Book cover
History
Save

The Song of Tiyya

By Julia Kurnia
Level three
Seventh grade
Core curriculum

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Curriculum details


Level three: Intermediate children’s literature   ·   See more level three books
Seventh grade
Core curriculum

About


A historical fiction mystery set at the height of the Mali Empire in 14th-century West Africa, about an abandoned princess and an apprentice bard who team up to investigate a plot to assassinate the king, Mansa Musa.

This book depicts the cultural richness of a great African civilization before the rise of the transatlantic slave trade, a subject that has often been neglected in literature and education despite its importance to the heritage of Americans.

The book features griots, or traditional oral storytellers, reciting the Sundiata epic. You can view a real-life griot performance of Sundiata here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOS78ul1_rA