I hope you enjoy the book as I did.Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is the third and final book in Kwame Mbalia's courageous Middle Grade Adventure series, Tristan Strong. This story is wonderful proof of the need for diverse books. Mbalia’s story of Tristan and his gifted ability to continue to tell the stories of heroes and gods make for a beautiful story. It’s also a pleasure when those stories aren’t about negativity. It’s always a pleasure to read a book where the characters are described to look like me. Mbalia wrote a story that was an absolute joy to read. Tristan also learns to let go of all the guilt he carries. By the end of the story, Tristan has saved the land of Alke and worked with the god and heroes to repair the tear in the sky of their world. Through the entire story, Tristan carries with him the guilt of Eddie’s death, the feeling of letting down those who need him. The story continues with the introduction of folk heroes John Henry, Brer Fox, Brer Rabbit, and African gods Anansi and Nyame. The forest is the beginning of Tristan’s journey to the land of Alke. In the forest, bottles hang from trees to trap old spirits. Upon arriving in Alabama, Tristan feels drawn to an area of his family’s property called the Bottle Tree Forest. When Tristan goes to Alabama, he’s sure to take the journal with him. Tristan sees a strange glow coming from the journal, but no one else does.
After Eddie’s untimely death, his parents gifted the journal to Tristan. Eddie wrote these stories in his journal, even visiting with Nana to get more. Eddie and Tristan formed their friendship around the love of these stories. Nana, Tristan’s grandmother, has told him stories of African gods and slave folklore, stories of gods and heroes. To help Tristan recover from the loss of his best friend, he’s going to spend a month with his grandparents in Alabama.
Tristan is also a young boxer, from a family of winning boxers, who just lost his first boxing match. Tristan, who is from Chicago, is healing from the trauma of losing his best friend, Eddie, in a school bus accident. Mbalia does a wonderful job of blending the story of a current day African American seventh grader with West African gods and African American folklore heroes. "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" is one of the most enjoyable I’ve read. I am an African American woman and I love to read books with diverse characters. "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia (Rick Riordan Presents, 496 pages, in stores)
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