My Life As A Chameleon

“This often gut-wrenching tale delves with honesty and insight into
biracial and bicultural identity, mental health struggles, racism, and other topics that will
resonate widely.”—Kirkus, “Small Press Gems”

“…explores themes of physical abuse, colorism, and racism in a well-developed setting. A touching story of resilience.”—Kirkus

“In My Life As a Chameleon, Anyakwo renders this emotional tale with such a truthful and realistic eye that one feels like they’re reading a memoir. Lily asks important questions about her multiple identities as she navigates the confusing, messy, and often violent adult world. An absorbing, sometimes painful, but ultimately hopeful tale of survival.”—Veera Hiranandani, author, The Night Diary

Shortlisted for the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards
Longlisted for the 2024 Jhalak Prize
“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

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 sidewalks, Lily flashes back to her childhood in Lagos. The biracial daughter of a Nigerian father and an Irish mother, Lily lives a dual reality, with moments of joy existing alongside her father’s increasingly erratic and violent behavior, which is due to a strange illness that Lily doesn’t understand called schizophrenia.

As the streets of Lagos erupt in violence due to a coup, things with her father reach a breaking point, and Lily 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 the life she left behind in Nigeria.

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. 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 Prize. Diana’s writing has appeared in The Telegraph and Black Ballad magazine. She currently lives and works in Manchester.