Cover Illustrator : Michael Machira Mwangi
Cover Designer : Hana Nakamura
BLURB
From a debut Nigerian author: a spectacular young adult fantasy rooted in West African mythology and brimming with adventure.
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 only 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.
- Hardcover
- Price $18.99
- ISBN 978-1-324-05265-4
- Dimensions / Pages 5.5 x 8.25 in / 400 pages
- Instructor Copies Available 09/04/2024
- Available for Sale 09/04/2024
- Publisher – Norton Young Readers
The Smoke That Thunders is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Nigerian Edition
DELETED SCENES
FIRST Deleted SCENE
The map said to cross to the other side and go down the hill from there. We found a raft by the shore which Atai held tightly together with the rope he brought. The paddles we found were rotten and wet. Atai went into the bush and came out with a log of wood. He carved out what could pass for paddles from it. One for Tamunor, and one for him.
We set out into the gentle rushing waters. Everything was going fine until something in the river began to hit the raft from underneath.Atai grabbed the edge of the raft with one hand and Tamunor’s body stiffened, his eyes bulging out.
“I cannot swim,” were the first words that came out of Tamunor’s mouth. I looked at him wide eyed, shocked by his declaration.
“You have not learned? Still? You go down the shores of the Hotan almost every day!” I said exasperated. Who has ever of a Nagumi boy who cannot swim?
But my annoyance cooled when I saw his face. He was afraid. I had never seen him so afraid.
“I think I need that medicine now,” he voiced clutching the paddle tighter.
“Remain calm,” I said checking the water. Then underneath the clear surface I saw them.
“Nikinaka,” I muttered realizing that we may be in a lot of trouble. They were in the Hotan and were the bane of Nagumi’s fishermen.
“What are they?” Atai asked still paddling.
“Boat breakers.”
They looked like catfishes but had tails that resembled a lizard’s. They were small but could do a lot of damage.
“We have to paddle fast.” I took Tamunor’s paddle while he held on to the raft. We paddled faster but that did not help.
The creatures went after the paddles, biting it until it became no more than firewood in a hearth. The raft went with the gradually increasing current of the river. I was thinking of a solution so fast my head hurt. Tamunor was panicking too much for me to think straight. If only we had some salt to pour on them.
We soon arrived in between clusters of trees where the current slowed down. I had an idea.
“Do you have any rope left?”
Atai brought out the rest of the rope. It was long enough. I folded it at the end and aimed at the trees. It went through the trees. I reeled it back in and aimed again. I tried again and it landed on a branch.
“Praise Egbesu,” I muttered and secured it tightly.
Atai quickly tied the other end to the raft which brought it to a halt. We had to leave the water fast. Using the short end the paddles Atai and I steered the raft toward the trees.
I did not turn fast enough to see what had happened but Tamunor fell in the river screaming.
“Tamunor!”
I was beginning to regret allowing Tamunor come with me.
The branch holding the rope broke off and the raft resumed moving only for it to unravel when it entered high current.
Atai and I fell into the water.
All I could think about was Tamunor. How scared he must be.
I was sure Atai could take care of himself. I did not struggle against the current but let it take me. I searched around for Tamunor and found him struggling against the current behind me.
A boulder next to the shore caught my eye. I swam towards it hoping to catch Tamunor when he came closer. There was a waterfall at the end of the river and if Tamunor went over he might be injured from the fall. Or worse.
I held on to a stick floating by and stretched it out to stop him It worked. Tamunor held on to the stick breathing for his life. He smiled in between breaths but his smile soon faded when the stick broke.
Atai who had been trying to swim toward the shore got caught in Tamunor’s panic. Tamunor took him along with him.
“Blery,” I hissed and went after them leaving my fate to god who sent me down this path.
[Chapter break here?][Yes][]
We all went over the waterfall.
I managed to take a deep breath as we went over the edge, the rushing water slapping my face from all sides. The fall was brief. I plunged through the cold water surface to meet the embrace of warmer water. The pressure of the water tried to push me down but I swam downstream, away from where I could be pulled back in. My neck and lower back hurt as I parted the murky water with my hands. I broke through the surface but could barely see anything because of the mist.
I swam further, took a deep breath and went back down in search of Tamunor. It was hard to see anything under the water but I could not give up just yet.
I went back up for air then came back down. I could neither find him nor Atai.
I went back down three times before I spotted him.
He was floating away, face down, looking lifeless. My hands were tired and the strain on my neck was getting to me. I swam toward him and flipped him over. He looked so pale. Using one arm to push back water and the other to bring him along, we got to shore and I laid him out on the ground. With several pushes on his stomach he threw up water and gasped for air.
He began to cough, his eyes red and watery.
