Middle Grade Marvels - Books Full O' Wonder discussion

Title: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky
Author: Kwame Mbalia
Pages: Paperback - 528 pages / Hardback - 428 pages

Series? Yes



Winner of a Coretta Scott King Author Honor
Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents Kwame Mbalia's epic fantasy, a middle grade American Gods set in a richly-imagined world populated with African American folk heroes and West African gods.

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 notebook. 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 folk heroes 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?



Hello everyone!

In December, we are going to be reading Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia as one of our monthly BOTM picks. We are so happy to have you join us! Welcome!

NOTES:

Every month, the leaders will be Noly, Holly, and Ellie and together with all the people taking part in the discussion, we will decide if we want to have a structured way of reading the BOTM (a few chapters a day, a week, etc), or if we want to read at our own pace and check back in later. Feel free to do what works for you, but if you finish the book and want to gush about it but others are still reading, use the Spoiler Hider. You can find how to use that in the little (some HTML is ok) link in the right-hand top corner of the comment box.

We hope you all have a wonderful reading month and discuss it with us!

BOTM Leaders:

Holly

Noly

Ellie