The Black Pages (Black Stars, #2)

by Nnedi Okorafor

Timbouctou was normally so quiet; most people in the world viewed it as a city in the middle of nowhere.

“Sure, sure, but spirits and djinn always linger when there is something to linger for.”

Education and the future were important, but family was the true elixir of life.

They seem to want to destroy all things that are about knowledge, history, and free thought.”