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The third book in the hit Young Prince series from Ronald L. Smith, recipient of the 2016 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award. When T'Challa gets special permission to have his friends from America, Sheila and Zeke, come to Wakanda, he can't wait to show them his home for a change. But their tour is brought to a halt when one of T'Challa's peers, Tafari, summons dark forces in order to return Wakanda to the "old ways" before Vibranium was discovered. Tafari manages to banish the King and Queen along with all the tribal elders to an alternate dimension in exchange for the Originator's release, leaving Wakanda vulnerable and unprotected. Can T'Challa and his friends stop Tafari before the leaders of Wakanda are trapped forever?
217 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 6, 2022
5 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Ronald L. Smith
14 books201 followersI grew up on Air Force bases and have lived in Japan, Maine, Alabama, Michigan, South Carolina, Delaware, Washington, DC, Illinois and a bunch of other places I don’t remember. After reading Ray Bradbury’s R is for Rocket and Eleanor Cameron’s Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet I fell in love with books.
I haven’t stopped reading since.
HOODOO is my debut middle-grade novel. My second novel, THE MESMERIST, is available February, 2017.
My work is represented by Adriann Ranta of Foundry Literary + Media.
My publisher is Clarion, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 8, 2022
In the eager wait for Black Panther 2 "Wakanda Forever" we are left with reading anything we can get our hands on. This was a wonderful read and the narrator was sensational. This quick audio satiated what we eagerly wait for the movie to come out.
This story and the narrator keep a very fast pace tone but an easy-to-follow storyline. It deals with T’Challa integrating himself in the “new” world (outside of Wakanda) but of course, trouble is brewing back in Wakanda. It is wonderful to see how he navigates and why he is the right person to lead Wakanda.
Thirteen-year-old T'Challa is still learning how to become the leader he will someday become. His step mother, Ramonda, and his father finally allowed him to live away from the palace to feel some normalcy. As he visits the school and kids his own age, one of the kids, Tafari, asks lots of questions about why the country needs vibranium whereas other poor surrounding countries are so poor and declared, how as a nation, they are losing touch with the history of the nation. T’Challa was not prepared for that and was not comfortable with public speaking. As T'Challa was leaving the classroom, he can almost feel Tafari's eyes boring into T'Challa's back. Is there more to Tafari than his questions? Is there truth to Tafari's statements?
T’Challa’s best friends Zeke and Sheila from Alabama are also included in this book from the previous book, “Spellbound.”
I would like to thank NetGalley Audio and Disney Audiobooks for advanced audiobook for my honest review.
The big bad here is Tafari. He uses alternate dimensions and black magic to get what he thinks is right but the question remains, “is it?” Was the Vibranium a blessing or a curse for Wakanda? While it is geared for ages 8 - 12 years, I believe anyone who is a fan of T’Challa and his early days (the Young Panther series) will enjoy this series. I look forward to many more.
This story and the narrator keep a very fast pace tone but an easy-to-follow storyline. It deals with T’Challa integrating himself in the “new” world (outside of Wakanda) but of course, trouble is brewing back in Wakanda. It is wonderful to see how he navigates and why he is the right person to lead Wakanda.
Thirteen-year-old T'Challa is still learning how to become the leader he will someday become. His step mother, Ramonda, and his father finally allowed him to live away from the palace to feel some normalcy. As he visits the school and kids his own age, one of the kids, Tafari, asks lots of questions about why the country needs vibranium whereas other poor surrounding countries are so poor and declared, how as a nation, they are losing touch with the history of the nation. T’Challa was not prepared for that and was not comfortable with public speaking. As T'Challa was leaving the classroom, he can almost feel Tafari's eyes boring into T'Challa's back. Is there more to Tafari than his questions? Is there truth to Tafari's statements?
T’Challa’s best friends Zeke and Sheila from Alabama are also included in this book from the previous book, “Spellbound.”
I would like to thank NetGalley Audio and Disney Audiobooks for advanced audiobook for my honest review.
The big bad here is Tafari. He uses alternate dimensions and black magic to get what he thinks is right but the question remains, “is it?” Was the Vibranium a blessing or a curse for Wakanda? While it is geared for ages 8 - 12 years, I believe anyone who is a fan of T’Challa and his early days (the Young Panther series) will enjoy this series. I look forward to many more.
October 7, 2022
Another T'Challa book!!!! Yes!!! I love this series.
In this novel, T'Challa is reunited with Shelia and Zeke. This time, they came to visit him for the first time in Wakanda. It's magical. T'Challa gets to show them all around his home and play with new technology (the speed bike scene is great!). Shuri is so proud of herself for pulling off this surprise for her big brother!
