KARIBA, filmmaker duo creates beautiful middle-grade fable of the Zambezi River's fight for life

KARIBA
DANIEL CLARKE & JAMES CLARKE (illus. Daniel Snaddon)
Catalyst Press
$19.95 paperback, available now

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: The daughter of a river god, raised by a human father and bound to a tragic destiny. An African fantasy-adventure graphic novel inspired by the mythology of the Zambezi River and the history of the Kariba Dam, one of the largest dams ever constructed.
From the director of Aau’s Song, a Star Wars: Visions film from Lucasfilm, and the director of the 2023 NYICFF award-winning The Smeds and the Smoos

Siku has always called the Zambezi River her home. She understands the water—and strangely enough, it seems to understand her, too, bending to her will and coming to her aid in times of need. But things are changing on the river—a great dam is being built, displacing thousands of Shonga people—and things are changing in Siku, too, as her ability to manipulate water grows out of control, and visions of a great serpent pull her further from reality and her loving father, Tongai.

When Tongai ventures to the Kariba Dam to find a cure for Siku and never returns, she sets off to find him with the help of Amedeo, the young son of Kariba’s chief engineer. Together, they traverse elephant graveyards, rugged jungles, and ancient ruins, outrunning pirates, bootleggers, and shape-shifting prophets ready to use Siku to their own advantage. But Siku soon discovers that her father has been shielding a terrible secret: Siku is actually the daughter of the Great River Spirit, Nyaminyami, and the only way to bring about the necessary rumuko—a ritual which has brought balance to the Zambezi for centuries—is for Siku to give up the only life she's ever known.

With the future of the Shonga resting on her shoulders, Siku must journey to the source of the river to understand the ancient power hidden within her.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: An African setting for an environmental fable of the costs incurred through thoughtless action is something I think any tween reader will resonate with...especially those whose faces are shamefully uncommon to see in US bookshops:

The gorgeousness of the artwork is hard to overstate:

...the message is one I hope anyone I know will support delivering to kids of all ages, and it is hard to conjure a better way to get the message of mindfulness and balance when dealing with the environment across. The fact that young Siku has to gear herself up to fight the forces of the adult world that have no sense of the sacred nature of the river they choose to exploit is a wonderful message as well.

Showing the young generation that has to clean up what my generation made filthy that they *can* fight the powers that be is a terrific use of the Yule gifting season. What better book to give for #Booksgiving, the time when sitting quietly and enjoying a story is the point of the holiday?