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Tristan Strong #3
Tristan Strong Keeps Punching
The finale of Kwame Mbalia's trilogy, in which Tristan Strong faces off with his archenemy, King Cotton, once and for all.
After reuniting with Ayanna, who is now in his world, Tristan travels up the Mississippi in pursuit of his archenemy, King Cotton. Along the way they encounter new haints who are dead set on preventing their progress north to Tristan's hometown of Chicago. It's going to take many Alkean friends, including the gods themselves, the black flames of the afokena gloves, and all of Tristan's inner strength to deliver justice once and for all.
After reuniting with Ayanna, who is now in his world, Tristan travels up the Mississippi in pursuit of his archenemy, King Cotton. Along the way they encounter new haints who are dead set on preventing their progress north to Tristan's hometown of Chicago. It's going to take many Alkean friends, including the gods themselves, the black flames of the afokena gloves, and all of Tristan's inner strength to deliver justice once and for all.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 5, 2021
103 people are currently reading
2314 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 237 reviews
June 24, 2024
**4.5-stars rounded up**
Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is the third and final book in Kwame Mbalia's courageous Middle Grade Adventure series, Tristan Strong.
This was my most anticipated Middle Grade novel of 2021 and unsurprisingly, Mbalia DID NOT DISAPPOINT!
In this installment, which I won't get too far into because it is the third book in the series, we see all of our old favorite characters return, including the absolute star, Gum Baby.
Unfortunately for Tristan and friends, however, we also see the return of one of the most heinous villains to ever grace the pages of a Middle Grade novel, King Cotton.
Starting at a family reunion, heading to New Orleans, then up the mighty Mississippi all the way to his hometown of Chicago, this story is never want for action!
In addition to great action, these books contain enormous amounts of heart and humor. Mbalia doesn't shy away from exploring important societal issues as well, making this a great book for parents to discuss with their children.
Looking back at the series as a whole, I am so impressed with Tristan's growth as a character. He seemed to have a lot more introspective moments in this finale and I think those moments will be highly relatable to a lot of young Readers.
Mbalia's ability to blend serious moments with laugh out loud humor is really unmatched. If you want a action-packed series that will make you laugh, make you bite your nails in anticipation and make you think, look no further, Tristan Strong is where it's at.
While I am really sad this trilogy had to come to an end, I am so happy with how it turned out. The Epilogue filled my heart to bursting.
I highly recommend this series to Readers of all ages. It's a ton of fun, but more than that, it provides a necessary voice and an equally important hero for our time!!
Thank you so much to the publisher, Disney Books and Rick Riordan Presents, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
I am a huge fan of this series and will carry it in my heart for a long time to come!!
Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is the third and final book in Kwame Mbalia's courageous Middle Grade Adventure series, Tristan Strong.
This was my most anticipated Middle Grade novel of 2021 and unsurprisingly, Mbalia DID NOT DISAPPOINT!
In this installment, which I won't get too far into because it is the third book in the series, we see all of our old favorite characters return, including the absolute star, Gum Baby.
Unfortunately for Tristan and friends, however, we also see the return of one of the most heinous villains to ever grace the pages of a Middle Grade novel, King Cotton.
Starting at a family reunion, heading to New Orleans, then up the mighty Mississippi all the way to his hometown of Chicago, this story is never want for action!
In addition to great action, these books contain enormous amounts of heart and humor. Mbalia doesn't shy away from exploring important societal issues as well, making this a great book for parents to discuss with their children.
Looking back at the series as a whole, I am so impressed with Tristan's growth as a character. He seemed to have a lot more introspective moments in this finale and I think those moments will be highly relatable to a lot of young Readers.
Mbalia's ability to blend serious moments with laugh out loud humor is really unmatched. If you want a action-packed series that will make you laugh, make you bite your nails in anticipation and make you think, look no further, Tristan Strong is where it's at.
While I am really sad this trilogy had to come to an end, I am so happy with how it turned out. The Epilogue filled my heart to bursting.
I highly recommend this series to Readers of all ages. It's a ton of fun, but more than that, it provides a necessary voice and an equally important hero for our time!!
