“Agony and its relief, anxiety and serenity, despair and hope pulsate on the pages and bring into very vivid relief the human capacity to bear pain and overcome it. BOOM BOOM gives Sickle Cell Anaemia immense clarity in an absorbing and engulfing style’ – Judges’ Report, Nigeria Prize for Literature
BOOM BOOM
by Jude Idada
Swift Press, June 2023
(via Randle Editorial & Literary)
Osaik is an eight-year-old boy. He is charming and has an unusual ability to hear things no one else hears. But his world is thrown into disarray when a debilitating disease takes his mother from him. Despite his grief, he has to find a way of saving his little sister, Eghe, from the same disease. Alongside his dad, and Kompa his dog, they begin a race to get her all the help she needs. In this dramatic, fast-paced story of loss, faith, and hope, the limits of love, sacrifice, friendship, loyalty, and family ties are tested as the struggle to save his sister’s life brings Osaik and those around him to a new knowledge of the world they can see, the world they cannot see, and the part of themselves they never knew existed.
Winner of the Nigeria Prize for Literature
Jude Idada is an award-winning screenwriter, actor, poet and playwright. BOOM BOOM is the first of his books to be published outside of Nigeria.

Nan was all the family Mo ever needed. But suddenly she’s gone, and Mo finds herself in foster care after her uncle decides she’s not worth sticking around for.
Ever since Esme met Cassandra Heaven and discovered the truth about their shared legacy—that they’re Sitters, supernaturally gifted teens tasked with protecting the innocent from evil—her life has been moving at 90 mph. During the day, she chases wild toddlers, and at night, she employs a different skill set for a different kind of demon. Like, literal ones. And sometimes it’s almost fun. Her spells are getting better, her telekinesis is on point, and now that Esme’s dad and her best friend Janis know the truth, she’s no longer lying to the people she loves. She’s also learned that there’s a way to undo her mother’s curse, and with the Synod out of the picture, she might even have a chance to do it.
After Eliza’s home in Houston is destroyed by Hurricane Harvey, she is forced to transfer to Southwest High School. Traumatized by the floods and anxious in her new surroundings, Eliza throws herself into environmental activism, even if it’s against the wishes of her big-oil dad.