Skip to main content

Featured

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...

The Warden’s Daughter

There once was a warden’s daughter

Who was tasked to help protect

The villagers and royalty

Of the kingdom of Pluperfect.

An old prophecy had said

She’d use her power of moonlight

To hold back a great evil

And prevent her kingdom’s plight.

Alas, her power slow in coming

Made the people ill at ease.

Despite the girl’s efforts to ignite her gift,

The people she could not appease.

They gossiped behind her back,

And their complaints reached the warden’s ears.

The warden demanded she work harder,

So she worked harder for years.

But the girl’s powers did not awaken,

And she was tired all the while,

For the demands of her kingdom

We’re too much for just one child.

One day she went up the mountain,

For she said she had to pray.

As day turned to night, and night to day,

It was apparent, she’d gone away.

Now the warden’s daughter is missing.

The kingdom lives in fear

Of the evil rising in darkness

That draws ever near.

But when all seems to be lost

And darkness claims to have won

The girl will return more powerful

And the evil will be undone.

Comments

Popular Posts

1 09