Thank you so much to the publisher, Disney Books and Rick Riordan Presents, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
I am a huge fan of this series and will carry it in my heart for a long time to come!!
February 27, 2022
This is the last book in the Tristan Strong series and wow was it just as good as the rest of this series! I'm just obsessed with it!! I won't say too much cause it's the third in a series! We get all of our favorite characters as well as the worst middle-grade villain, King Cotton.
We start at a family reunion, head to New Orleans, then up the Mississippi to the hometown of Chicago. This story - this whole series honestly - is non-stop action and humor!! I love how Mbalia doesn't shy away from talking bout important social topics and makes this a great book for adults and kids alike. I can't recommend this series enough! My favorite middle-grade series!
We start at a family reunion, head to New Orleans, then up the Mississippi to the hometown of Chicago. This story - this whole series honestly - is non-stop action and humor!! I love how Mbalia doesn't shy away from talking bout important social topics and makes this a great book for adults and kids alike. I can't recommend this series enough! My favorite middle-grade series!
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December 19, 2022
A disappointing conclusion to an uneven trilogy, all the more disappointing because it had so much potential at first. Which, I suppose, is a pretty good summary of the series -- great opener, clumsily "woke" middle, then a halfhearted jumbled end.
It really felt like Mbalia was torn between two selves, one of whom wanted to write a great urban-fantasy action-adventure trilogy about a black kid connecting his American roots to his African heritage by way of mythology while also navigating a modern world in which both are relevant. That self wanted to write an empowering, exciting series that would leave readers inspired, intrigued and proud to be black. Mbalia should have listened to that self. Because the other self, the one to which he eventually gave free rein, is a miserable, moaning grievance-monger, someone who dismisses achievements and success and progress because he feels black folks should wallow in endless sorrow and never rise. Nothing can ever get better. We must always look back and focus on the worst because even the best simply reveals through contrast how bad the worst was. And because Mbalia listened to that second self he wrote a series that's 1/3 cool & uplifting and 2/3 exasperating & miserable.
I think the contrast between these two Mbalian selves really stands out because I keep thinking back to the classic black heroes of "Sword & Soul" literature. I'm finally preparing to finish the "Imaro" series by Charles Saunders and comparing the characters between the two, I can FEEL the difference. I read the "Imaro" series and I can feel their strength, their struggles, their triumphs; but when I read Mbalia I just feel weary and annoyed. I almost wish Pomphis could hop into "Tristan Strong Keeps Punching" and dope-slap every single hero or villain in Mbalia's conclusory novel.
This is a disappointment. Black kids deserve better.
It really felt like Mbalia was torn between two selves, one of whom wanted to write a great urban-fantasy action-adventure trilogy about a black kid connecting his American roots to his African heritage by way of mythology while also navigating a modern world in which both are relevant. That self wanted to write an empowering, exciting series that would leave readers inspired, intrigued and proud to be black. Mbalia should have listened to that self. Because the other self, the one to which he eventually gave free rein, is a miserable, moaning grievance-monger, someone who dismisses achievements and success and progress because he feels black folks should wallow in endless sorrow and never rise. Nothing can ever get better. We must always look back and focus on the worst because even the best simply reveals through contrast how bad the worst was. And because Mbalia listened to that second self he wrote a series that's 1/3 cool & uplifting and 2/3 exasperating & miserable.
I think the contrast between these two Mbalian selves really stands out because I keep thinking back to the classic black heroes of "Sword & Soul" literature. I'm finally preparing to finish the "Imaro" series by Charles Saunders and comparing the characters between the two, I can FEEL the difference. I read the "Imaro" series and I can feel their strength, their struggles, their triumphs; but when I read Mbalia I just feel weary and annoyed. I almost wish Pomphis could hop into "Tristan Strong Keeps Punching" and dope-slap every single hero or villain in Mbalia's conclusory novel.
This is a disappointment. Black kids deserve better.
August 17, 2024
I really like how this was all pulled together at the end! The blend of current social issues, the past, and the mythological world was really well done, and I thoroughly, THOROUGHLY enjoyed the epilogue.
