Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

Spoiler Alert! Warning! This page contains spoilers for Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky.

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky
Attribution
Author	Kwame Mbaliia
Cover artist	Eric Wilkinson
Publication Information
Publisher	Rick Riordan Presents
Release date	October 15, 2019
Chronology
Preceded by	None
Followed by	Untitled Sequel

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky is the first book in the Tristan Strong series by Kwame Mbaliia under the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, it focuses on West African and African American mythology and folklore.

Synopsis

Pitched as an MG American Gods, the book stars a seventh-grade boy who accidentally creates a hole into the Midpass, a world where ancient African gods clash with gods of African-American legend. He must race to find Anansi, the Weaver, and repair the rip before the iron monsters wreaking havoc in the Midpass consume their world and ours.

Seventh grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he’s going to spend on his grandparents’ farm in Alabama, where he’s being sent to heal from the tragedy. But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up in his bedroom and steals Eddie’s journal. Tristan chases after it–is that a doll?–and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree. In a last attempt to wrestle the journal out of the creature’s hands, Tristan punches the tree, accidentally ripping open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters that are hunting the inhabitants of this world. Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle that has left black American gods John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted. In order to get back home, Tristan and these new allies will need to entice the god Anansi, the Weaver, to come out of hiding and seal the hole in the sky. But bartering with the trickster Anansi always comes at a price. Can Tristan save this world before he loses more of the things he loves?

Development

According to Kwame Mbaliia, Tristan Strong deals with grief and loss in this book, both personal and cultural. On April 15th, Mbaliia revealed three items relevant to Tristan, a journal, a boxing glove, and sweet peaches.

Plot

Leaving Home and Heading South

Tristan Strong was punching a punching bag in his room in Chicago. Two weeks ago he lost his best friend, Eddie, in a bus accident and his mother gave him his journal. It was supposed to be for an oral presentation they were going to do but school ended early due to Eddie's death. The night before, he lost his first boxing match, his parents and paternal grandparents tried to cheer him up but were also disappointed, his father and grandfather were professional boxers. His mother came in and told him they're ready for him to go to their grandparents' farm in Alabama for a month. Tristan's grief counselor said it would good for him to get a change of scenery. He grabbed his duffel bag and Eddie's journal, it somehow glowed green but only he noticed it, and he never read it despite knowing that it contained fables he heard in his youth.

Tristan noticed some dark clouds in the distance of the summer sky, he did not like the car ride at all. Grandad was always thinking about work and getting his grandson to do it, he was constantly talking the whole ride while Nana was knitting. They were always arguing and laughing, Nana was singing when not talking. Tristan noticed a weird symbol on Eddie's journal after his death, Nana revealed that it is a web, an old African symbol for creativity and wisdom, after saying that Mr. Richardson, his counselor says he needs to find out what he'd going to do in life. Tristan finally decided to open the journal.

Visions and Trance

He saw a vision of two figures crouched near the base of a giant oak tree. They were John Henry and Brer Rabbit, and they were talking about doing something. Brer Rabbit said something to John Henry’s hammer, John pressed it against the roots of tree. A black hole appeared, John put a small unintelligible object into it after telling it to go and find something.

Tristan Strong woke up back in his grandparents' Cadillac, he wasn’t sure if that was if that was a dream. They were almost at the farm, Tristan spotted a stand of old and twisted trees. Nana explained they were bottle trees, slaves from Africa used them to capture and dispose evil spirits. When the reach the farm, Granddad had Tristan help him fix a fence while Nana made dinner. While running up the extra wire to the barn after Granddad left, Tristan arrived at the bottle tree. But upon hearing Nana's voice, he ran back to the farmhouse.

Gum Baby

At bedtime, Tristan wasn't used to the darkness and noise of Alabama. He heard something falling by the window then looking for something. Upon turning on the flashlight, Tristan saw a doll baby made of molasses and wood, she was Gum Baby from the tales of Anansi! She got mad that Tristan won't talk back after getting offended by him, she made a obnoxious introduction and hated being shushed. Gum Baby tries to punch Tristan but it only tickled, yet she got stains on his bed. She explained she's here for a sign, she threw goop on Tristan, stole the backpack with Eddie’s journal, and left out the window! Tristan just sank to the floor, but he saw a trail that Gum Baby left and followed it, ignoring fictional warnings.

This Article is a Stub You can help by expanding it.

Chapter list

1. The Car Ride
2. The Bottle Trees
3. Gum Baby
4. Fight in the Forest
5. Haints and Bone Ships
6. The Raft
7. Iron Monsters 101
8. Fetterlings
9. The Paper Giant
10. The Thicket
11. The Gods of MidPass
12. The Butterfly Whisperer
13. Anansesem
14. Growing Desperate
15. Fuel for the Gods
16. The Warren
17. The Worst Plan Ever
18. The Adinkra
19. Attack!
20. The Bossling
21. Brand Flies
22. Legend of the Bottle Rocket
23. The Golden Crescent
24. Nyame's Palace
25. That Was No Statue
26. Bronzey to the Rescue
27. Nyame's Charm
28. Anansi's Lair
29. Rock Lasers
30. Into Isihlangu
31. The Elders
32. Spirit of the Imbongi
33. Abiyoyo
34. High John
35. A Different Perspective
36. The Man of Fire and Smoke
37. Missing Memories
38. The Story Box
39. Unwelcome Visitors
40. Hullbeasts and Brand Files
41. The Magic Ax
42. Hoodoo and Confessions
43. The Mmoatia Forest
44. We're all Broke-Story Box, Too
45. Flight of the Midfolk
46. A Dangerous Bargain
47. King Cotton
48. Last Stop
49. Tricking the Trickster

This Article is a Stub You can help by expanding it.

Characters

• Tristan Strong
• John Henry
• Brer Rabbit
• Anansi
• Uncle C
• Nyame
• Gum Baby
• Brer Fox
• Mmoatia
• High John
• Walter Strong
• Nana Strong
• Alvin Strong
• Mrs. Strong
• Eddie
• Mr. Richardson
• Thandiwe
• Shadow

Gallery

End-paper map