Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

Not part of Riordanverse This book or series is published under Rick Riordan Presents and its contents are not considered canon to the Riordanverse.

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky
Attribution
Author	Kwame Mbalia
Cover artist	Eric Wilkinson
Publication Information
Publisher	Rick Riordan Presents
Release date	October 15, 2019
Chronology
Followed by	Tristan Strong Destroys the World

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky is the first book in the Tristan Strong Trilogy by Kwame Mbalia under the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, it focuses on West African and African American mythology and folklore.

Synopsis

Pitched as an MG American Gods, the book stars a seventh-grade boy who accidentally creates a hole into the Midpass, a world where ancient African gods clash with gods of African-American legend. He must race to find Anansi, the Weaver, and repair the rip before the iron monsters wreaking havoc in the Midpass consume their world and ours.

Seventh grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he’s going to spend on his grandparents’ farm in Alabama, where he’s being sent to heal from the tragedy. But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up in his bedroom and steals Eddie’s journal. Tristan chases after it–is that a doll?–and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree. In a last attempt to wrestle the journal out of the creature’s hands, Tristan punches the tree, accidentally ripping open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters that are hunting the inhabitants of this world. Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle that has left black American gods John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted. In order to get back home, Tristan and these new allies will need to entice the god Anansi, the Weaver, to come out of hiding and seal the hole in the sky. But bartering with the trickster Anansi always comes at a price. Can Tristan save this world before he loses more of the things he loves?

Development

According to Kwame Mbaliia, Tristan Strong deals with grief and loss in this book, both personal and cultural. On April 15th, Mbaliia revealed three items relevant to Tristan, a journal, a boxing glove, and sweet peaches.

Plot

Leaving Home and Heading South

Tristan Strong

Tristan Strong was punching a punching bag in his room in Chicago. Two weeks ago he lost his best friend, Eddie, in a bus accident and his mother gave him his journal. It was supposed to be for an oral presentation they were going to do but school ended early due to Eddie's death. The night before, he lost his first boxing match, his parents and paternal grandparents tried to cheer him up but were also disappointed, his father and grandfather were professional boxers. His mother came in and told him they're ready for him to go to their grandparents' farm in Alabama for a month. Tristan's grief counselor said it would good for him to get a change of scenery. He grabbed his duffel bag and Eddie's journal, it somehow glowed green but only he noticed it, and he never read it despite knowing that it contained fables he heard in his youth.

Tristan noticed some dark clouds in the distance of the summer sky, he did not like the car ride at all. Grandad was always thinking about work and getting his grandson to do it, he was constantly talking the whole ride while Nana was knitting. They were always arguing and laughing, Nana was singing when not talking. Tristan noticed a weird symbol on Eddie's journal after his death, Nana revealed that it is a web, an old African symbol for creativity and wisdom, after saying that Mr. Richardson, his counselor says he needs to find out what he'd going to do in life. Tristan finally decided to open the journal.

Visions and Trance

He saw a vision of two figures crouched near the base of a giant oak tree. They were John Henry and Brer Rabbit, and they were talking about doing something. Brer Rabbit said something to John Henry’s hammer, John pressed it against the roots of tree. A black hole appeared, John put a small unintelligible object into it after telling it to go and find something.

Tristan Strong woke up back in his grandparents' Cadillac, he wasn’t sure if that was if that was a dream. They were almost at the farm, Tristan spotted a stand of old and twisted trees. Nana explained they were bottle trees, slaves from Africa used them to capture and dispose evil spirits. When the reach the farm, Granddad had Tristan help him fix a fence while Nana made dinner. While running up the extra wire to the barn after Granddad left, Tristan arrived at the bottle tree. But upon hearing Nana's voice, he ran back to the farmhouse.

Tristan Punches the Hole and Falling to Alke

Gum Baby

At bedtime, Tristan heard something falling by the window then looking for something. Upon turning on the flashlight, Tristan saw a doll baby made of molasses and wood, she was Gum Baby from the tales of Anansi! She got mad that Tristan won't talk back after getting offended by him, she made a obnoxious introduction and hated being shushed. Gum Baby tries to punch Tristan but it only tickled, yet she got stains on his bed. She explained she's here for a sign, she threw goop on Tristan, stole the backpack with Eddie’s journal, and left out the window! Tristan just sank to the floor, but he saw a trail that Gum Baby left and followed it, ignoring fictional warnings. When he got to the Bottle Tree forest, Tristan found Gum Baby and the backpack near a tree. She got furious and attacked after he called her a doll, they fought until Tristan used the backpack to punch one of the bottles on the tree. A hole appeared at the bottle of the tree and created a column of fire, Tristan Strong and Gum Baby plummeted in to save Eddie's journal.

