Customer Comments

What a joy! I read this in one sitting after a busy day. I was quickly absorbed by the story, the second in a series that picks up right where the first one ended. Kavita, Jaxon, Vik, Aunty and Kenny jump off the page with themes of family and friendship. The dragon at the center of the story grows and grows every time it eats something sweet, so there's an element of race against time to get it back to the magic realm. It's Brooklyn and Queens, but Brooklyn and Queens with dragons! A tension exists between keeping magic in the magic realm and keeping it out of the "non-magic world;and there is Blue a villainish character who wants the worlds to merge. He has his reasons and like the other characters he isn't all one thing or another. I enjoyed hearing from Aunty and I learned about the Siddi in India, people brought from southeast Africa by the Portuguese to work as slaves in India. I love how Zetta Elliott infuses her stories with cultural knowledge, history and curiosity. Looking forward to the next in the series!!

I loved this book and found it to be highly readable with a strong analysis as its backbone. This is a must read for all critical race theory classes and for teacher ed programs. Through writing with specificity about the books and tv series she has chosen universal truths are made evident. I'm reading this as a White reader so I'm not tied to the African American experience and I imagine that for Black girls and women this would resonate even more strongly. The two tv series she writes about: Merlin and The Vampire Diaries, I haven't seen and I don't know if I'd get around to watching them with so much else on, but that's by the by. I still learned much from Thomas' analysis of the experiences of the Black women in these shows. I have read The Hunger Games and seen the movie, and the same is true for Harry Potter. I didn't have a good understanding of fan fiction before reading this and now I have a better idea. Thomas is honest about her experiences with HP fandom which cut deep and caused a lot of pain. As one of the very few Black fan fic HP writers it's highly likely this played into the false claims of plagiarism (the source material was clearly identified). Overall this is a compelling read that taught me much about the Dark Fantastic and its resonance in our daily lives. Thomas does not shy away from putting herself in the story and this adds to the connections I made reading the book.

Zetta Elliott is one of my favorite authors and I love all the books she puts out. I was particularly drawn to Genna as she is a complex and caring character and she leads the story well. It's a visceral experience to think about what you would do if you were thrown back into Civil War era Brooklyn, with no clear way of getting back to modern day Brooklyn. You also wouldn't be able to talk about it with anyone to talk about what will happen. Unfortunately there are many parallels here between the treatment of African Americans then and now. Genna narrates historical and political elements with analysis and thought and this doesn't take away from the storytelling and the relationships Genna has with Mattie, Nannie, Henry, Paul, Martha and Judah show her to be a good friend with a clear heart. The story haunts me still, but in a good way. I haven't yet read the sequel but I'll be reading that very soon. The romance between Genna and Judah is so real and easy to relate to with the awkwardness of young love portrayed, with a few more elements thrown in. Highly recommended!

A collection of stories that lie under the skin, as the words needle their way. Jamel Brinkley is a masterful wordsmith and while I could feel how much work went into the stories, it was never labored. The passages are rich like butter, and care is taken to envelop the protagonists with love and respect. I know I'll be dipping back into their lives from time to time. A must-read for the summer, and beyond.

A book to have in every classroom and home. A strongly designed work with many photos and artworks to accompany the stories. It could be used as a picture book in an elementary classroom but people of all ages would love this. Leroy Moore Jr has collected the stories of Black, disabled artists: from painters to musicians, to dancers to poets. I don't have the book in front of me but I see the pages as vivid and faces as clear, as when I first read them. I love referring back to this and gave it out as Xmas presents to fellow educators, although it certainly deserves a wider audience.