Author(s): Angie Thomas

Junior Fiction | Léa's Book Talkers

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.

CONSTANT READER STAFF REVIEW: Léa

One of the most exciting releases of 2023! Angie Thomas’s new book is the first volume of a fantasy trilogy that will have middle grade readers completely enthralled.

The plot will sound familiar, filled with all the typical magical elements you find in the genre: a trio of kids fighting evil forces and villains with magic, family secrets and big revelations. However, the magic world of Remarkables is enriched by the roots it takes in African folklore and Black American History.

I loved how Angie Thomas balanced the wonder of marvellous creatures from Rougarous to Azizas and the references to real stories like those of the Underground Railroad and more recent events. But my favourite thing about Thomas’s writing is her delightfully witty dialogues. It’s the back and forth between Nic and her family, and the silly comments of her best friends that really set the tempo of this epic adventure and it is all the more fun for it!