When Tristan came to, a shadow from the bottle tree lit a lantern, they saved him after he saved them. Unfortunately, they wanted the book that Tristan didn't have, he said his name was Uncle C and left. Tristan fell into some sea with fire, Gum Baby was attached to the journal but couldn't swim. Tristan grabbed both but she told him "they" might hear them. Suddenly, a ship made out of bones appeared forcing Tristan to quickly swim toward a cloud of steam. Soon two more bone ships appeared, but then a whistle blew and a flying raft lowered a rope to them where they are greeted by a girl and a dozen cloaked figures.

Fighting the Fetterlings

The owner of a staff asked what Tristan Strong was doing in the Burning Sea, they were with a girl named Ayanna and several hooded figures. Ayanna claimed that Gum Baby was gone for a year instead of a few hours. As more bone ships arrive Ayanna cuts some weight lose and they escape. When they land and make their way to the Thicket, Ayanna asks Tristan to help carry some of the smaller ones and he freaks out when one of them is revealed to be a bipedal talking fox. When he calms down he helps Brer Fox pull the raft to shore and help the Midfolk get off. When Brer Fox asks where he came from, Tristan points at the hole in the sky and the fox tells him he must survive to get home, he said that he'd meet Brer Rabbit soon but Brer Bear was gone. Ayanna explains that they are on the island of MidPass just off the coast of Alke, a land where stories are real. Just then Brer Fox senses something.

They make their way to the Thicket when they are ambushed by fetterlings, sentient chain monsters with shackles for heads. They unleash a painful noise and Gum Baby is captured. Brer Fox sacrifices himself so the others can escape. Tristan sees Eddie’s journal glowing and he saves Gum Baby and picks up Tarrypin and carries them to the nearby bridge. As Tristan goes back to help he has a flashback of Eddie’s death and a fetterling grabs his wrist. He panics when the journal erupts in white light and a paper giant appears, after fixing its glasses, he realizes it's Eddie! The fetterling attack him and overpower Eddie before dragging him away. Tristan goes after it and fights off more of the chains to no avail and is found by the Midfolk soon after.

The Thicket and the Meeting

Brer Rabbit.

Tristan has a dream of Uncle C thanking him for the journal and wakes up a day later in a room made out of intertwining roots. Gum Baby comes to him with Chestnutt, a young rabbit, and tells him to head to the meeting. He follows and Chestnutt explains how Brer Fox saved her from fetterlings and raised her. She takes him to a room filled with people and animals comforting one another, Chestnutt explains they are survivors of fetterling attacks. They move to a room where Chestnutt says that the folk characters he knows of in his world are gods in Alke before they are called in.

John Henry and two others come out to escort Tristan into the meeting room where he meet Brer Rabbits with Rose and Sarah. Tristan explains his skirmish with Gum Baby and the book, Brer Rabbit explains the missing year as differing time between worlds and goes off to ask about Eddie’s Journal. He explains that they are the first stories given to Anansi by Nyame and demands the book. Tristan explains he lost it trying to save Brer Fox, Rose and Sarah criticize him and Gum Baby. When Tristan asks them to help him return home, Brer Rabbit accuses him of being a coward and a fake hero leaving others to clean up his mess. At that remark, Tristan snaps and screams at them that the journal they tried to steal from him is the only thing he has left to remind him of his best friend and that they could not imagine how he feels. Just then, Gum Baby calms him down and Tristan sees a group of butterflies reenacting his story, the doll calls him an Anansesem, a storyteller gifted with the power of Anansi. They tell him to be careful and John Henry thanks Gum Baby before dismissing them. As they leave, Henry tells Tristan something in his story does not add up and he will find it.

Strategizing, Warnings, and Fetterling Attack

As they leave, Gum Baby leads Tristan to the mess hall, but gets turned around as the tunnels changed in the past year. When they arrive he gets a bowl of vegetable stew and a roll and sits with a girl named Netta and her family. She points out that almost all the refugees are adults or young children with very few being adolescents and teenagers. He leaves not wanting them to find out he was responsible for the events of the past year. He curls up in the hall and dreams he is walking down a hall, seeing various prisoners including Brer Fox. He then meets up with Uncle C, who threatens to burn the journal and all his loved ones if Tristan does not bring him Anansi's power. He is then blown away and hears Eddie telling him "You're talking to the wrong one."

