Last Friday, I finished reading Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston. This fantasy is about Amari Peters, a twelve-year-old Black girl whose brother, Quinton, disappeared six months ago. Amari believes that her brother is still alive, and after she gets in trouble on the last day of school, she discovers a ticking briefcase in her brother's closet. This briefcase contains an invitation to tryout for the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs during summer break. Hoping to find out what happened to Quinton, she accepts the opportunity. When she goes touches a crystal ball at a ceremony to receive a supernatural ability, she learns that she is an illegal magician. Facing prejudice from the other kids and even some of the adults at the Bureau, she competes for a spot as a Junior Agent despite the odds. Over the summer, she becomes friends with an emotion-sensing weredragon, Elsie Rodriguez, and a legacy boy, Dylan Van Helsing, who help with her search for Quinton. As they pass their tryouts, they find out that an evil magician is holding Quinton and Dylan's older sister, Maria, hostage and threatening the supernatural world. Not everyone is who they seem, though.
This novel was very exciting and I enjoyed reading it immensely. I thought that the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs was so cool and learning about the different departments made me want to go there. I also loved Amari's determination to find her brother. Even when she wanted to give up on becoming a Junior Agent, she decided she couldn't live with never knowing what happened to Quinton and went back to the Bureau to complete the tryout. I definitely liked her friends, Elsie and Dylan, too, because they helped her pass her tryouts and solve the mystery of her brother's disappearance. There is a plot twist towards the end and I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about it because I saw a similar twist on a television show recently, but it didn't take away from my overall impression of the story. Anyone who enjoys fantasy and adventure should read Amari and the Night Brothers.
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