Amari Peters is a 13 year old Black girl who doesn’t fit in at her posh, mostly white school, and is struggling with the disappearance of her brother, Quinton. When she discovers a clue in the form of a secret briefcase, Amari is thrown into a world she never expected – one where goblins, witches and more are real. Amari’s quest to find her brother won’t be easy – she has to navigate three trials to qualify as a Junior Agent at the Department of Supernatural Investigations. Quinton worked there before he vanished, and Amari is already at a disadvantage not having grown up in the magical world.
B.B. Alston
Inside the gorgeous advanced readers copy I got to read, B.B. Alston shared a story about how when he first started to write this book, it petered out. Alston couldn’t see the protagonist as anything other than a white kid – the default middle-grade hero. He hadn’t seen a book featuring a kid like he was before, but once Amari popped into his head as a Black girl, his story began to take form as this fantastical book.
Amari herself is a big drawcard – she is indefatigable in her quest to find out what happened to her brother, even when it could throw her into danger’s way. Amari doubts herself and her abilities at times, and we see her struggle to live up to the huge shoes her brilliant brother has left to fill. When we do see or hear of Quinton on page, it’s always with a deep undercurrent of their love for each other. Amari is strong, brave, impulsive and perceptive – in the Trials she picks up or puzzles out clues in a way that is very observant of the tiny details Alston weaves into the world he’s created. It’s a lot of fun to try and decipher the various mysterious events – if you love a good mystery, you’ll find yourself pulled into the investigation Amari and her friend Elsie set up to find out what happened to Quinton and his agent partner, Maria.
We can also see in this book the number of microaggressions and factors that are working against Amari. From being bullied at her previous school to being looked down on at the Department tryouts, Amari has been living with the realities of being Black and the additional pressures this brings her whole life.
People assume stuff about you based on things you can’t change about yourself. So I just do my best to prove them wrong, to be the person they’re not expecting. Amari Peters, changing minds one person at a time. ‘I’m prepared,’ I say. ‘I’ve been practising my whole life.’
Amari and the Night Brothers, pp. 99
When Amari is bullied for being a magician by the other kids, she starts getting mysterious text messages from someone claiming to know more. An ally could be closer than she thinks … but so is danger.
I really enjoyed the friendship Amari has with her roommate Elsie (who’s also a weredragon!). Alston is inventive in fleshing out the world Amari is brought into – I loved the cleverness of Elsie’s inventions, like the ‘sneakandle’ – a candle that lets you stay up without your parents seeing the glow from the hall! It reminded me of the elements I loved in books like Nevermoor, as authors reimagine what could be used in a world a bit different to our own.
There’s a lot of life bubbling away in this book. Filled with fantastic characters, Alston has created a world readers won’t want to leave. You’ll be turning the pages and getting lost in Amari’s adventures, wondering which Department you’d be in and what kind of special talent you’d have. (If there isn’t a quiz to tell you what the Crystal Ball would assign you, I need someone to create it). Alston has said that he hopes his book inspires wonder in readers, particularly if they are someone who is different. As we can see from this wonderful book, owning what makes us unique has the ability to change everything.
Amari and the Night Brothers is perfect for readers who are ready to be swept into a world that is adjacent to this one, full of magic and potential. Universal has picked up the rights to bring this book to the big screen, and I can’t wait to read Amari’s next adventure in the series!
–Review by Cassandra Sharp
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing) is out now.
Amari and the Night Brothers
Supernatural Investigations: Book 1
Amari Peters has never stopped believing her missing older brother, Quinton, is alive. Not even when the police told her otherwise, or when she got in trouble for standing up to bullies who said he was gone for good.
So when she discovers a ticking briefcase in his closet containing a nomination for a summer tryout at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, she’s certain the secretive organisation holds the key to locating Quinton – if only she can wrap...
The best books we read in January 2021 
Read a Q&A with B.B. Alston, author of Amari and the Night Brothers! 
10 books for kids coming in early 2021!
Comments
WHYBUT # 1 – Half Time Hobbyist