His father thinks he needs to spend some time in Alabama with his grandparents where his grandfather thinks hard work will cure his sadness. The only thing he has to remember Eddie is the journal where Eddie wrote down all the stories the two boys collected together. He can't bring himself to open it, but he always has it nearby.
On his first night in Alabama, he is awakened by a small wooden doll who leaves a sticky trail of sap behind her. This cannot be real. But Gum Baby has a serious attitude, and she's not leaving without Eddie's journal.
In the ensuing chase and fight, Tristan accidentally opens a portal to another world and the two fall through. Now he's in a strange place with a burning sea, bone ships, and a huge hole in the sky make by one Tristan Strong. He is in Midpass, and it doesn't seem possible, but the characters from his grandmother's stories are here! Brer Fox, Brer Rabbit, John Henry...they're all real, and they are all angry.
That hole in the sky has made things a lot worse in Midpass. Armies of fetterlings, living iron shackles, are attacking and dragging people away to the Maafa. Tristan just wants to go home, but the people of Midpass hold him responsible. He heads out on a quest with a couple of new friends and one super annoying Gum Baby to find a way to stop the fetterlings before Midpass is destroyed.
Their only hope is to find Anansi, the great spider god, and somehow convince him to fix the hole in the sky before it's too late.
This debut novel by Kwame Mbalia is a blast! It's an incredible fantasy adventure set in a fresh new fantasy world blending traditional West African mythology with the folklore of the American south. Don't forget to throw in the role of slavery in shaping both Africa and America. Anansi is every bit the trickster god, and Gum Baby is a hilarious sidekick. Seriously, stop what you are doing, and read this book now!
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