Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun by Tolá Okogwu

Available in the Richland Library collection in print and eAudiobook formats.

Onyeka has a lot of hair-—the kind that makes strangers stop in the street and her peers  whisper behind her back. At least she has Cheyenne, her best friend, who couldn’t care less  what other people think. Still, Onyeka has always felt insecure about her vibrant curls…until  the day Cheyenne almost drowns and Onyeka’s hair takes on a life of its own, inexplicably  pulling Cheyenne from the water.

At home, Onyeka’s mother tells her the shocking truth: Onyeka’s psycho-kinetic powers  make her a Solari, one of a secret group of people with super powers unique to Nigeria. Her  mother quickly whisks her off to the Academy of the Sun, a school in Nigeria where Solari are  trained. But Onyeka and her new friends at the academy soon have to put their powers to  the test as they find themselves embroiled in a momentous battle between truth and lies…