Nahia

February 1, 2025
In a world inspired by prehistoric Europe, a teen girl is stripped of her status when she insists that her people must change their traditions in order to survive. Nahia, who's proud of her "first daughter" status in the Sea People's matriarchal culture, struggles to remain silent as food grows scarce and people repeat tales of violent bands of strangers. Despite her twin sister Izara's pleas, Nahia questions their mother the headwoman's leadership and is sent to live with shaman Eneko on the camp's fringes. Heartbroken Nahia grows to admire Eneko and travels with him to his home in a mountain valley. Eneko and Hodei, a woman shaman from the Salamander People, teach Nahia to use vision-inducing plants. When one of her visions reveals that the Sea People may have been taken by marauders, Nahia knows she must return to the coast even though she'll desperately miss Eneko. But upon finding her band, Nahia is astonished to discover her sister is happy living among the agricultural invaders, and she must reassess her judgment of what's best for the Sea People's survival. Archaeologist Jones' fiction debut incorporates details about the material culture and practices of the peoples of the European Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. Nahia's first-person narration brings immediacy to the narrative although some dialogue feels calculated to educate readers, slowing the pace. Nahia's people typically have brown skin, blue eyes, and dark hair. An interesting story unfolding in an unusual setting. (family tree, historical notes)(Fiction. 13-18)

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March 1, 2025
Grades 9-12 Set 7,900 years ago in prehistoric Spain, this debut traces the destiny of a strong, appealing heroine: Nahia, 18, first daughter of the Sea People. Her mother, Headwoman Abene, stubbornly refuses to take action when faced with the depletion of their lands and reports of strangers attacking similar coastal bands and building settlements nearby. Nahia speaks up and is abruptly dismissed, apprenticed to a young visiting shaman, Eneko. She makes the wrenching decision to leave her people and journey to Eneko's distant home. He teaches her to use a bow and medicinal plants, to connect with the forest's tsairiu (half-animal, half-spirit beings), and to receive visions. As they grow closer, they fall in love. But a vision of her mother and sister in danger forces Nahia to choose between her newfound empowerment and familial duty. Daily life during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition (from foraging to agricultural societies) is sharply drawn and accompanied by extensive back matter by the author, an archaeologist. This impressive work addresses the responsibilities of leadership, the inevitability of change, and the effects of civilization on the natural world.

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