“Good, you are alive. Stay here.”
I half ran to look for Atai, my legs and hands trembling.
I prayed not to find him dead or worse not to find his body at all. I found him down the stream on his hands and knees coughing up water. I was finally able to breathe well and think clearly again.
SECOND Deleted SCENE
We walked for a while before spotting them: white and yellow flowers growing on a dark bush.
‘They are so beautiful,’ Atai drawled like someone half asleep. He ran towards the bush and began to pluck the flowers.
A sound like a loud groan emanated from deep within the trees.
‘Atai, leave those flowers alone,’ I warned him.
‘So beautiful,’ he said and picked another one.
The groan resounded again.
Tamunor looked ahead, frightened.
I ran to Atai. ‘Atai!’ I snapped, turning him to face me. The blacks of his eyes were larger than usual. Without thinking I slapped him hard. He held his face with his hand and in the process dropped the flowers.
‘What happened?’
The flowers made a whistling sound as they turned to dust.
‘What kind of flowers are those?’ Tamunor asked, coming closer.
‘What happened?’ Atai asked, rubbing his cheek.
Just then a figure dashed behind the bushes and Atai drew his sword. Another figure shrieked and ran behind the trees so fast I could not make out what it was.
‘What was that?’ Atai asked.
The forest answered him: a deep ominous thunderous sound that echoed all around us.
‘I think you shouldn’t have touched those flowers,’ Tamunor said.
The sound was louder the second time and appeared to be coming from the trees. I drew my daggers and pushed Tamunor behind me. Atai protected him from the other side. Every tree, every leaf, every branch was now an enemy. Even the ground we stood on.
There was a deathly silence that seemed to mock us and make us more afraid.
We did not need to speak to each other to know what to do next.
Run.
We tried to run but vines shot rapidly out of the ground and trees came at us, sending us flying in different directions. We stood no chance. Tamunor and Atai landed more heavily on the ground than I did. They lay on the ground, holding their sides.
I got up with effort, a jarring pain on my left shoulder. ‘Get up! Keep going!’ I told them with a raspy voice.
More vines shot out of the ground, slicing the air even faster to get to me. I bent down, slashed and dodged some more but there were too many.
Something was controlling the vines that came at us. It had to be the Idu.
Vines wound around my hands and waist and lifted me into a tree and I dropped my daggers. I saw Tamunor struggle against the vines too, but it was no use. Then something exploded and I twisted round to see the tree open up. I was thrust inside and slowly enveloped by the vines.
Inside smelled like a wet dog as the vines wound tighter. I fought to free myself, kicking and scratching. But when I could no longer breathe was when I really began to panic. The feeling of being held in such a small dark space with no air made me tremble all over. I feared I was not going to survive.
And at this nightmarish moment my mind was flooded by a memory that was not mine. A memory of the boy I had to help.
He was with an older man who walked with briskly ahead. They were walking together toward a carriage that shone brightly. As if it was made purely out of gold
Then the image of Zuberi when he could still fit in my hands was all I saw.
Gentle warmth rose from my toes and as it travelled upwards it got hotter and hotter.
A raging fire was burning around me but I was not getting scalded. The flames roared and the vines slithered off me.
I recognized the fire without knowing how. The cleansing fire of Obassi. The one that protected the Inumidians as they journeyed to where they finally called home.
Then the tree burst open and the flames leapt ahead of me and pulled me along. I landed badly and winced in pain.
I looked up at the sound of a familiar growl. Several feet away was Zuberi. His fur were the flames and he clawed and bit any vine coming towards me.
I heard Tamunor scream and I rushed towards the tree that held him without thinking and was instantly knocked down by a thick vine that rose out of the ground.
Pain shot up my legs and I cried out. Zuberi was gone and all that was left was a dissipating steam that burned my eyes.
I lifted my head when I heard a crack. Tamunor and Atai had been spat out by the trees.
I rushed to them. They were breathing, thank Egbesu.
My tears flowed freely. It was brought on by a mix of happiness and the pain in my legs.
‘Did you see that?’ I asked Atai.
‘What?’ he asked, slowly getting up.
‘Zuberi. The red fox. He was here. He helped us.’
Atai snapped his head to where I pointed. ‘I did not see him.’
He bowed his head in reverence. ‘Obassi be praised,’ he said solemnly.
From behind the trees emerged about a dozen of them. They looked like men but were not. They were tall and wispy. They dressed in leaves and covered from head to clawed toes with grass that grew out of their bodies. They also possessed piercing green eyes.
One of them with the greenest eyes whispered to another who shook his head. ‘Leave here at once.’ he spoke in Traveller’s tongue.
Then, just as they had come, they disappeared.
I let out a long sigh of relief.
ErhuKome 