ALA Booklist (Fri Sep 16 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

When Simi has to leave her home in Lagos to stay with her grandmother in a remote village, she isn't happy about being separated from the only life she knows. Simi quickly learns that the village is harboring a secret, one that involves a magical lake and the village's missing children. With the help of her priestess grandmother and new friends, Simi must use her wits to save the village from the ire of warring goddesses and a nefarious, magical bird. Traoré's writing is enchanting, and it immerses readers into the colorful, rich world of Yoruba mythology. Simi is a protagonist readers can root for, while the charming cast of side characters provides the reader with a multitude of personalities to enjoy. Traoré's world building is admirable, easily moving from the cityscape of Lagos to the quaint Ajao to the land where the children of quicksand live. This vibrant and imaginative fantasy celebrates the beauty and complexity of Nigeria and will appeal to fans of mythology-based fantasy adventures.

Kirkus Reviews

A Nigerian city girl visits her estranged grandmother in a remote village and is confronted with family secrets.Thirteen-year-old Simi has only known Lagos-until her mother needs to go to London for work. Her parents are divorced, and Simi can't stay with her perpetually busy father, so she is reluctantly shipped off to spend her summer vacation with her maternal grandmother in Ajao, a remote village with no modern technology. Soon after her exhausting journey by bus and taxi, Simi goes for a walk and is drawn to go the wrong way-into the forest and toward a forbidden lake, where she is briefly transported to a different world, something she at first believes is a dream. Although her staunchly Christian mother does not want her exposed to the Yoruba gods and goddesses her grandmother follows, Simi later learns a story that is connected to her family about Oshun, the river and water goddess. As more children are lured toward the lake, Simi feels compelled to come forward and risk everything to heal the wounds in her family and help the village that has come to feel like home. Traoré's debut is brimming with earnest, admiring details about Yoruba culture and traditions that are woven into the worldbuilding. As Simi's fast-paced adventure unfolds, readers will be swept away by the limited omniscient narration in this plot-driven story with a strong sense of place.A captivating adventure about the strength of love and family. (author's note, glossary) (Fantasy. 8-12)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

When 13-year-old Simi travels from Lagos to the rural Nigerian village of Ajao to spend her summer holidays with Iyanla, the estranged grandmother she’s never met, she is not sure how she’s going to last two full months without electricity or running water, let alone TV, internet, or phone. But Simi soon discovers that beneath its sleepy surface, Ajao is a town brimming with magic—and a mystery around the forest on the edge of town, in which children seem to disappear. As Simi begins to unravel the tragedies and secrets surrounding Ajao, her mother’s never-discussed past, and the forbidden lake in the forest’s heart, a mystical golden bird tempts more and more children to stray from home. Alongside her wise and esteemed grandmother and a few new friends, Simi searches for answers and bravely risks it all to make Ajao—and her family—whole again. Sleekly weaving together otherworldly occurrences, elements of the hero’s journey, and Yoruba legend in vivid, place-centered prose, this action-packed debut from Traoré will keep readers engaged in the mysteries of Ajao. An author’s note and glossary of Yoruba words conclude. Ages 8–12. (July)