Ayanna snaps him out of it and takes him to where he met with the gods earlier. She tells him of her desire to search for more Midfolk but John Henry turns her down and she leaves. The folk hero tells Tristan that it is dangerous for Midfolk to leave the Thicket without a god present as the iron monsters with snatch them, with their presence only giving them partial protection. He tells Tristan that the god’s power comes from the stories told about them, and that the power is enhanced if an Anansesem tells it. He tells Tristan they have a plan, they head to the Warren, a hub Brer Rabbit uses to gather intel from across Alke, and are joined by Rose and Sarah. Brer Rabbit explains that the best way to solve their problems is to fix the hole in the sky and to ask Anansi to do it. The others shoot down the idea as he has not been seen in months but Brer Rabbit says they can do it if they have a Story Box, a box containing all the stories of Alke and MidPass. Tristan says it could work but Brer Rabbit reveals they do not have one, but he and Anansi were working on one in the Golden Crescent before the iron monsters started attacking. He explains his plan to have Tristan go and get the box, as he can call to it, and Ayanna and Chestnutt volunteer to go with him. When they ask if he is ready, Tristan says no. The others get angry and Ayanna leaves, John Henry asks Tristan to walk with him and they head to the grove. They talk about boxing and how Tristan felt forced into the family tradition and Henry explained how he was forced to fight for his boss’s entertainment after a long day on the railroad. Tristan expresses his sadness in losing Eddie and Henry gives him the journal's tassel, but it has an iron monster on it.

Henry calls for Brer's help but he lost control on the Thicket and is trying to regain control. Henry gives Tristan a pair of magical gloves to fight of the fetterlings, they give him power and he takes out all his opponent. The two do well until Brer Rabbit informs them of a large fetterling heading their way. It breaks through and more average sized ones come in. Rose, Sarah, and Brer Rabbit join the fight and urge Tristan to join Ayanna and Chestnutt. He finds them loading supplies on the raft and tries to get on but Ayanna blocks him. He says the gods ordered him to go and he refused because he was afraid. She reluctantly allows him to go and they head to Alke.

Going to the Golden Crescent

They fly above the clouds to avoid detection and take the long way, he thinks of all the trouble he caused Alke. Chestnutt explains how brand flies function and they talk about their fears. Tristan states he does not like insects and heights, Chestnutt expresses her fear of heights, and Ayanna states she has a fear of being ambushed. Just then, a fetterling jumps out of one of their supply bags. However, it is really just Gum Baby who stowed away. She explains how she gave herself another chance as Tristan "ruined" her last one. Chestnutt wants to hear the story but Tristan tells the story of when he and Eddie broke into school to work on exploding soda. They were briefly caught, but they escaped when their prank went off. The clouds tell the story but stop when he focuses on Eddie, soon they reach the Golden Crescent.

They searched the city before splitting up into groups, Tristan and Gum Baby go one way and Ayanna and Chestnutt go another. Tristan and Gum Baby scout out the large manor homes and he hears what sounds like birds. Gum Baby approaches a statue and throws sap at it before Tristan convinces her to stop. The two groups meet up and state they found no one before heading to Nyame's Palace, the home of the sky god who gave Anansi the stories.

They walk up the drive way and enter the main foyer. They see a statue of the sky god and find a trap door. Tristan tells the story of when he gave Anansi the stories but he is interrupted by a booming voice. He realizes that the statue of Nyame, who blames Tristan for his people's abduction, is the sky god himself, restrained by fetterlings and brand flies. Tristan continues to tell the story to get them off of Nyame and tells his companions to touch the large statue. They run outside and Tristan throws Gum Baby at a female statue forty yards away and activates it, destroying the fetterlings, however Nyame orders the statue, who’s name is Kumi to bring them to him. They tell him their plan to use the Story Box to lure Anansi to them to fix the hole in the sky and he asks them why he should. Tristan reveals those taken by the iron monsters are alive, which angers Ayanna, and he agrees. However the box is not there and the sky god says others came before them. Tristan and Nyame talk private about the division between the people of MidPass and the rest of Alke, and how repairing the hole will only start to mend relationships between the two factions. Nyame states he is weakened from the brand flies but creates a new charm for Tristan's bracelet and warns him to be wary of his friends and that his enemies could help him. Tristan becomes upset that he can not get a straight answer from anyone and hates that he is forced to be a hero.

