“A vivid and tender portrait of a teenager learning to navigate adult emotions, survive deracination and discover who she is inside.” —Financial Times, Best Summer Books 2023
Shortlisted for the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards
Longlisted for the 2024 Jhalak Prize
It's 1990, and Lily is a sixteen-year-old girl living in Manchester, England. It has been five years since her father’s death, and she is soon to return to her birthplace in Nigeria to reunite with her mother and siblings for the anniversary.
As cold rain thunders on the British streets, Lily flashes back to her childhood in Lagos. The biracial daughter of a Nigerian father and an Irish mother, Lily lives a dual reality as a child, with moments of joy existing alongside her father's increasingly erratic and violent behavior, which is due to a stage illness Lily doesn't understand called schizophrenia.
As the streets of Lagos erupt in violence due to a coup, things with Lily's father reach a breaking point, and she is sent away to live with a family in England. As a confused and shy child thrust into a foreign country, Lily must deal with a new school and new friends, while longing for what she left behind in Nigeria.
In the vein of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, My Life As A Chameleon is is a powerful story of resilience and belonging across different cultures, and about how family secrets can destroy even the deepest bonds.
BIO
Diana Anyakwo grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. She is of mixed Irish and Nigerian heritage. She moved to the UK when she was a teenager and later graduated from the University of Manchester with a degree in Molecular Biology and a Masters in Bioreactor Systems. She spent three years in Athens, Greece where she taught English and worked as an editor at an educational publisher. Her debut young adult novel My Life as a Chameleon has been shortlisted for the 2024 KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards and longlisted for the 2024 Jhalak Children’s and YA prize. Her writing has appeared in The Telegraph and Black Ballad magazine. She currently lives and works in Manchester as a freelance writer and editor of English Language teaching materials. She loves reading, writing, and binge-watching TV series. She also loves going for long walks to help get inspiration for her writing.
REVIEWS
Paper 61 Anticipated African Books of 2023
"A vivid and tender portrait of a teenager learning to navigate adult emotions, survive deracination and discover who she is inside.” -- Financial Times, Best Summer Books 2023
“Told with an authenticity that shines through…A book for anyone who's felt lonely, misunderstood or out of place, who’s had to switch who they are to blend in or disappear.” -- The British Blacklist
“Lily’s resilience and spirit shines through in this complicated depiction of family relationships. A quietly powerful debut from Irish-Nigerian author Diana Anyakwo that would appeal to fans of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, here’s hoping for more from this talented new voice.” -- Children’s Books Ireland
“It’s written so thoughtfully, and we cheer on Lily as she works out who she is. The descriptions of the heat and bustle of Lagos and 1980s dreary Manchester are excellent; they stay with you as you think about her life.” -- Book Clubs in Schools, 3 Books to Read Now
“In My Life as a Chameleon, Diana Anyakwo gifts pre-teen and teen readers with a young adult novel that skillfully and artistically explores some of the most pressing issues we are grappling with in the adult world today.” -- Brittle Paper
“An exceptional debut which captures the reader from the beginning and doesn't let go until the very end. It's a journey of both hope and despair, a story of empowerment, of self-discovery, bravery and courage in the face of family trauma and emotional turmoil. It's hard to believe that this emotionally charged book is a debut.” -- J P Rose, bestselling author of The Haunting of Tyrese Walker
[H] Igkids / August 13, 2024
288 pages
For ages 13 to 17