The Teen Room is transforming into Orisha from the Legacy of Orisha trilogy for World of Reading on Saturday March 29th from 10-1. The books are New York Times best-sellers and the first book of the series, Children of Blood and Bone, is being adapted into a movie scheduled for release in early 2027.
The books are fantasy, but feature a lot of aspects of the real-life culture and religion of the Yoruba people from West Africa.
Tomi Adeyemi is the author behind The Legacy of Orisha. She was born-and-raised in Illinois and is the daughter of Yoruba immigrants from Nigeria. After graduating with Honors from Harvard University, she took a fellowship studying Yoruba culture in Salvador, Brazil where many ancestors of Yoruba people still live. It helped her connect to her own cultural heritage and shortly afterwards, she began writing Children of Blood and Bone (which took 18 months).
In 2018, it debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best-seller list and won the prestigious Nebula Award (selected by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association). She followed that with Children of Virtue and Vengeance (2019) and Children of Anguish and Anarchy (2024), both of which also spent significant time on the New York Times best-seller list.
You can start reading (or re-reading) the books by checking them out with your free DeKalb Public Library card. You can find them in the glass case display in front of the Teen Room or you can place a hold or check out an ebook here. If you’re interested in more information about World of Reading feel free to contact the Teen Room at 815-756-9568 (ext. 2450) or by e-mail at [email protected]. We’re excited to give you a taste of Orisha on Saturday.