The Case of the Missing Kolo (Korobá #1)

Onajin (Oh No, Ojó!) evokes Scooby-Doo vibes in this energetic caper, a graphic novel debut. Fishing is a way of life in 10-year-old Korobá’s small coastal village in Makoko, Nigeria. Though Korobá doesn’t like eating fish, she knows how important aquatic life is to her hardworking community. As the village readies for the Makoko Harvest Festival, an annual event that celebrates the spirit of the maritime community, Korobá and her dog, Popi, visit her friends Saidat and Jọba, both of whom are eager to participate in the upcoming festivities. During the harvest festival, children can finally break open their Kolo boxes, wooden piggy banks in which they’ve deposited all the money they’ve managed to make over the past year. But when, two days before the event, Saidat’s Kolo goes missing, Korobá leads her friends in an investigation to uncover who could have taken it. Despite their lengthy list of suspects, Korobá cautions her fellow sleuths against indicting someone based on unsubstantiated evidence, but tension among the trio runs high as the clock rapidly winds down toward the festival. Saturated hues inject warmth into straightforwardly paneled comics that center the everyday trials and triumphs of a vibrant fishing community. Ages 7–11. (Feb.)