Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Tristan Strong #1)
by Kwame Mbalia
(middle grade fantasy)
This is a very enjoyable book. It’s a Middle Grade book, but one that the whole family can enjoy. I was particularly interested in the different legends used here: I knew a few of them (John Henry, Brer Rabbit, and a little bit about Anansi) but most of the legends were new to me. This is wonderful.
There are some great quotes in this book, too. I found myself laughing at the one-liners a lot, though there are also some more inspirational quotes as well.
Maaaan, those crickets. Talk about annoying. How could anything so small make that much noise? It was like a million of them surround my window and were screaming the lyrics to the most annoying song you could think of.
Yep, that one you’re thinking of right now.
Sucks, doesn’t it?
I really appreciate the way this book deals with grief. It feels like a realistic and healthy approach to help kids deal with loss and feelings of guilt. Mbalia doesn’t pull any punches (hah) with his depiction of Tristan’s grief and healing process, but instead shows adults trying to be helpful (with some better results than others).
And the plot! It’s not nearly as simple as I have seen in a lot of the other middle grade books I’ve been reading lately. There are layers and depths to it, just like the books that I loved when I was a kid.
My brain was toast — burnt toast that your mom scrapes so you can still try to eat for breakfast, but there is no saving it.
I really recommend this one. I don’t think I can recommend it highly enough.
Goodreads Summary:
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?
Rating: 5 stars
Content: grief
Representation: POC characters and legends
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