Summary from Goodreads:
Quinton Peters was the golden boy of the Rosewood low-income
housing projects, receiving full scholarship offers to two different Ivy League
schools. When he mysteriously goes missing, his little sister, 13-year-old
Amari Peters, can’t understand why it’s not a bigger deal. Why isn’t his story
all over the news? And why do the police automatically assume he was into
something illegal?
Then Amari discovers a ticking briefcase in her brother’s old closet. A
briefcase meant for her eyes only. There was far more to Quinton, it seems,
than she ever knew. He’s left her a nomination for a summer tryout at the
secretive Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. Amari is certain the answer to
finding out what happened to him lies somewhere inside, if only she can get her
head around the idea of mermaids, dwarves, yetis and magicians all being real
things, something she has to instantly confront when she is given a weredragon
as a roommate.
Amari must compete against some of the nation’s wealthiest kids—who’ve known
about the supernatural world their whole lives and are able to easily answer
questions like which two Great Beasts reside in the Atlantic Ocean and how old
is Merlin? Just getting around the Bureau is a lesson alone for Amari with
signs like ‘Department of Hidden Places this way, or is it?’ If that all wasn’t
enough, every Bureau trainee has a talent enhanced to supernatural levels to
help them do their jobs – but Amari is given an illegal ability. As if she
needed something else to make her stand out.
With an evil magican threatening the whole supernatural world, and her own
classmates thinking she is an enemy, Amari has never felt more alone. But if
she doesn’t pass the three tryouts, she may never find out what happened to
Quinton.
Review:
Sometimes the best books are the ones you pick up at random, on a whim, or because the cover super appeals to you, and you impulse read it…I’ve had more impulse reads this past year than I normally do. I’m generally a HUGE advocate for book reviews. I read them all the time at my job. I read them when I’m not working. I read them because I enjoy reading them. I must have read something about this book because I purchased it for my library… But, I impulse-checked-it-out one day. And it kind of crawled to the top of my TBR pile.
Long story short, this book was AMAZING. It’s my favorite book of the year so far. I was expecting a cute family story. I got a remarkable, heartfelt fantasy, coming of age story. It’s urban fiction, mixed with mythology, mixed with suspense and mystery. The characters were great. Right away, you love Amari! I wanted to push down her racist bullies too! This book tackles topics of classism, racism, and privilege in a way I’m unaccustomed to in Middle Grade, and I hope this is just the beginning! It’s not about old magic families v new magic families. It’s about those with money and privilege v those without. And those with magic are actually seen as the bad guys….You’ll understand once you read it.
The book is also full of humor and fun. It kept reminding me of Men in Black, with all the secrets, and the agents. The author was definitely inspired by the greats: Rowling, Riordan, and more. But, this book is also solely it’s own story. There are talking elevators, boots that give kids the ability to walk horizontally across open air (aka Sky Sprints), flying ships, evil magicians, hybrid attacks, lots of sneaking out, and a mission to rescue a famous duo.
I couldn’t put this book down. I loved Amari’s best friend too. We all need friends who can come up with plans like Elsie, and make inventions like her too! I feel like the more I talk about this book, the more I’m giving away. And really, it’s so much more fun to discover all these things for yourself. Just know that it’s fun, fast-paced, humorous, action-packed, and filled with magic, lovable characters, and good stories of family and friendship. I give this a 10/10.
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