Rutabaga's Reads 2023: Part 1

The amount of middle-grade (MG) novels that I’ve been consuming in recent years hasn’t slowed. To showcase this fact, here’s already the first MG compilation post of 2023. It’s also my first compilation post of this year.

Serwa Boateng’s Guide to Vampire Hunting (Sept. 6, 2022) by Roseanne A. Brown.

*This is the first​ novel in a middle-grade debut series.*

Fireflies are dangerous. Not all, but some are actually adze​, shapeshifting vampires that can transform into fireflies and possess the human mind (and could then shift into that human and no other human would know it’s hosting an adze). No vampires of the sparkly variety in Ghanaian folklore. As the daughter of two of the best Slayers, 12-year-old Serwa Boateng is one of the best Slayers her age, but her parents won’t let her take the Initiation Test to become a fully fledged Slayer of the Abomofuo (“hunters in Twi¹. An organization dedicated to defending the world from the forces of black magic. Comprised of Slayers, Middle Men, and Okomfo.”). Slayers don’t only dispatch adze, but any creature of black magic. This includes obayifos (witches). One in particular, Boahinmaa, somehow breaches the magical barriers (which are formed using Adinkra, symbols that represent specific things and are often tied to proverbs). She and her parents escape, but narrowly. There is history between Boahinmaa and her mom, but neither her parents nor Boulder, her father’s mmoatia​ (forest spirit), will divulge any details of how they know one another. The gods (Nana Tegare: god of hunters, Nana Tano: god of war, Nana Bia: god of the bush) send Serwa’s parents on a mission to defeat Boahinmaa and Serwa assumes she’s going along as she always has. Instead, she winds up in Rocky Gorge, Maryland (a.k.a. Nowheresville) and its Rocky Gorge Middle School with her “Auntie” Latricia and “Cousin” Roxanne (not related by blood). She’s traded in Nokware (a sword) and her crossbow for a mean girl (Ashley) and schoolwork. Or has she? When an adze infiltrates her school, she knows it’s up to her and the GCC (Good Citizens Committee) to find who the adze has inhabited and defeat it. The GCC is an unlikely team in personalities alone, but Serwa, Roxy, Mateo, Eunju and Gavin - together with Boulder - are the only ones who can save Rocky Gorge. When Serwa uncovers a secret about her family, she’ll have to decide which side is her side.

            From tween hijinks to Serwa’s savvy narration blended with Ghanaian folklore (some of which may be familiar if one’s read the Tristan Strong​ series), this series starter is fast-paced, action-packed and serves a magical punch. This story gives readers a fresh take on vampires, which is good, because when I first read the title and saw Vampire Hunting, I had doubts. I thought, “Oh no, is this Van Helsing but as a middle-grade story?” Not at all, not even close! Brown’s story has deep layers striated with fantastical mythology and emotive characters, especially Serwa and her outburst at the story’s clearly-a-cliffhanger ending. While I don’t love the story like some of the others within the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, I am happy that I picked up this book and navigated obstacles, detention, adze-hunting, a major secret, family relationships and finding new friends with Serwa. Like middle school isn’t hard enough without firefly-slash-vampires and life-changing secrets!

            ¹: (chwee) a dialect of the Akan language spoken by millions of people in Ghana and around the world. Not to be confused with the first syllable in Twitter or Twilight.

            P.S. There is a glossary of Ghanaian words and pronunciations (love those glossaries) + an Adinkra dictionary (love that, too).

            P.P.S. For others who have read this story, I am curious to know your thoughts on the GCC consisting of students of color, implying and noted by their supervising teacher (also of color), Mr. Riley, that students of color are singled out for detention when Caucasian students are not. Do you read it as something that is relatable and current? Or do you think that sort of focus in a story perpetuates enmity and mistrust?

Tiger Honor (Jan. 4, 2022) by Yoon Ha Lee.

