We Are Hunted

Gr 10 Up–Femi is forced to face his tumultuous relationship with his dad and brother, Dapo, during a trip to an exclusive island resort. All he really wants to do is work on his music and be left alone—or better yet, be understood. When he runs into Deja on the ferry to the island, he feels a glimmer of hope. Maybe this trip won’t be so bad after all. Maybe he can finally confess his feelings to her. But all of that quickly takes a backseat to the strangeness of the island. It starts with the animals. With their iridescent colors and bizarre features, they are unlike anything Femi’s ever seen. At times, they are menacing—aggressive, even—and bent on hunting him when he gets lost in an area that is clearly not part of the resort. As he gets drawn into the island’s secrets, chaos erupts. Will Femi and those he loves be able to escape? This novel reads like a bleak version of Jurassic Park with a Black cast of characters, and even more violence. While trudging through paragraphs of gore and betrayal, readers are left wondering why and get no good answers. Perhaps that is the point. Oyemakinde is exploring capitalism and its relationship with colonization, destruction of natural resources, and the complexity of living with the repercussions, and this novel forces readers to see and to reflect on their own place within the system of producer, consumer, and profit.