We Are Akan: Our People and Our Kingdom in the Rainforest - Ghana, 1807 -

by Dorothy Brown Soper, James Cloutier (Illustrator)

Overview

In a richly illustrated story set in the Asante Kingdom of 1807, Kwame, Kwaku, and Baako strive to become leaders in the Akan culture. They farm, learn spear throwing, take part in ceremonies and dances, and listen to stories while gaining an understanding of the rainforest and its animals. In the capital city to see the king and the Golden Stool and take part in an important festival, the boys encounter the wider kingdom: fine crafts, livestock, foreign people and books, and witness the sale of prisoners as slaves. Kwaku cares for a leopard cub that the king wants returned to the forest. Traveling to the coast, Kwame and Baako are kidnapped and threatened with sale as slaves. The Asante Kingdom faces rebellion and the decline of its role in the Atlantic slave trade. Change will come. Kwame, Kwaku, and Baako balance the life they know with new possibilities for their future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643880686
Publisher:	Luminare Press
Publication date:	10/16/2020
Pages:	358
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.74(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Dorothy Brown Soper worked with Akan students and teachers in Ghana for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching French in a rural boarding high school. Returning to the U.S., she earned an MA in African history with plans to introduce Americans to Africa. She has developed and taught many units on African history and culture for elementary classes. We Are Akan is her first novel. Visit her at www.dorothybrownsoper.com.

James worked in Kenya as a Peace Corps volunteer creating audio-visual materials to train land recipients in cash crop farming. He specializes in illustrations, caricatures, and cartoons.

Editorial Reviews

03/29/2021

Offering up a historical adventure featuring African culture and the Akan tribe in the Asante Kingdom, Soper’s debut middle reader follows the circuitous lives of three young boys: Kwame, the chief's son; Kwaku, the chief’s heir; and Baako, a slave hoping to earn his freedom. Friends from a young age, though individually different and on divergent paths, the boys experience life lessons together and find themselves in dire situations that they must escape. Peppered with beautiful illustrations, and offering history and knowledge of the Akan clans, Soper weaves a powerful coming of age story set against a rich display of African culture.

Engaging characters will keep young readers involved, and Soper’s use of the native tongue, Twi, lends authenticity to the story as We Are Akan touches on the history of the Akan tribe leading up to and during the Atlantic Slave Trade and the voyages that originally carried African people to North America. Opening chapters deliver a crash course on the class system, the commerce industry, and the daily lives of the Akan people, with absorbing specifics like the spearing of a cobra and the “smoked fish that he carried wrapped in a leaf on top of a flat rock.”

At the end of the book, Soper includes a more thorough “Introduction to the Akan People,” covering, among other topics, their deep-seated extended family structure and formidable army. For readers not already well-versed in the Akan culture, this might have proven more helpful at the start. James Cloutier’s illustrations offer snapshots of daily Akan life, including acts such as pounding fufu (a well-known African dish) and the “Descent of the Golden Stool,” a festival ritual honoring Akan legend.This story’s action-packed, educational style will resonate with readers of all ages looking to gain knowledge of African history and charm those seeking a narrative that features diverse history and characters.

Takeaway: This richly historical African adventure will entertain and inform young readers and their parents.

Great for fans of: Kwame Mbalia's Tristan Strong Punches A Hole In The Sky, Beverley Naidoo’s Burn My Heart.

Production grades Cover: C Design and typography: A Illustrations: A+ Editing: A Marketing copy: A

BookLife Reviews

We are Akan is a beautifully told work of historical fiction about the Akan people of Ghana’s powerful Asante Kingdom. Set in 1807, the plot revolves around the lives and activities of three young boys aged 10-13.

"In sum, this is a captivating, well-written, and informative book about an important period and people in West African history. Readers will enjoy learning about the rich culture and traditions of the Akan people wrapped in a tale of adventure.

“Detailed illustrations by James Cloutier enhance the reading experience.

“…useful for classroom instruction.

Charlotte Kukundakwe, Outreach University of Kansas - Africa Access Review

You rarely come across books of this caliber in your lifetime…Kwame, Baako, and Kwaku are three very smart and powerful characters. They have an innocence that I am sure will resonate with younger readers, yet they have an air of intelligence as they grow and develop…We Are Akan is a highly recommended book! 5 Stars

Readers' Favorite - Rabia Tanveer

2021-02-22
A trip to the capital helps three boys from the Asante Kingdom learn more about themselves, their culture, and the wider world in this debut historical novel for middle graders.

In 1807, the Asante Kingdom (roughly corresponding to modern-day Ghana) is the most powerful nation in West Africa. The dominant ethnic group is the Akan, who enslave prisoners of war, called nnonko. Two Akan boys—Kwaku, 11, and Kwame, 12—and Baako, 13, an enslaved Gurunsi boy, live in the town of Tanoso, where Kwame’s father is chief. It’s time to learn adult skills: throwing a spear, trading in the marketplace, figuring out how taxes work, repairing a roof, thinking and speaking with care, and more. In their matrilineal society, Kwaku—the chief’s elder sister’s son—could become chief if he proves his worth, and Baako’s hard work could earn him his freedom through being adopted. As part of their leadership education, the boys are invited to make the eight-day trip to the Asante capital, Kumasi, for an important festival. It’s an exciting crossroads where the boys see many new sights, including horses and the written word. When Kwame and Baako are kidnapped to be sold into slavery, they face a frightening ordeal that confronts them with their complicated world. With her novel, Soper makes the rich Akan culture come alive through the boys’ need for an education, a natural way to present captivating details. The morality of slavery is considered from several angles. For example, what happens to enslaved people who are sold to Whites is a question dismissed as unknowable. But the book is slowed down by much repetition, such as reiterating the fact that ceremonial stools are painted black to indicate the owners’ deaths. Cloutier provides numerous, well-composed monochrome illustrations that give useful context for unfamiliar elements. Helpful resources are included.

An immersive and thoughtful historical novel that explores West Africa in 1807. (glossary, bibliography)

Kirkus Reviews