This book should be required reading for everyone. What Mbalia does with these icons from West African folklore and the layering of the legacy of slavery and what it stole, all while telling an AMAZING adventure story, is breathtaking. 

 

The best example I have of this is the first monster we meet in Midpass: fetterlings. When I saw that name, I thought, “No… that can’t be what I think.” But it was. Fetterlings are iron manacles that hunt the black folk and drag them away. Even John Henry and Brer Rabbit are afraid of them. The layer of metaphor in that alone had me hooked, and this is not the only example in the book. Mbalia does not shy away from exploring the inherited scars of enslaved ancestors and what was stolen from the enslaved by their captors. 

 

When Gum Baby (another figure from black folklore) steals a journal from Tristan, he chases after her, punching his way into Midpass and ripping a hole in the sky, which causes all sorts of problems. Tristan is on a constant search for the journal. It belonged to his best friend, Eddie, who died in a bus crash that Tristan walked away from.

As Tristan searches for Anansi, the only god who can repair that hole, he grapples with his own grief and survivor’s guild. Tristan is a strong young man who has been taught to keep punching. Being with him as he learned not everything is about fighting and sometimes you just have to left the emotions come was very powerful. 

 

Of course, one of my favorite things in the book is that this story is about storytelling. Tristan is often reminded that there is a difference between the true story and what was told, either because it’s easier to hear or favors those in power. He’s reminded that who tells the story is sometimes more important than the story itself. As Tristan harnesses his own storytelling power, this becomes all the more clear. 

 

This book is the truest example of how powerful of the right storyteller paired with the right story can be.