Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher. Opinions shared are mine.

It’s so important for kids to know that Greek mythology isn’t the only mythology that exists. I recently double-shared Latin America mythology series with you. Now it’s Africa’s turn! Tristan Strong Punches the Sky is going to take middle school readers by storm!

This book is just begging to be read aloud. I plan to buy it in audiobook format to listen in the car with my kids. The story initially brings visions of The Watson Go To Birmingham–1963 to mind. I love Tristan’s firsthand account of the world, from his Chicago fighting scene to the middle of his grandparents’ creepy forest. The story is action-packed with a solid dose of teenage humor, a little grief, and a whole lot of spunk.

About the Book

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

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?

About Kwame:

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.