Ato hasnât visited his grandmotherâs house since he was seven. Heâs heard the rumors that sheâs a witch, and his mother has told him that he must never sit on the old couch on her porch. Now here he is, on that exact couch, with a strangelooking drink his grandmother has given him, wondering if the rumors are true. Whatâs more, thereâs a freshly dug hole in her yard that Ato suspects may be a grave meant for him.
Meanwhile, at school, Ato and his friends have entered a competition to win entry to Nnoma, the island bird sanctuary that Atoâs father helped create. But something is poisoning the community garden where their project is housed, and Ato sets out to track down the culprit. In doing so, he brings his estranged mother and grandmother back together, and begins healing the wounds left on the family by his fatherâs death years before.
And that hole in the yard? It is a grave, but not for the purpose Ato feared, and its use brings a tender, celebratory ending to this deeply felt and universal story of healing and love from one of Ghanaâs most admired childrenâs authors.