tristan strong punches a hole in the sky by kwame mbalia

Try finding stories about modern kids who encounter African-American folk legends like High John, John Henry and Brer Rabbit. Try finding great adventures based on Western African gods and heroes like Nyame or Anansi. Greek myths are great! But you can’t swing a gorgon’s head in any bookstore without hitting at least a dozen Greek-myth-inspired books. Can Tristan save this world before he loses more of the things he loves?ĭon’t get me wrong. But bartering with the trickster Anansi always comes at a price. In order to get back home, Tristan and these new allies will need to entice the god Anansi, the Weaver, to come out of hiding and seal the hole in the sky. Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle that has left black American gods John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted. In a last attempt to wrestle the journal out of the creature’s hands, Tristan punches the tree, accidentally ripping open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters that are hunting the inhabitants of this world. Tristan chases after it - is that a doll? - and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree.

But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up in his bedroom and steals Eddie’s journal.

Tristan is dreading the month he’s going to spend on his grandparents’ farm in Alabama, where he’s being sent to heal from the tragedy. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Seventh-grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together.

Tristan strong punches a hole in the sky by kwame mbalia