Sure, there were plenty of fantasy series, but none where the main character looked like me and experienced the same types of things I experienced at that age. Amari is who I wish I had as a fictional character when I was growing up. It’s been a very long time since I’ve read a middle grade book that truly captures my attention and pulls me in for an unforgettable ride. It's a book that places an emphasis on things such as friendship/companionship, perseverance, self-confidence, the Black experience, how fear is so easily related to hate. This book is definitely more than a young girl looking for her brother. What ended up following those thoughts was an unbelievable experience. Don't get me wrong, I was excited because there appeared to be an emphasis on Black girl magic. I knew that in her search she came across a magical world that fostered some sort of competition. I knew that the book focused on a young girl by the name of Amari who was responsible for trying to find her missing brother. This is the type of book I wish I had growing up!Īmari and the Night Brothers is a fantastical breathtakingly beautiful book. THIS FREAKING BOOK! OH MY GOSH! Hands down it's going to be in the top books of 2021 for me and we're only in January. But if she doesn’t pass the three tryouts, she may never find out what happened to Quinton. With an evil magican threatening the whole supernatural world, and her own classmates thinking she is an enemy, Amari has never felt more alone.

As if she needed something else to make her stand out. Amari is certain the answer to finding out what happened to him lies somewhere inside, if only she can get her head around the idea of mermaids, dwarves, yetis and magicians all being real things, something she has to instantly confront when she is given a weredragon as a roommate.Īmari must compete against some of the nation’s wealthiest kids-who’ve known about the supernatural world their whole lives and are able to easily answer questions like which two Great Beasts reside in the Atlantic Ocean and how old is Merlin? Just getting around the Bureau is a lesson alone for Amari with signs like ‘Department of Hidden Places this way, or is it?’ If that all wasn’t enough, every Bureau trainee has a talent enhanced to supernatural levels to help them do their jobs – but Amari is given an illegal ability. He’s left her a nomination for a summer tryout at the secretive Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. There was far more to Quinton, it seems, than she ever knew. Then Amari discovers a ticking briefcase in her brother’s old closet.

Why isn’t his story all over the news? And why do the police automatically assume he was into something illegal? When he mysteriously goes missing, his little sister, 13-year-old Amari Peters, can’t understand why it’s not a bigger deal. Quinton Peters was the golden boy of the Rosewood low-income housing projects, receiving full scholarship offers to two different Ivy League schools.

Amari and night brothers