Exploring Anansi's Palace and Isihlangu

The four reach Anansi's Palace and search for a way in. Tristan uses the charm that Nyame gave him to find an entrance by a nearby boulder. As they explore, Chestnutt takes notes and they find a room full of notes and fetterlings in various stages of dissection. A minute later, Tristan realizes Anansi and Brer Rabbit were studying why iron monsters were attracted to the box and that after they were attacked the spider god hid it in the Ridge, a fortress city on the Isihlangu mountain range. They ready the raft and go over the Ridge's differences, which consist of gem encrusted towers that shoot lasers at intruders, and weak points. They plan to ride in the trash compartment of a train. They are attacked by the city's defense systems and just barely make it to the train. They land in the trash car, but it becomes nicer as they pass through a curtain. They wait a few minutes before flying off and go into a tunnel, then they enter the cavern where the Ridge is. They hear a boom and suspect the Ridgefolk know they are there, they are soon held at spear point by guards.

They are apprehended and taken to trial, the Ridgefolk believe them to be behind the kidnapping of their citizens. They are brought before an elderly woman, the Amagqirha, who summons the spirit of an elderly man and other spirits. Tristan tells them other cities, and not just them, are being targeted by the iron monsters. Tristan requests he tell a story and the elders agree. He tells them of the attacks on the various cities of Alke by the iron monsters and how he is responsible and creates a monster during his story. Tristan asks for the Story Box to have Anansi fix the hole in the sky. The ancestors agree, but a sharp sound is soon heard, revealed to be the Abiyoyo, the monster he created during the story, that starts to attack the Ridgefolk. Everyone flees and Tristan and his team work to stop it. He summons shadows of children to distract the monster and has everyone shout its name to take it down. Once it is defeated, Fezile, one of the elders, agrees to aid the Midfolk and gives Tristan the story box. However, before he can reach it, a man appears and asks for it. He introduces himself as High John and states that MidPass has been overrun by iron monsters and asks for the Story Box again. Tristan asks how he knows this but he refuses answer and keep asking for the Story Box. As Tristan goes to leave, High John goes over to Tristan and grabs him before the boy passing out.

Talks with High John and Uncle C

High John.

Tristan wakes up on the back of Old Familiar, a giant crow and companion of High John, he explains that he is having an out of body experience and shows Tristan dark clouds over MidPass to confirm what he told him. High John states he wants the story box to make himself stronger to to fight the iron monsters, but Tristan feels he is just being lazy and High John jumps off Old Familiar with Tristan in hand. They land in the Thicket, watching it burn as refugees flee the flames and John Henry tries to keep them calm. Tristan begs High John to help, but he says all he can do is have Old Familiar fan the flames a little. He sees a group of children cornered by a pair of fetter longs and he tells the story of High John and crafts a replica out of flames to attack the fetterlings and the children get away. High John tells Tristan to leave now or he will not return to his body. But he gives a message to John Henry before leaving. He sees his arm start to fade and he feels brutally cold before passing out.

He returns to Uncle C, who takes Tristan's memories of Eddie, except for his death, as punishment for not giving him Anansi's power and tells him to bring him the Story Box. As he leaves, he hears Eddie telling him he's "still taking to the wrong one." He then wakes up back in the Ridge and Fezile states High John gave up his claim and Thandiwe will be joining them. The story box is revealed to be an old leather trunk cover in dust with nothing inside.

Attack on Isihlangu

When Tristan and his companions eat, they decide whether to go back to MidPass or have Nyame repair it for them. The Amagqirha beckons for Tristan to follow her and he does. She takes him to a room where the Ridgefolk store their Story Box and crafts him a small silver ball for his bracelet. She tells him he will face a great evil if he fails to fix the hole in the sky and that if he fails, the attacks on the people of Alke is just the beginning. Soon a strong vibration is felt and the Amagqirha says the Ridge is under attack.

