friend S.M.O.G., he embarks on a series of adventures to help him get there. Along the way, he is exposed to a range of new experiences that are both thrilling and terrifying, from eating his first skewer of suya under the shade of a mango tree, to visiting the village magician who promises to double the money in his pocket. Once he finally makes it across the river, Chike realizes that life on the other side is far different from his expectations, and he must find the courage within him to make it home.

Chike and the River is a magical tale of boundaries, bravery, and growth, by Chinua Achebe, one of the world's most beloved and admired storytellers.

For fans of Linda Sue Park and A Long Way Gone, two young boys must escape a life of slavery in modern-day Ivory Coast

Fifteen-year-old Amadou counts the things that matter. For two years what has mattered are the number of cacao pods he and his younger brother, Seydou, can chop down in a day. The higher the number the safer they are. The higher the number the closer they are to paying off their debt and returning home. Maybe. The problem is Amadou doesn't know how much he and Seydou owe, and the bosses won't tell him. The boys only wanted to make money to help their impoverished family, instead they were tricked into forced labor on a plantation in the Ivory Coast. With no hope of escape, all they can do is try their best to stay alive--until Khadija comes into their lives.

She's the first girl who's ever come to camp, and she's a wild thing. She fights bravely every day, attempting escape again and again, reminding Amadou what it means to be free. But finally, the bosses break her, and what happens next to the brother he has always tried to protect almost breaks Amadou. The three band together as family and try just once more to escape.

Inspired by true-to-life events happening right now, The Bitter Side of Sweet is an exquisitely written tour de force not to be missed.

A gripping and painful portrait of modern-day child slavery in the cacao plantations of the Ivory Coast.--The Wall Street Journal

A tender, harrowing story of family, friendship, and the pursuit of freedom.--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Diamonds for everyone. That's what fifteen-year-old Patson Moyo hears when his family arrives in the Marange diamond fields. Soon Patson is working in the mines along with four friends, pooling their profits for a chance at a better life. Each of them hopes to find a girazi, a priceless stone that could change their circumstances forever. But when the government's soldiers come to Marange, Patson's world is shattered.

Set against the backdrop of Zimbabwe's brutal recent history, Diamond Boy is the story of a young man who succumbs to greed but finds his way out through a transformative journey to South Africa in search of his missing sister, in search of freedom, and in search of himself.

A high-stakes, harrowing adventure in the blood-diamond fields of southern Africa, from the critically acclaimed author of Now Is the Time for Running.

Ce cadavre exquis grande chelle, qui a impliqu les l ves de quatre classes de Dakar, invente plusieurs destins entrelac s partir de celui de la jeune Fatim, lanc e dans un combat pour un monde meilleur, contre la r signation et l'impuissance devant l'injustice. Sa fin tragique ouvre sur le retour en Afrique de Nd ye, sa meilleure amie, dont nous suivons les p r grinations, puis sur le sort incertain de Sabrina, sa fille, qui rencontrera enfin Fadel.

Cette saga traduit le regard port par les enfants sur le monde contemporain, ses valeurs en mutation, son devenir: migrants, travers es catastrophes avec leurs drames mortels, terrorisme, mis re urbaine, sort des femmes, exil... mais aussi et surtout l'amour et les liens fraternels et familiaux; tels sont les th mes trait s en profondeur et avec la l g ret apparente de la fiction. Sous la direction de Ken Bugul avec un collectif de quarante-cinq auteurs.

Sixteen-year-old Eva is a princess, born with the magick of blood and marrow--a dark and terrible magick that hasn't been seen for generations in the vibrant but fractured country of Myre. Its last known practitioner was Queen Raina, who toppled the native royalty and massacred thousands, including her own sister, eight generations ago, thus beginning the Rival Heir tradition. Living in Raina's long and dark shadow, Eva must now face her older sister, Isa, in a battle to the death if she hopes to ascend to the Ivory Throne--because in the Queendom of Myre only the strongest, most ruthless rulers survive.

A River of Royal Blood is an enthralling debut set in a lush ancient North African inspired fantasy world that subtly but powerfully challenges our notions of power, history, and identity.

Two children make a perilous journey through the heart of modern and magical Africa to save their parents' farm in the Green Valley from drought and climate change.

Kambili and the drought arrive in a whirlwind of dust into the lives of CHIPO, an eleven-year-old girl with a special gift, and her brother, CHIBWE. Without rain, the family can't grow food. so the children run away to find Makemba, the Wise Woman in the Evergreen Forest who can teach them how to keep their valley green. They are kidnapped by criminals but escape and have extraordinary adventures as they journey to find Makemba and then take her magical river water to save the Valley and end the drought.

Following the death of his father Robert Uleo, alias 'Shamra Shamra' has to leave school to fend for the family. He becomes a fisherman, is caught in a tempest, ends up stranded on an isolated island inhabited by monsters. He manages to escape and returns home after a stay in Uganda. This is just one of his adventures in this gripping novel about Uleo who refused to lie down and die despite all fates tricks on him.

This is one of the manuscripts which won a prize in the Burt Award Competition, which was organized by the CBP in 2009... The scenes are extremely exciting and even blood-curdling... The language of this manuscript is fluent and even idiomatic...

Comments from the Judges Panel

Methuli Singa is excited about his latest transition, from being a bachelor-about-town to finally owing the title of a married man. He's just about ready to start a family. Little does he know that his so-called wife is possessed with a deadly spirit of witchcraft that will brutally manifest and terrorize his family. It is a time frozen with horror and pain as the wicked spirit ruthlessly catapults them into a journey of death, misery, and suffering.