But there's discord brewing inWakanda and some don't think the Black Panther is meant to be the one true ruler of the lands and that the Originators should return. On a National Holiday, the fraction strikes - absconding with all the elders of Wakanda (included T'Challa's parents).
Can T'Challa and his friends defeat the Originators and save the elders? Or is history doomed to repeat? Read on to find out.
What I loved:
Action Packed
Friendship and family > than everything else
The old customs clashing with new traditions
In this novel, T'Challa is reunited with Shelia and Zeke. This time, they came to visit him for the first time in Wakanda. It's magical. T'Challa gets to show them all around his home and play with new technology (the speed bike scene is great!). Shuri is so proud of herself for pulling off this surprise for her big brother!
But there's discord brewing inWakanda and some don't think the Black Panther is meant to be the one true ruler of the lands and that the Originators should return. On a National Holiday, the fraction strikes - absconding with all the elders of Wakanda (included T'Challa's parents).
Can T'Challa and his friends defeat the Originators and save the elders? Or is history doomed to repeat? Read on to find out.
What I loved:
Action Packed
Friendship and family > than everything else
The old customs clashing with new traditions
September 23, 2022
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC audiobook.
Description from NetGalley:
When T’Challa gets special permission to have his friends from America, Sheila and Zeke, come to Wakanda, he can’t wait to show them his home for a change. But their tour is brought to a halt when one of T’Challa’s peers, Tafari, summons dark forces in order to return Wakanda to the “old ways” before Vibranium was discovered. Tafari manages to banish the King and Queen along with all the tribal elders to an alternate dimension in exchange for the Originator’s release, leaving Wakanda vulnerable and unprotected.
Can T’Challa and his friends stop Tafari before the leaders of Wakanda are trapped forever?
This is the 3rd book in this middle grade Black Panther series. I enjoyed this one as much as the previous installment. The shift from the US to Wakanda was a nice change of pace, especially because Sheila and Zeke get to visit their friend instead of T’Challa coming to them. In this book, it is nice to see T’Challa maturing a bit and having to be in charge and take the lead of Wakanda. It was like a preview of the king he is on his way to becoming.
Overall: 4/5
Description from NetGalley:
When T’Challa gets special permission to have his friends from America, Sheila and Zeke, come to Wakanda, he can’t wait to show them his home for a change. But their tour is brought to a halt when one of T’Challa’s peers, Tafari, summons dark forces in order to return Wakanda to the “old ways” before Vibranium was discovered. Tafari manages to banish the King and Queen along with all the tribal elders to an alternate dimension in exchange for the Originator’s release, leaving Wakanda vulnerable and unprotected.
Can T’Challa and his friends stop Tafari before the leaders of Wakanda are trapped forever?
This is the 3rd book in this middle grade Black Panther series. I enjoyed this one as much as the previous installment. The shift from the US to Wakanda was a nice change of pace, especially because Sheila and Zeke get to visit their friend instead of T’Challa coming to them. In this book, it is nice to see T’Challa maturing a bit and having to be in charge and take the lead of Wakanda. It was like a preview of the king he is on his way to becoming.
Overall: 4/5
July 28, 2024
This was a great conclusion to the trilogy. While the first two took place in Chicago and Alabama, respectfully, this one finally immersed us in the world of Wakanda. It especially harked back to old school Black Panther adventures, with T’Challa and friends fighting ancient gruesome beasts from the Nether-Realms. It was fun (still not as good as the Shuri series, though).
June 28, 2023
boring and it felt like a kid wrote a piece for their english test - rushed and all over the place and the time stamps felt messy and out of place and unneeded - also way too much detail imo
July 13, 2024
Ok well this one was a little T’Challa and the Chamber of Secrets, but at least we were in Wakanda.
April 17, 2023
My introduction to the Black Panther world was the 2018 movie which I adored. So I was looking forward to reading more about the world of Wakanda.
A small group of disaffected citizens try to take over by bringing back dark elements from Wakanda's forgotten past and trapping the king, queen and a group of Wakandans to another dimension. The plot is simple - T'Challa with the help of his friends and the god figure Bast fight to save Wakanda and vibranium.
I did enjoy the world building in this book but found T'Challa's internal dialogue annoying. On the one hand I felt like his thoughts were over-explained but then I felt like the plot had bits missing. I wanted the characters other than T'Challa to feature more significantly in the story.
2.5 stars
A small group of disaffected citizens try to take over by bringing back dark elements from Wakanda's forgotten past and trapping the king, queen and a group of Wakandans to another dimension. The plot is simple - T'Challa with the help of his friends and the god figure Bast fight to save Wakanda and vibranium.
I did enjoy the world building in this book but found T'Challa's internal dialogue annoying. On the one hand I felt like his thoughts were over-explained but then I felt like the plot had bits missing. I wanted the characters other than T'Challa to feature more significantly in the story.
2.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews