Maya and the Rising Dark

By Rena Barron

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020. Fantasy.

Twelve-year-old Maya is certain she is seeing things. It started with the dreams of a man with creamy pale skin and pale violet eyes, then one day she was in math class when all of the color drained out of the classroom for a moment, and then one day Maya's best friends Frankie and Eli are attacked by werehyenas and Maya knows for certain that something is up. What Maya discovers is crazier than even her favorite comic books -- it turns out that the West African folktales and stories that her papa has always told her are more than just stories. Maya's dad is really an orisha named Eleggua -- the most powerful deity and the guardian of the veil between our world and the dark. When he goes missing, the elders in Maya's South Side Chicago neighborhood finally come clean and reveal a big secret -- Maya, Frankie, and Eli are all godlings descended from orisha and it is up to them to restore order to the veil.

This is a rich fantasy novel steeped in West African folklore and grounded in present-day America by a likable and comic-book obsessed protagonist. As Maya, Frankie and Eli endeavor to travel into the dark, avoid the evil darkbringers, and save Eleggua their earnestness brings along a slew of adventures and mistakes made with the best adventures. Fans of Percy Jackson or Rick Riordan Presents books will love this fast-pace novel that centers Black characters in a welcome and refreshing way.

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