Catalyst

Based on a true incident, this beautifully rendered and rousing graphic novel will give readers naïve about Belgian colonialism an entry point for understanding viewpoints and outcomes.

Winner of the prestigious Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa when it was first published 10 years ago, this raw coming-of-age novel will resonate with its new audiences for its all-embracing tale of young people eager to escape poverty but with too few choices.

The finale has some twisty plot developments, but it’s hardly worth wading through the amateurish prose, mostly unlikable characters, and gratuitous depictions of sexual assault in this overall clumsy and misogynistic technothriller.