Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia Series: Tristan Strong #1
Also in this series: , Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky
Published by Rick Riordan Presents on October 15, 2019
Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Pages: 496
Source: NetGalley, Blog Tour
Cover Artist: Eric Wilkerson
My content rating: MG (Deals with themes of death & slavery---but not directly; Some violence)
My rating:
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. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. 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. But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up in his bedroom and steals Eddie’s journal. Tristan chases after it-–is that a doll?-–and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree. 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 finds himself in the middle of a battle that has left black American gods John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted. 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. But bartering with the trickster Anansi always comes at a price. Can Tristan save this world before he loses more of the things he loves?
Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD
This book is absolutely packed with rich storytelling—both African and African American folklore that many middle graders have probably never encountered before. It’s difficult to even unpack how many different stories are rolled into this adventure and brought to life in a new way. (I’d actually love it if Rick Riordan Presents would do a companion that goes deeper into each individual tale, sort of like the Greek Gods companions that were done for the Percy Jackson Series). This book would be perfect to use in a classroom setting because I believe it will inspire kids to want to learn more about the folklore and mythology behind characters like Nyami, Brer Rabbit, John Henry, High John and Gum Baby.
Tristan Strong is just getting over the sting of his first boxing match—and his first defeat. He feels like he’s let the adults in his life (who all have high expectations of him—especially his grandfather) down. But, more than that, he’s trying to pull himself out of the depression and guilt that has surrounded him since his best friend’s death. When he goes to visit his grandparents farm in rural Alabama, the Chicago city-boy feels like a fish out of water. When his best friend’s journal is stolen by Gum Baby and Tristan ends up in a magical land filled with folk heroes, he feels like a fish in the desert!!
This book is beautifully-written, and it’s filled with a fabulous mixture of adventure and heart. Not only does Tristan have to defeat the monsters he’s unleashed on the folkloric world, but he also has to come to terms with his sadness and guilt over the loss of his friend—no small task. The story weaves the folk characters and gods in seamlessly and also brings in themes of slavery without being overly bleak or obvious about it (the symbolism of the villain in the story is beautiful as is the theme of stories that must be told, even when they’re difficult and we’d rather forget them). Once again, I feel like these themes could be explored even more in a classroom setting.
The book is long for a middle grade novel (especially a first book in a series—it seems like often those first books are shorter and then they get thicker as the series progresses), but there’s a lot to pack into this story. And while there is a very slight lull in the book when Tristan first gets to the mysterious folklore land, everything is tied together handily and it all becomes apparent why certain things happened early on in the end!
Magical and filled to the brim with folklore, this first book in the Tristan Strong Series certainly packs a punch!
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley and FFBC blog tours in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
About the Author
Kwame 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.
Cover Artist Links:
3 winners will receive a finished copy of TRISTAN STRONG PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE SKY, US Only.
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
10/1/2019- BookHounds YA– Excerpt
10/2/2019- Little Red Reads– Excerpt
10/3/2019- Spoiled Girl– Review
10/4/2019- A Backwards Story– Review
Week Two:
10/7/2019- Lifestyle of Me– Review
10/8/2019- Sometimes Leelynn Reads– Excerpt
10/9/2019- Books a Plenty Book Reviews– Review
10/10/2019- Kait Plus Books– Excerpt
10/11/2019- Kyera’s Library– Review
Week Three:
10/14/2019- The Reading Corner for All– Review
10/15/2019- Feed Your Fiction Addiction– Review
10/16/2019- Eli to the nth– Review
10/18/2019- PopTheButterfly Reads– Review
Week Four:
10/21/2019- Savings in Seconds– Review
10/22/2019- Always Me – Review
10/23/2019- Fictitiouswonderland– Review
10/24/2019- Nerdophiles– Review
10/25/2019- Confessions of a YA Reader– Review
Week Five:
10/28/2019- Two points of interest– Review
10/29/2019- fictitious.fox– Review
10/30/2019- Jena Brown Writes– Review
10/31/2019- Fyrekatz Blog– Review
This sounds like a wonderful read! I think my monsters would love it. I’m also a huge fan of magic and folklore, so win-win! Thanks for sharing!
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? ?
Exactly. It’s always nice when you can find a book that everyone enjoys. 🙂
Oh, this sounds like a lot of fun! I agree that I’d love to have more companion books that go with middle grade books and detail the non-fiction aspects of the novel. I know that I, at least, would have devoured those as a kid. Great way to get our youth interested in reading non-fiction.
Yes, exactly. Learning about the folktales and gods in the books would be a great way for the kids to make connections with them.
i do love my monsters and am glad that this was such a hit for you
Who doesn’t love monsters?
I’m sure there are a lot of middle graders who will love this.
I agree!
This sounds really entertaining! I’ve been on the look out for MG books since I have 7th and 8th graders that like to read (trying to make a reading corner in my classroom). The African folklore has me intrigued!
Ooh, well there are lots of great suggestions for MG reads around here! This one would be great for a classroom!
I’ve been hearing all sorts of buzz about this one! Glad to hear you liked it!
I had really high expectations, which made me nervous. I’m so glad it lived up to them!
This one is kind of giving me Percy Jackson feels but instead it is focused on African and African American folkore!! I absolutely love that. And it sounds like the characters were intriguing and the plot was compelling too. This needs to make its way into children’s hands 😀
Olivia-S @ Olivia’s Catastrophe
Yes, I think a lot of Rick Riordan Presents books are similar(ish) to the Percy Jackson Series, but they put a spotlight on another culture and mythologies and/or folklore that a lot of people don’t know as well as Greek myths. I love that about this publisher!
I would love to read a book so rich in folklore and adventure! As I librarian, I think this would be a great addition to our collection!
I agree! It would be perfect for a school or public library.
thanks for the giveaway.
You’re welcome. Good luck!
I grew up reading the Brer Rabbit stories and learning about John Henry and Anansi the spider. It’s great the Kwame has put a new spin on these stories for the younger generation. I can’t wait to read Tristan Strong with my kids and see how they like it because I’ve read them the Brer Rabbit stories and talked to them about John Henry.
I remember hearing stories about Brer Rabbit and John Henry when I was a kid too, but I wasn’t familiar with all of these tales. I thought this book was a wonderful introduction to them.