They return to the central chamber to find the Ridgefolk readying for battle and Tristan and his friends join them. Ayanna begs Tristan to leave while there is a fight and he refuses to leave, he pulls out his gloves and chooses to fight. Tristan asks the Amagqirha to keep the story box safe and she leaves with it. The guards tell Thandiwe the shield guard is almost ready and address her as princess. A giant hand breaks down the door and fetterlings start to swarm the Ridge. They hold them off until a large iron monster arrives. Chestnutt identifies it as a Hullbeast that unleashes a swarm of brand flies that paralyze the Ridgefolk as fetterlings drag them away. Ayanna theorizes that the iron monsters are attracted to Tristan and tell him to run. He agrees but a swarm of brand flies separates him and Gum Baby from Ayanna and Thandiwe. Soon High John arrives and he uses his ax to chop up the hullbeast and feed the rest of the iron monsters to Old Familiar as he and Tristan toss them at the giant bird. When the iron monsters are beaten they rush over to Thandiwe and Ayanna and Chestnutt informs them that the latter is not breathing.

Back to the Golden Crescent

High John says Ayanna's soul was poisoned badly but he will try to save her. They get on Old Familiar and fly away, but not before the Amagqirha wishes them safe travels and gives them the story box before they take off. When they are in the air, Chestnutt is revealed to have been stung as well. High John calls Tristan over to tell him they might save Ayanna if they go to the Golden Crescent, which houses some healers he knows, and to talk to Ayanna to keep her aware. He tells her of the day of the bus accident that killed Eddie and the others tell him pain is part of the healing process before reaching there destination.

They arrive and find that the rip has almost reached the mainland. Tristan senses Uncle C and the Maafa. They go to the giant sycamore and are greeted by a Mmoatia, a fairy with healing powers who tries to heal Ayanna and Chestnutt. She then asks Tristan to come back another time before they leave to let the fairy do her magic. The others go to Nyame's Palace to get the sky god to fix the story box. At first Nyame is annoyed that Tristan has returned and refuses to fix the Story Box, but he is convinced to do so when Tristan says that this is their last chance. He fixes the story box and goes to the roof so Tristan can fill it with stories, as he is telling the history of Alke he sees a massive ship emerge in the marina with hundreds of iron monsters on board and he stops, identifying it as the Maafa through its hate.

Fighting the Forces of the Maafa and Dealing with Uncle C

After seeing the massive ship, Nyame blames Tristan for giving him false hope that his people are still alive and goes to fight it. Soon Rose, Sarah, and John Henry arrive with the Midfolk and they take on the iron monsters. Thandiwe goes to help and High John gives Tristan an akofena charm, crossed curved blades that symbolize bravery and courage. Then he puts it on two sets of boxing gloves appear out of thin air, one pair on his hands and another on his waist, as he and Gum Baby defend the Story Box. Things go well for Tristan and his allies at first but it goes south quickly, he sees a cloaked figure with a story box in the distance and uses his power of stories to summon the iron monsters to himself and takes the story box with him.

He charges to the marina and sees the gods and Midfolk fighting, he gets on a rotten raft and goes straight to the Maafa. He boards and he hears Brer Fox talking to him before the Maafa possesses the fox and talks to him. He says Uncle C is using him to get stronger then the ship and plans to overthrow him. He then switches vessels to Tarrypin and disagrees with Tristan before the Anansesem shows him the Story Box. It then switches to Netta and Tristan makes a deal to get rid of that haint and tell the story of how the gods first defeated it if the Maafa releases its prisoners. It agrees but says it will sink with Tristan in it as soon as Uncle C is taken care of and to get out fast. Brer Fox delivers the agreement but says he "liked how [his] story ended" and his voice fades away, Tristan then sets out to find Uncle C.

Tristan finds the haint in a room full of cotton and realizes his full name is Uncle Cotton. Uncle C appears covered in cotton and asks for the Story Box. Tristan demands Eddie's Journal and his memories, Uncle C gives him some of the memories back but keeps the rest as collateral. He gives the haint the story box and rips the cotton off of him. When he tries to open it, Tristan reveals only an Anansesem can open it and Uncle C covers the boy in cotton branches and demands he opens it. He agrees if he gets the rest of his memories and the journal, which the haint agrees to and complies. Uncle C takes away the cotton vines blocking the door and Tristan senses the Maafa submerging. Tristan then opens the Story Box and Gum Baby, who was hiding in the Story Box, covers Uncle C in sap and Tristan goes to leave. Uncle C begs Tristan to help but he refuses and the haint swears revenge before the waters of the Burning Sea sweep him away. Tristan and Gum Baby search for a way out and go to the corridor Eddie's journal was in.

Talking with Eddie and Revelations

They end up in a bus where Eddie greets them and explains how Uncle C was using the journal to track Tristan and telling stories from the journal to feed the Maafa. Eddie explains that this will be the last time they will speak to each other and they say their farewells and Eddie tells Tristan to help some of the Maafa's prisoners off the ship. Tristan and Gum Baby end up in the holding compartment of the giant slave ship. As they leave, Tristan looks around and finds someone.

