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

Title: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky
Author: Kwame Mbalia
Series: Tristan Strong #1
Genre: Middle-Grade/Mythology/
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: October 15th, 2019
Edition: Kindle Edition, 496 pages
Source: Library
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Book Depository | Bookshop | Powell's | Thriftbooks

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis:

   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?

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This book was just alright for me. The pacing really killed it for me. This book is very long, far from the longest book I've read and not much longer than some other Middle Grade books that I've read. But I could feel the length of this book, and I'm not sure it needed to be nearly 500 pages long.

Another thing that kept me from being very invested in this book was not spending enough time with Tristan's family before he goes on his adventure. There wasn't as much time to get any connection to his family, only the first couple of chapters, and for a book that is nearly 500 pages for me that's not enough time for me. The chapters were also very short, which also didn't help the pacing.

The writing and the characters were good though, not being well versed in African-American folklore didn't hinder that part of the enjoyment for me. I like learning about every culture's folklore, and often read books where I didn't know much about that culture's lore before reading the book. Tristan was believable as a seventh grader, his insecurities and his ego lined up for somebody that age.

I think this book would be great for a middle-school or grade-school class to read together. A way to learn about mythology and history. The short chapters would make it easier for kids to read.