Tristan Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia is the latest novel from Rick Riordan's Disney-Hyperion imprint, Rick Riordan Presents. Riordan's personal branch of the Disney-Hyperion family publishes around four books a year that continue to teach children through reading about the myths, folk tales and creation stories found throughout the world. Even more important, these books are written by those who grew up in those same cultures and know it best just as Riordan revolutionized Greek and Roman mythology a decade ago.
Kwame Mbalia chose a tall task for his first novel. Tristan Punches a Hole in the Sky has the title character navigating a strange new world where Anansi, John Henry, Brer Rabbit and other American folk heroes are real. Brer Rabbit has become a controversial figure in recent years. The trickster and the stories involved evoke many comparisons with Anansi and Nanabozho. However, many now believe that Brer Rabbit is based on Leuk, or Luk. In Senegal, an oral tradition has passed down many tales about this hare who's a trickster just like Brer Rabbit. Enslaved people from Senegal bought these tales to the New World and adapted them. The subject of slavery and racially degrading depictions of these enslaved people in adaptations, including Disney's Song of the South, have made Brer Rabbit more appealing to scholars than actual children. This book doesn't shy away from slavery but it reaches back to that oral tradition of turning real fears and hurt into monsters that can be defeated or at the very least...tricked; encouraging the middle grade readers it's aimed toward to rediscover the old characters.
Tristan Strong is a contemporary young man and that can often feel like navigating two worlds. His family has certain expectations about what a man should be while his friends and society have other ideas just like many of the book's readers. Strong is grieving the death of his best friend which he blames on himself. When he's sent to his grandparents' Alabama farm for the summer, his only consolation is his friend's notebook of old folktales and legends. One night, it's stolen by a magical creature and in the fight to get it back, Strong finds his inner fight between two worlds is now a literal one. To make matters even worse, the new magical land is in the middle of a battle that will need him to team up with Brer Rabbit and everyone his friend had always told him about.
It's going to be an exciting read!!!
Title: TRISTAN STRONG PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE SKY
Author: Kwame Mbalia
Pub. Date: October 1, 2019
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion, Rick Riordan Presents
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook
Pages: 496
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Want to know more about Kwame Mbalia?
Mbalia is a husband, father, writer, and pharmaceutical metrologist in that order. His debut middle-grade novel, TRISTAN STRONG PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE SKY (October 15, 2019) is published by Rick Riordan Presents/Disney-Hyperion. A Howard University graduate and a Midwesterner now in North Carolina, he enjoys impromptu dance sessions and Cheezits.
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10/31/2019- Fyrekatz Blog- Review
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