Binti and Binti: Home

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, 90 pages.
Binti Home by Nnedi Okorafor, 164 pages.

Binti, of the Himba people on Earth, is a master harmonizer, and a maker of astrolabes. Her family believes that she will take over for her father in both these roles. She is also the first of her people to be offered a place at Oomza University. Her accepting this place and leaving her world will severely damage her relationship with her family and damage her standing among her people. No one will marry a girl who has run away. The first book opens as she decides to travel across the galaxy on a Khoush ship anyway. Her longing for the knowledge she will gain at Oomza outweighs her fear of To make matters worse, on the long journey to Oomza Binti's ship is attacked by the Meduse, sworn enemy of the Khoush. Binti must use what she has learned from her father (and from a strange artifact that she has found) to keep herself alive.
In the second volume, Binti returns to Earth, bringing along her Meduse friend, Okwu, and tries to repair her relationship with her family. The changes she has endured, and secrets her father has kept from her, ensure that the path she takes will not be the one she imagined. Binti won a Hugo award last year, and Binti: Home is nominated for a Hugo this year. Excellent stories.