A Reader's Guide to Books and Reviews

Title: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Tristan Strong #1)
Author: Kwame Mbalia
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.5/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: February 12, 2020 to February 13, 2020
Book Summary: 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?
Book Review: This book is part of a series of books under the Rick Riordan Presents label that offers a series of mythology stories with middle to junior year school heroes.

In this book, we meet our young hero Tristan Strong. Recently he not only lost his first fight which not only disappointed his father and grandfather but he also lost his best friend, Eddie, to an accident the two of them were in. Sent to stay with his grandparents in rural Alabama, Tristan is struggling to decide who he is and who he wants to be. The only thing consolation prize he has is the book Eddie has given him. When the book is taken from him, Tristan is determined to get the precious book back and goes after Gum Baby. While the two struggle over the book, Tristan accidentally punches a hole into the fabric of the universe. It opens a door into another universe called MidPass. Tristan finds himself in a world where African folklore mixes with mythology.

First off, this book was an amazing read. The characters, the world-building, the mixture of folklore and mythology were wonderfully crafted together. This book will draw you in and make you laugh especially whenever sarcastic Gum Baby appears. I have to admit she is one great character to come from this book. Love or hate her, she makes the book.

This book can really be taken as a stand-alone book because when I first picked this up, there seemed to be no sneak peek into book two and on Goodreads, it never came up as a series. I can only surmise that the author decided upon a second addition but I can see why. The book does offer an opening for a return to MidPass and more adventures with Tristan.

You need to pick this book up. Even if it did not have the Rick Riordan Presents label to it, it is still a wonderful and fun read. The characters are relatable and the mythology adds a wonderful twist to the tale of Tristan Strong.