As Tristan, Gum Baby and the prisoners surface they swim to shore and the gods congratulate him. He hides the story box behind a sand dune and tells Gum Baby something before giving her his bracelet. When Brer Rabbit arrives he berates Tristan for starting this whole mess and demands the story box. He tells him no and plays keep away as Gum Baby presses the bracelet on the heads of the others and they are shocked by the revelation. Tristan reveals that the person he pulled out of the Maafa is the real Brer Rabbit and that the one in front of him is Anansi. Tristan explains that Brer Rabbit was taken by iron monsters during one of their experiments and Anansi has been impersonating the rabbit ever since, long before he punched that bottle tree and sent Gum Baby to get the journal not to get stories to power the story box, but to make himself stronger. Anansi then steps out of the rabbit suit he has been wearing and Nyame takes him back to his palace. Tristan and Gum Baby meet up with Thandiwe, Ayanna, and Chestnutt and they go to see Anansi's sentence. When they arrive the sky god sentences the trickster to stop his research into story boxes and to hand over his notes to him, to fix the rip in the sky under Tristan's watch and to obey him and help Tristan finish his Story Box. Anansi is then sealed with the Story Box, which takes the form of a smartphone, and given to Tristan for twenty days. They leave and Tristan says his goodbyes to the girls.

Going Home and Fixing the Hole

Tristan meets up with John Henry and High John with the former building a bridge to connect MidPass with the mainland of Alke in the hopes of having the two people reconnect with one another. Tristan shows the two gods Anansi's punishment and they crack up. Tristan says goodbye to John Henry as High John takes him back home on Old Familiar before saying goodbye and going back, unknown to High John he returned a week later due to the temporal effects of the rip, which in Tristan's world means he was gone for only a few minutes. She shows Anansi the rip and the trickster fixes it in no time. Anansi says he can not wait for the twenty days to be over, but Tristan realizes Nyame meant the twenty days was a minimum for his sentence and not a maximum, much to Anansi's horror. He walks back to his grandparent's farm as the sun rises and he starts to tell his story and has a feeling he will return to Alke one day.

Chapter list

1. The Car Ride
2. The Bottle Trees
3. Gum Baby
4. Fight in the Forest
5. Haints and Bone Ships
6. The Raft
7. Iron Monsters 101
8. Fetterlings
9. The Paper Giant
10. The Thicket
11. The Gods of MidPass
12. The Butterfly Whisperer
13. Anansesem
14. Growing Desperate
15. Fuel for the Gods
16. The Warren
17. The Worst Plan Ever
18. The Adinkra
19. Attack!
20. The Bossling
21. Brand Flies
22. Legend of the Bottle Rocket
23. The Golden Crescent
24. Nyame's Palace
25. That Was No Statue
26. Bronzey to the Rescue
27. Nyame's Charm
28. Anansi's Lair
29. Rock Lasers
30. Into Isihlangu
31. The Elders
32. Spirit of the Imbongi
33. Abiyoyo
34. High John
35. A Different Perspective
36. The Man of Fire and Smoke
37. Missing Memories
38. The Story Box
39. Unwelcome Visitors
40. Hullbeasts and Brand Files
41. The Magic Ax
42. Hoodoo and Confessions
43. The Mmoatia Forest
44. We're all Broke-Story Box, Too
45. Flight of the Midfolk
46. A Dangerous Bargain
47. King Cotton
48. Last Stop
49. Tricking the Trickster
50. Reveal
51. Good-byes and New Lives

Characters

• Tristan Strong
• John Henry
• Brer Rabbit
• Anansi
• King Cotton
• Nyame
• Gum Baby
• Brer Fox
• Tarrypin
• Sis Crow
• Mmoatia
• Old Familiar
• Abiyoyo
• High John
• Walter Strong
• Nana Strong
• Alvin Strong
• Jessica Strong
• Eddie Garvey
• Netta
• Fezile
• Maafa
• Mr. Richardson
• Thandiwe
• Shadow
• Fetterlings
• Brand Flies

Graphic Novel

A graphic novel adaptation of the book was released on August 9, 2022.

Trivia

• The book was originally going to be released on January 15th, 2020, but was moved up and had it’s release date switched with Race to the Sun.

Gallery

End-paper map