The Smoke That Thunders

All sixteen-year-old Naborhi dreams of is sailing the seas. Instead, she feels suffocated, her life already laid out: she'll have her rite of passage and spend her life bound to her house, husband, and children.

Then Naborhi begins having strange dreams and finds a mysterious animal that becomes instantly bonded to her. When she meets Atai, the son of an Oracle from a rival kingdom, she learns that she is being guided by the gods. She and Atai journey to find the boy Naborhi is dreaming of, but when that boy turns out to be a kidnapped prince, Naborhi realizes there is more than just her freedom at stake: she must stop a war that has already been set in motion.

Woven through with Urhobo and West African folklore and mythology, The Smoke That Thunders is a gripping young adult fantasy that heralds the arrival of a powerhouse debut author.