*This is a sequel ​ novel.*

*FYI: Sebin is nonbinary, so I will use they/them pronouns to refer to the character.*

What do you do when the one you look up to most is declared a traitor in the eyes of the Thousand World Space Forces? Sebin, a tiger spirit “cub” from the Juhwang Clan on the planet of Yonggi, plans to clear Uncle Hwan’s name, restoring the clan’s honor. And, like former Captain Hwan, Sebin wants to captain their own battle cruiser one day, though they know they’ll be expected to scrub floors and tend to the hydroponics as a cadet at the bottom of the totem pole. Sebin expects structure and maximum security, but things are off as soon as they arrive at Starbase Borasaekbam. Sebin and new cadet, Jee, are to report to the Haetae immediately, according to Special Investigator Yi and Yi’s assistant Kim Min. Sebin doesn’t have time to be sworn in by Captain Chaewon before an explosion rocks the ship. Communications are down. It’ll be up to Sebin, Yi, Min, Jee and two other cadets, Euna and Namkyu, to discover who’s sabotaging the cruiser.  But how is Sebin to help when they’re accused of colluding with the enemy and are put in the brig?

            Family loyalty vs. honor and duty. In this second space opera featuring Korean mythology, nonbinary tiger spirit Juhwang Sebin must decide where their loyalties lie: to family or the Space Forces, whose commitment to the latter supersedes all else, even family oaths sealed with blood. “Tiger Honor” is an engaging middle-grade story with fast pacing and twisty turns, an excellent choice for readers looking for sci-fi adventure. Readers of the first Thousand Worlds novel will recognize Kim Min. I have been on a mythology kick since I read Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief,” so I’ve been gobbling up the varied stories within the Rick Riordan Presents​ imprint in addition to what Riordan writes. Women in positions of military power and the inclusion of nonbinary characters are commonplace. Multiple characters would’ve benefitted from further character development, but that shouldn’t stop anyone who’s drawn in by [Korean] mythology, space fights and journeying with a main character who’s faced with a family-versus-integrity dilemma. Considering how popular anything K-related has become – from k-pop to k-dramas to k-food – the combination of action-adventure and cultural elements should have wide appeal.

            Book One: Dragon Pearl

The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy (Oct. 12, 2021) by Anne Ursu.

*This is a standalone novel (as far as I can tell).*

No one notices Marya Lupu, because her older brother, Luka, is destined to become a sorcerer. Where girls in the land of Illyria on the continent of Dovia are groomed to become wives and mothers, caregivers to younger siblings, maids, cooks or weavers, boys all hope they’ll become sorcerers, able to wield magic to protect Illyria from the Dread, the Ilvanians, the Kellians and the creatures of the Fantoma Forest, amongst other threats. It’s after a visit doesn’t go as expected that a letter arrives informing the Lupu family that Marya will attend Dragomir Academy, a school for wayward girls. Girls like Marya, who always seems to do the wrong thing even though it feels right at the time. They’ve got to learn the history of Dovia, of course, but they’re also taught how to sit, how to walk, how to eat soup and how to hold a fork. A pall descends on the Rose Hall girls when one receives a letter from her parents stating that they no longer consider her their daughter. She’s their only child. There is something about Dragomir Academy that Marya can’t quite put her finger on. How are all of these girls troubled? When the Dread wipes out the village of one of her classmates, more questions arise. Why were the sorcerers unable to track the Dread’s formation and evacuate all villagers? The Dread normally forms over a forest, but that wasn’t the case this time. What’s causing it to change and why? Why does magic purportedly manifest in males only?

            In the patriarchal Kingdom of Illyria, girls are of little consequence compared to the boys of the realm. Readers are frustrated right along with Marya as high-ranking men treat her words as frivolous or, worse, accuse her of being bewitched by a friend accused of being a witch. Marya’s character is a raw word picture of the emotional and psychological results of living in a patriarchal world, of a girl who isn’t, instead, a second son, and has a mother whom she can never please, a mother who’s all but given up on her. She carries so much guilt, shame and self-doubt, but this middle-grade novel is remarkable. The curious protagonist learns to question “who the story serves” while making friends for the first time. This is a novel that ensorcelled me with its thoughtful writing, skilled-tapestry world-building and intricately-woven plot. It’s a subtle fantasy novel, not big, loud and epic, but one that is empowering and generous. It’s an original story from an author who must have magic of her own, gifted storyteller that she is.