Description
Internationally bestselling superstar author Angie Thomas makes her middle grade debut with the launch of a new contemporary fantasy trilogy inspired by African American history and folklore.
It’s not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool — like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much — like not being trusted to learn magic because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbour.
All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad. But before she has a chance to convince him to teach her the gift, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she’s never heard of ... to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed.
Review
Nic Blake lives with her Dad, who has talents that he assures Nic that she has too – although he keeps putting off teaching her how to use them. She also dreams of having a bigger family than just the two of them.
They constantly move around, but have been in the same place for a couple of years and Nic has been able to make a true friendship with JP who lives next door. They are both huge fans of fantasy author T.J. Retro and his Stevie James series. So when he visits their town Nic goes against her Dad’s wishes to meet him – and then her world changes!
Turns out, T.J. Retro is her uncle, and that the books are based on Nic and her family’s lives - that’s right, HER family. A whole family of remarkables – people with the gift to do many supernatural things - and her Grandma is the President in this realm. So why did her Dad effectively kidnap her when she was a toddler and keep her from her whole family, including her devastated mother and twin brother Alex?
What follows is an incredible adventure where Nic, JP and Alex tackle amazing beasts and challenges to try to prove that although her Dad may have taken her, he did not steal the Msaidizi on the same day that they disappeared. The Msaidizi is the most important thing in the remarkable world, as it can only be used to help the chosen one defeat the one who is coming to ruin everything.
This is a brilliant and action-packed fantasy novel set in an absorbing world. Full of bravery, friendship, the importance of family and the need to fulfill your destiny, this is a terrific novel for middle year readers aged 10 - 15.