October 16, 2021
Wow what a crazy finale! I'm not going to spoil u guys of what happened but dang this book was amazing and gave me all the feels and loved how this trilogy wrapped up!(:
Five out of five stars!(:
Five out of five stars!(:
November 18, 2021
I wish it weren't the last! <3
January 1, 2022
Tristan has saved the inhabitants of Alke by stitching the world with his world. However, when everyone wakes up they find they've been separated. Tristan wants to go find his friends, but King Cotton has escaped and is causing problems. Tristan has also been noticing that his magic is acting strangely.
I really enjoyed this whole series. I loved seeing all the character growth of Tristan and his friends. I think Anansi surprised me most. He really changed from who we met in book 1. I'm definitely going to miss this world. I loved meeting all the kids who possess magic from Alke. The only thing I missed was how PJO has Camp Half-blood, these kids need their own version in the real world where they can meet each other and find resources to help them.
The ending definitely had some bittersweet moments, but overall this was just so damn good. No complaints either way. So glad I finally read this series!
Rep: Black male MC with anxiety/intrusive thoughts and PTSD, side WLW couple, Black nonbinary side character, Black female side character who uses a wheelchair, All Black, African-American and African disapora cast.
I really enjoyed this whole series. I loved seeing all the character growth of Tristan and his friends. I think Anansi surprised me most. He really changed from who we met in book 1. I'm definitely going to miss this world. I loved meeting all the kids who possess magic from Alke. The only thing I missed was how PJO has Camp Half-blood, these kids need their own version in the real world where they can meet each other and find resources to help them.
The ending definitely had some bittersweet moments, but overall this was just so damn good. No complaints either way. So glad I finally read this series!
Rep: Black male MC with anxiety/intrusive thoughts and PTSD, side WLW couple, Black nonbinary side character, Black female side character who uses a wheelchair, All Black, African-American and African disapora cast.
February 4, 2022
SWEET PEACHES!!!! What an absolutely PHENOMENAL trilogy! Each book got better & better, which is insane to me because each was sooooooo good! I think this is a trilogy, & so no more books will be coming out(besides the graphic novel)..& I’m so sad! Lol I could read this forever. Like the others, I learned so many important things from history in here. Including things about slavery, the civil war, & also things about New Orleans & Chicago I didn’t know before, for example.
Trauma is still a big theme, & Tristan has so much anger. Not just from his own trauma, but others that he is seeing through their stories or spirits. Or living people even in current time, who are dealing with so much, & the world is ignoring them. The villain is still despicable & evil, & there are new evil ones that join him. Even a group of bigots from our own world that made me sick. So many things hurt my heart in here, & made me angry. They should make you angry. Then as far as this story, the author had my emotions & heart all over the place. Tristan & The Ballad of the Gummy will not be forgotten any time soon lol Such a fantastic part of the book….there are many though.
I don’t know if I’ll ever love a character as much as I have grown to love Gum Baby(she was next level in this 1 too! Lol Her “bee log!”hahaha). Or feel as at home with a character as I have with my time with Tristan. These are truly special books. The writing is SO engaging & superb, & the story is so immersive & gripping. Humor is next level. The themes & messages in here are so incredibly important & are the core & structure of the story. The ending was so good & satisfying, & I was all smiles. Tristan & his strength & determination had tears in my eyes, & pride in my heart for that amazing kid. Stories are so important. That includes each & every human beings own story. Each & every person in this world matters, regardless of race, religion, sex, or anything else. Also, great messages on anger-good & bad.
So, “Let me tell you a story..”…nah, I’ll leave that to the master-Kwame Mbalia. I’ll just tell you that you need to read these!! Remember-never give up, & KEEP PUNCHING! HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Another STUNNING cover(that shows my favorite duo)by Eric Wilkerson & BEAUTIFUL End pages by Sveta Dorosheva 💜
Trauma is still a big theme, & Tristan has so much anger. Not just from his own trauma, but others that he is seeing through their stories or spirits. Or living people even in current time, who are dealing with so much, & the world is ignoring them. The villain is still despicable & evil, & there are new evil ones that join him. Even a group of bigots from our own world that made me sick. So many things hurt my heart in here, & made me angry. They should make you angry. Then as far as this story, the author had my emotions & heart all over the place. Tristan & The Ballad of the Gummy will not be forgotten any time soon lol Such a fantastic part of the book….there are many though.
