Internationally bestselling superstar author Angie Thomas makes her middle grade debut with the launch of an inventive, hilarious, and suspenseful new contemporary fantasy trilogy inspired by African American history and folklore.
It’s not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool—like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much—like not being trusted to learn magic because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbor.
All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad. But before she has a chance to convince him to teach her the gift, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she’s never heard of...to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed.
BIO
Angie Thomas was born and raised in Mississippi, but now calls Atlanta her home. She is a former teen rapper whose greatest accomplishment was an article about her in Right-On Magazine. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing from Belhaven University and an unofficial degree in Hip Hop. She can also still rap if needed.
Angie is an inaugural winner of the Walter Dean Myers Grant 2015, awarded by We Need Diverse Books. Her debut novel, THE HATE U GIVE, started as a senior project in college. It was later acquired by the Balzer+Bray imprint of HarperCollins Publishers in a 13-publisher auction and debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, winning the ALA’s William C. Morris Debut Award and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award (USA), the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize (UK), and the Deutscher Jugendliterapreis (Germany). THE HATE U GIVE was adapted into a critically acclaimed film from Fox 2000, starring Amandla Stenberg and directed by George Tillman, Jr.
REVIEWS
'Thomas (Concrete Rose) brings her trademark voice to an action-packed series kickoff rooted in a mixture of African diasporic myth, biblical references, and U.S. history. Imbuing characters both brave and sweetly vulnerable with unflappable senses of humor amid harrowing circumstances, Thomas creates an elaborate supernatural mythology that boldly confronts fantasy tropes and questions of forgiveness.' -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
'In a set of gleefully ingenious riffs on African and African American folklore, from “The People Could Fly” to Wakanda, Thomas pitches 12-year-old Nic into a whirl of stunning discoveries about her background as she struggles to understand her own magical gifts…. Sober references…give further historical and emotional depth to this rousing quest tale’s already richly articulated cultural context.' -- Booklist (starred review)
'Magnificent, hilarious and captivating. It can be challenging to satiate the appetites of readers who devour beloved middle grade fantasy series. Those readers will inhale Nic Blake and the Remarkables—and then begin counting down the days to its sequel.' -- BookPage (starred review)
'Thomas skillfully incorporates folktales from the African Diaspora and infuses her story with the energy and emotional nuance of a pre-teen in this tale of intrigue, loyalty, identity, and courage—the first book in a projected trilogy.' -- Horn Book
[H] Balzer & Bray / HarperTeen / April 04, 2023
1.23" H x 8.51" L x 5.85" W (0.95 lbs) 368 pages