Review: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia

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?

Tristan Strong is one of those stories that make me want to take a step back and re-evaluate my whole life, but not only do I want to look into my life, I want to look into the lives of my parents. I had NEVER heard of so many of the folk heroes in this novel and my dad is from MISSISSIPPI. How did we miss this. I'd never heard of Gum Baby, who originally seems to have been known as Tar Baby (not my favorite name), I had never heard of John Henry, I'd never heard of High John. NOTHING. I don't plan to have any kids, but if I did, you best BELIEVE that they would know these stories. My kids would run around like Eddie, absolutely obsessed with these stories.

 Now I'm realizing that I haven't told you anything about this book, hopefully my excitement radiates through the print on your screen. This book has action, adventure, culture, friendship, loss, community, anxiety (which boys don't seem to be allowed to feel for some reason) maybe a small crush????? Not sure yet. In addition to the book there the author HIMSELF. I was lucky enough to be able to hear Kwame Mbalia speak and the passion and pride that he feels in this work is so apparent. He told a story about how important it was to him that on the cover of this book, we see a black boy in a hoodie. THE SYMBOLISM. COME THROUGH KWAME. 

Folks, this is about all I can say. This is one of the most important books I think I'll read all year. It isn't about police violence, it isn't about boys fighting to combat the dangers of the street, it's about our culture. Who we are as African American people (because not all black people are African American). African American's have such a unique story. We've had to craft a culture from one that was almost beaten out of our ancestors. If I ever meet Kwame Mbalia I may tear up, believe it or not. You'd think I was meeting Michelle Obama or something. This book is so necessary to our community. If you don't read it, at least buy it, so someone else can read it.