Binti is the story of a young Himba woman whose life and clan revolve around math and engineering. Her people never leave their home, so the news of her acceptance into Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy, is bittersweet. Binti loves learning, and the opportunity to participate in a program with such a fabulous reputation is of course very exciting. However, that means leaving her home, her family, her friends, everything she has known. It also means that her people will not necessarily see her the same way, as they don’t believe their people should leave. I really liked this element of the story. Binti is trying to do something she loves, learn as much as she can, but cultural tradition and expectations force her to feel like she is not just journeying to a far away school, but abandoning protocol in a way that will alienate her from everything she has ever known forever. That is a very hard choice to make! Binti herself, as a character? What can I say? She is a woman who loves math. As a person who took 400 level math classes for fun in college, this immediately endeared…