Publishers Weekly
★ 04/17/2023
Sixteen-year-old Nigeria Jones explores complex relationships with her famous freedom-fighter father and her all-Black commune in this striking portrait by Zoboi (Star Child). All her life, Nigeria has been homeschooled by teachers in the Movement, a Black activist community created by her father. But a year after her mother abruptly leaves, Nigeria learns that she wanted Nigeria to attend a majority-white Quaker high school, contrary to her father’s wishes and the Movement’s teachings and ideals. Nigeria chooses to attend anyway, and this decision causes ripple effects throughout her community and proves to have drastic implications for her relationship with her dad. These first steps outside her comfort zone help Nigeria learn more about who she is and who she might want to become, and with that knowledge comes a new understanding of what it means to choose one’s own life path. Through Nigeria’s powerfully resonant first-person voice, Zoboi’s mesmerizing storytelling soars. The novel’s chapter headers and narrative structure recall the framework of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, providing a fitting foundation for thorough interrogations of love and loyalty, personal and communal history, spirituality, and white supremacy and misogyny. Ages 13–up. Agent: Elena Giovinazzo, Pippin Properties. (May)
From the Publisher
Through Nigeria’s powerfully resonant first-person voice, Zoboi’s mesmerizing storytelling soars.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Zoboi artfully introduces each chapter through an epigraph, each a quote either altered to center or by Black women, and structures the book by article, ultimately creating the Constitution of Nigeria Jones. These stylistic choices echo the themes of Black girlhood and intersectionality seamlessly woven throughout Nigeria’s story. A beautifully constructed portrait of one young woman growing into her own that will move readers to deeply consider the very same questions Nigeria must answer for herself.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
“This book calls for deep discussions about the roles of Black women in the Black freedom struggle as well as the role of young people in these movements…. An opportunity for teen readers to begin grappling with their own ideas of what the revolution looks like.” — Horn Book (starred review)
“Zoboi tells a singular story of a singular girl, and Nigeria Jones opens wide and welcoming arms to readers.” — BookPage (starred review)
“An emotional journey…. It is through this story that we see the multilayered truth of Black identity.” — ALA Booklist
“[Nigeria’s] personal journey toward emotional and radical self-honesty shapes this superb story.… A thoughtful reflection of real multilayered freedom struggles within Black diasporic communities. A strong declaration for supporting, loving, and empowering all Black women everywhere.” — Kirkus Reviews
“An elaborate structure and ideological boldness truly set Zoboi’s novel apart.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"Nigeria Jones is an unwavering proclamation of Black girlhood that stretches far beyond surface ideas of strength, tenacity, and survival. This is a story that plunges head first into the nuances of a teenage girl's personhood, while contemplating what it means to be seen as a small part of a whole. Ibi Zoboi offers a bold meditation on what it means to question your place in, while being critical of, a community that has always been your home. Here, she asks: what does a Black girl do with her guilt and her grief in the midst of all her power?" — Candice Iloh, author of National Book Award finalist Every Body Looking
"To read Nigeria Jones is to have the honor of being invited to one of the most unapologetically Black, womanist, and liberating worlds ever penned. Ibi Zoboi has masterfully woven together a story that explores the dynamism of marginalized people who have often been erased from American literary canon. Through Nigeria and other deeply compelling characters, Ibi has written a love letter to any and everyone who has yearned to feel seen, fought for survival, and been driven by the hope of freedom. If there is a list of essential books for young people, Nigeria Jones MUST be on it." — Frederick Joseph, New York Times Bestselling Author
"Nigeria Jones is a passionate, powerful, and fearless novel about grief and discovering one's own true identity. A brilliant coming-of-age declaration." — Malinda Lo, National Book Award–winning author of Last Night at the Telegraph Club
"The bravest book—about the bravest teenage girl doing the absolute bravest things—I've read in a long time. That we would all learn to move, think, live, and LOVE as fervently as Nigeria Jones." — Nic Stone, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin
June 2023 - AudioFile
Marcella Cox portrays 16-year-old Nigeria Jones, whose father views her as a warrior princess for his Black nationalist movement. Cox also captures the sadness and confusion Nigeria has felt since her mother left. Cox amplifies these emotions when Nigeria leaves home to attend the largely white private school her mother selected for her--which her father opposes. Cox heightens Nigeria's anger at her father's attempts to control her and her longing for her mother as her world expands and she examines Black identity, misogyny, homophobia, and stereotyping. As Nigeria grows emotionally and she realizes what she wants, Cox's performance especially shines. Though the story includes elements that address the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, it's Cox's depiction of Nigeria listeners will remember. S.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2023-02-25
Until her mother left them, 16-year-old Nigeria Jones never questioned her father’s revolutionary vision.
As the daughter of famous Black nationalist Kofi Sankofa, it’s up to Nigeria to help raise Freedom, her baby brother, in the Movement, “whose mission is to divest from oppressive systems and create an all-Black utopia.” That means working to maintain the Village House, the home where members who need a place for healing or hearth to welcome them can stay until they get on their feet and spread the message of the Movement elsewhere. It means continuing to build the Movement’s Freedom School, completing research for her father’s books, and filling in any of the gaps left by her mother’s absence until she comes back. Nigeria knows she will come back. It does not mean sneaking off to a Quaker prep school that’s the opposite of everything her father stands for. However, when the misogyny of the Movement chips away at Nigeria’s fealty, that’s exactly where she goes. Her tumultuous personal journey toward emotional and radical self-honesty shapes this superb story of a girl missing her mother and terrified of missing out on a life that she chooses for herself. Readers may feel some themes would have benefitted from deeper exploration; still, the complexities of intracommunity gender marginalization within the Movement are a thoughtful reflection of real multilayered freedom struggles within Black diasporic communities.
A strong declaration for supporting, loving, and empowering all Black women everywhere. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)