After losing their parents to the AIDS pandemic in southern Africa, Sipho and his fellow orphans cannot start school. Without an education, their prospects of escaping poverty are slim. Enter Aiyasha, the fifteen-year-old head of the orphan household. Aiyash uses her special talent to ensure her orphan charges receive the education they crave. But Aiyasha has a wider agenda: to promote social justice in her country where orphans will no longer have the dumb label attached to them.

Features of Oliver Twist, Robin Hood and Dick Whittington and His Cat play out in a contemporary African setting in this heartwarming and inspirational story.

They say that the path of true love never did run smoothly. Prince Gyakari and Princess Batoma's relationship has entered a fiery phase where their love and loyalties are tested. As with true love, other combatants are always involved. Prince Darkwa of Mrem will try everything he has to separate these two lovers and he has a partner in Princess Afrakoma, who would stop at nothing to do the same. Can their love survive the wicked machinations of this deadly duo? Will another combatant from Gyakari's own royal house, Prince Bonsu, who was willing to eliminate him, succeed in turning the tables on Gyakari in order to win Batoma's love?

Ces histoires du plus vieux continent et foyer de la population la plus jeune du monde vont de la fantasy, aux r flexions de la jeunesse en p riode de conflit, la mort vue par de jeunes adultes, la famille, l'amiti , l' veil sexuel, l' ducation et la transition vers l' ge adulte. La diversit des r cits de cette premi re anthologie de fiction africaine pour jeunes adultes capture avec force les voix diverses que toute personne adolescente conna t ou conna tra. Des voix parfois affirm es, parfois incertaines, mais toujours conscientes des mondes multiples qui les entourent.

Contributeurs: K lvin Nonvignon Adantchede, Asiedu Benneh, Kofi Konadu Berko, Sabah Carrim, Shamin Chibba, Raoul Djimeli, Chinelo J. Enemuo, Laurence Gnaro, Haku Jackson, Jones Wafula Lukorito, Tamanda Kanjaye, Precious Colette Kemigisha, Priscillar Matara, Howard Meh-Buh Maximus, Yamikani Mlangiza, Merdi Mukore, Fatma Shafi

Only the Shadow Chasers, with their magical knives, can save the world from the evil that lives in the dreamworld. The powerful Oyo has a Shadow Chasers knife ... and only the cleverest and bravest can withstand the Flame of Truth to win it back from her. With the guidance of Zulaika, a helpful ghost, Nom, Zithembe and Rosy travel through the unknown terrors of the dreamworld to find Oyo and regain the knife.

Based on interviews with young women who were kidnapped by Boko Haram, this poignant novel by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani tells the timely story of one girl who was taken from her home in Nigeria and her harrowing fight for survival. Includes an afterword by award-winning journalist Viviana Mazza.

A new pair of shoes, a university degree, a husband--these are the things that a girl dreams of in a Nigerian village. And with a government scholarship right around the corner, everyone can see that these dreams aren't too far out of reach.

But the girl's dreams turn to nightmares when her village is attacked by Boko Haram, a terrorist group, in the middle of the night. Kidnapped, she is taken with other girls and women into the forest where she is forced to follow her captors' radical beliefs and watch as her best friend slowly accepts everything she's been told.

Still, the girl defends her existence. As impossible as escape may seem, her life--her future--is hers to fight for.

For fifteen-year-old Shamiso, hope is nothing but a leap into darkness. Grief-stricken and confused after her father's mysterious death in a car crash, Shamiso moves with her mother from England to Zimbabwe in order to pick up the pieces--returning to an extended family and a world she hardly remembers. For Tanyaradzwa, a classmate whose life has been turned upside down by a cancer diagnosis, hope is the only reason to keep fighting. As an unexpected friendship blossoms between them and the two girls navigate the increasingly uncertain political situation in Zimbabwe, Tanyaradzwa helps Shamiso confront her fear of loss.

But while Atiyah is studying at the great university in Fez, Halima is lost in a sandstorm. Rescued by an enemy tribe, she is told that she must marry their powerful sheikh and live in his harem -- never to see her people again. Halima does what she can to resist, but she has no choice. In three moons' time she will become the youngest wife of the cruel and greedy Raisulu -- unless Atiyah can find her. But where in the vast sea of desert can he begin his search for his beloved?The last novel from award-winning author Frances Temple, this companion to The Ramsay Scallop is a romantic tale of intrigue, adventure, and true love, set against the backdrop of medieval Arabia.

'Temple's evocation of the Beduin--a grand, generous nation of poets and storytellers shaped by their religion and their hostile, sometimes beautiful, environment--is easily as vivid as the
storyline. . . . This book glitters with the intelligence and skill of a gifted storyteller, and will sweep readers along on an exotic, satisfying adventure.' --Pointer/Kirkus Reviews

An American Bookseller Association Pick of the Lists, 1996
A Book Links Editors' Choice of 1996The last novel from award-winning author Frances Temple, this companion to The Ramsay Scallop is a romantic tale of intrigue, adventure, and true love, set against the backdrop of medieval Arabia.

'Temple's evocation of the Beduin--a grand, generous nation of poets and storytellers shaped by their religion and their hostile, sometimes beautiful, environment--is easily as vivid as the
storyline. . . . This book glitters with the intelligence and skill of a gifted storyteller, and will sweep readers along on an exotic, satisfying adventure.' --Pointer/Kirkus Reviews

An American Bookseller Association Pick of the Lists, 1996
A Book Links Editors' Choice of 1996

The third novel in the Trinity High Series, Investigation Galore is equally full of adventure, mischief and fun as its predecessors. Naa Atswei and her compatriots have finally escaped nino status and are seniors in their own right The book is about life in form two at Trinity High. Join Naa, the sleuth and her associates as they stretch their investigative limits while they strive to keep seniors in check