Fibbed

Agyemang reimagines Ghanaian folklore in this fantastical graphic novel debut following a creative middle schooler with a talent for telling stories. Nana Busumuru is looking forward to spending the summer at storytelling camp, but after she’s sent to the school principal’s office for allegedly stealing her teacher’s toupee, her parents instead put her on a plane from the U.S. to Ghana to visit extended family she’s never met. Though initially overwhelmed by the large family’s warm welcome and tendency to switch between English and Twi, she finds kinship with her tale-spinning grandmother; she tells Nana that she was once saved by Ananse, the trickster spider of Ghanaian lore, and reveals that the plantains she grows and sells in the village are a result of his magic. Despite Ananse’s mystical influence, however, other villagers’ crops have been mysteriously failing, and Nana learns that white foreign contractors have been illegally stripping resources from the forest, including magical wish-granting vegetation. Accompanied by her cousin Tiwaa, new frenemy Akwesi, and cunning Ananse, Nana endeavors to end the exploitation of Ghanaian land. While the art’s visual linear progression is occasionally muddled, Agyemang’s highly stylized, vibrantly hued illustrations handily convey this lush tale. An author’s note and glossary conclude. Ages 8–12. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary and Media. (June)