Sci-Fi Book Group: Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor
Binti is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer exacts a high price: Binti must give up her place in her family to make her way in a world that has long been at war with the Meduse, a nightmarish alien race.