Oli and the Island of Intsomi (EBOEK)

<p>Ten-year-old Olinde Ukuthiywa has always felt like she doesn&rsquo;t quite belong. Her name means &ldquo;one waiting to be named,&rdquo; and while other children&rsquo;s names carry stories and meaning, hers only reminds her that her story hasn&rsquo;t begun yet. She dreams of having real friends and a name she can truly call her own.<br><br>But everything changes the night a mysterious clay pot shatters in her home, unleashing a powerful vulture who carries her away to the Island of Intsomi&mdash;a place of breathtaking beauty, ancient magic, and dangerous secrets.<br><br>On the island, children are well-fed, well-behaved&hellip; and slowly forgetting who they are. Under the rule of the ruthless King Prospero, stories are twisted into lies, and memories fade. With the help of her sharp-tongued companion Ntengu and a hidden community of animals, Oli discovers that she may be the last Storykeeper&mdash;part of a long line charged with protecting the power of iintsomi, the traditional stories that once connected worlds.<br><br>Armed with a mysterious ancestral necklace and the courage she didn&rsquo;t know she had, Oli must learn to find her voice, claim her identity, and tell a story powerful enough to break the king&rsquo;s hold. Because if she fails, the island&mdash;and every child on it&mdash;will be lost forever.<br><br>And this time, her story won&rsquo;t just be told&hellip; it will be written by her.<br><br><b>What sets this book apart?</b><br>∙ A magical middle-grade adventure rooted in Xhosa storytelling traditions.<br>∙ Strong female lead.<br>∙ Warm humour, emotional family stakes, animal trickster energy, and a clear book club/classroom hook around stories, names, language, and heritage<br><br><b>Educational/classroom hooks</b><br>Storytelling traditions; Xhosa words and songs; names and meanings; oral history; environmental imagery; courage and consent; critical thinking about whose stories are told and controlled.</p>