A review by the_fabric_of_words
Tristan Strong Keeps Punching by Kwame Mbalia
5.0
In Tristan's final installment, Alke is destroyed, its inhabitants scattered throughout the real world. It's on Tristan to find them, using the cell phone with Anansi trapped in it. He's separated from Anaya, Gum Baby, John Henry, and pretty much everyone but his grandma and family. Anansi tries to get him on track, finding the Alkeans who need Tristan's help in our world, but Anansi's primary concern is his son, Junior. And Tristan is just mad, so angry at everything that's happened.
In New Orleans for a family reunion, Tristan sees King Cotton again, strolling down the street as if no big deal. The evil haint hasn't given up, he's just re-grouping, this time stronger than before because our prejudiced and bigoted world and history fuels him and his followers far better than Alke ever did.
As Tristan gathers his allies (he does find Gum Baby, thank heavens!), he must fight them all -- from a prison built over a plantation that threatens to swallow them, to the Redliners, angry, ignorant whites wearing white ski masks with red slashes over their faces (redlining is a racist practice used by mortgage companies and banks to determine who could get home loans for reasonable rates based on the predominant racial makeup of zip codes and Census tracts) who try to frame Tristan for all the murder and mayhem they cause. And to top it off, he learns Cotton's forces are stealing children, taking them from the streets, to fuel Cotton's latest scheme to take over the world.
But Tristan's anger fuels him, makes him stronger than ever, if a bit head-strong. He comes to understand his powers as Anansesem and just what he can do with a story by telling it, never allowing it to fade or be forgotten.
I won't reveal any of the story twists and turns in this one. It was a great conclusion to the series, ending the only way it could've -- with Tristan punching his way to victory.
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
In New Orleans for a family reunion, Tristan sees King Cotton again, strolling down the street as if no big deal. The evil haint hasn't given up, he's just re-grouping, this time stronger than before because our prejudiced and bigoted world and history fuels him and his followers far better than Alke ever did.
As Tristan gathers his allies (he does find Gum Baby, thank heavens!), he must fight them all -- from a prison built over a plantation that threatens to swallow them, to the Redliners, angry, ignorant whites wearing white ski masks with red slashes over their faces (redlining is a racist practice used by mortgage companies and banks to determine who could get home loans for reasonable rates based on the predominant racial makeup of zip codes and Census tracts) who try to frame Tristan for all the murder and mayhem they cause. And to top it off, he learns Cotton's forces are stealing children, taking them from the streets, to fuel Cotton's latest scheme to take over the world.
But Tristan's anger fuels him, makes him stronger than ever, if a bit head-strong. He comes to understand his powers as Anansesem and just what he can do with a story by telling it, never allowing it to fade or be forgotten.
I won't reveal any of the story twists and turns in this one. It was a great conclusion to the series, ending the only way it could've -- with Tristan punching his way to victory.
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/