Burkes Beach South Carolina

October 22, 2025

Afia in the Land of Wonders: Book Review

Afia in the Land of Wonders is a middle grade fantasy book written and illustrated by Mia Araujo. It is inspired by Alice in Wonderland, and it was published this year, 2025. The story is about Afia, a sixteen-year-old girl who is dissatisfied with her life at home, a place called Dafra. Her mother and the rest of her family expect her to go through her ewende, which is her coming of age ceremony, and continue their crystal selling business. However, she yearns to explore the world, and wants more for her life. So when a young man named Bakame offers her an escape, she takes her chance and finds herself in the magical land of Ijábù. However, after being warned by a ghost boy named Ojike, she quickly discovers that not everything is as it seems, and she must escape this so-called “land of wonders.” The Non-Spoiler Review One thing I like about this book are the illustrations. Most of the images are fully colored and take up a page or two, while others are smaller pencil sketches. All o...

Yesterday, my family and I drove to Burkes Beach in Hilton Head, South Carolina. While we were walking over the bridge leading to the beach, we saw three beautiful kites in the sky and a school of fish in the river.

At the beach, there were little fish swimming in the waves that lapped the shore, little clams burrowing into the sand, and pelicans and other birds diving into the water as they tried to catch fish.

As I was wading in the ocean, I found a piece of seaweed. My sister decided to keep it.

I also saw what I first thought might have been a shark tooth. But upon grabbing it out of the water I found it was a shell. I was hoping to find a rare seashell or something else interesting, like a shark’s tooth. Though I didn’t find anything like that, I did collect a few nice seashells and a pebble.