I don’t know if I’ll ever love a character as much as I have grown to love Gum Baby(she was next level in this 1 too! Lol Her “bee log!”hahaha). Or feel as at home with a character as I have with my time with Tristan. These are truly special books. The writing is SO engaging & superb, & the story is so immersive & gripping. Humor is next level. The themes & messages in here are so incredibly important & are the core & structure of the story. The ending was so good & satisfying, & I was all smiles. Tristan & his strength & determination had tears in my eyes, & pride in my heart for that amazing kid. Stories are so important. That includes each & every human beings own story. Each & every person in this world matters, regardless of race, religion, sex, or anything else. Also, great messages on anger-good & bad.
So, “Let me tell you a story..”…nah, I’ll leave that to the master-Kwame Mbalia. I’ll just tell you that you need to read these!! Remember-never give up, & KEEP PUNCHING! HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Another STUNNING cover(that shows my favorite duo)by Eric Wilkerson & BEAUTIFUL End pages by Sveta Dorosheva 💜
October 1, 2021
eARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
**5/5 stars**
Kwame Mbalia strikes again and again! Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is phenomenal conclusion to what has been my favorite middle grade fantasy series since Percy Jackson. These books hit different though. I tell everyone to read Tristan Strong; I don’t tell everyone to read Percy Jackson. That’s not to say one is better than the other. They hold different meanings.
Though I am sad to part with Tristan’s story and the magic of Alke, I think it was a wise choice to execute a trilogy. These books hold up so strongly because it is clear that great care was put into refining the value of each installment as well as their plots. Keeps Punching takes all of the beautiful themes of the first two books—family, trauma, community, resilience through storytelling, healing, etc— and pushes them further. You will cheer, shout, and cry for Tristan. And then you will cry again once you’ve finished because you will miss Tristan dearly. I did.
Replace copies of Harry Potter in classrooms with copies of Tristan Strong. I think the world would be a better place for it.
**5/5 stars**
Kwame Mbalia strikes again and again! Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is phenomenal conclusion to what has been my favorite middle grade fantasy series since Percy Jackson. These books hit different though. I tell everyone to read Tristan Strong; I don’t tell everyone to read Percy Jackson. That’s not to say one is better than the other. They hold different meanings.
Though I am sad to part with Tristan’s story and the magic of Alke, I think it was a wise choice to execute a trilogy. These books hold up so strongly because it is clear that great care was put into refining the value of each installment as well as their plots. Keeps Punching takes all of the beautiful themes of the first two books—family, trauma, community, resilience through storytelling, healing, etc— and pushes them further. You will cheer, shout, and cry for Tristan. And then you will cry again once you’ve finished because you will miss Tristan dearly. I did.
Replace copies of Harry Potter in classrooms with copies of Tristan Strong. I think the world would be a better place for it.
March 5, 2023
Strongs keep punching! 👊
October 13, 2021
Thank you to Rick Riordan Presents, Disney, and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The third title in the trilogy picks up shortly after the final events in book 2 – the gods and Alkeans are in the present world and scattered across the country. Tristan is on a family reunion in New Orleans when his “spidey-sense” is activated (the SBP with Anansi). King Cotton is back and as evil as ever and has his minions kidnapping children. This book is much darker than the previous two in that Tristan is able to see and feel the suffering of Black people of the past. King Cotton is growing more powerful and it’s up to Tristan and his friends to stop him.
While I truly enjoyed the previous two, this one was a bit of a slog for me. The plot seemed to meander before coming back to the central theme. I really wanted to like this book as much as the others but it just was not of the same caliber. Still worth the read if only to see the conclusion.
#TristanStrongKeepsPunching #RickRiordanPresents #NetGalley
The third title in the trilogy picks up shortly after the final events in book 2 – the gods and Alkeans are in the present world and scattered across the country. Tristan is on a family reunion in New Orleans when his “spidey-sense” is activated (the SBP with Anansi). King Cotton is back and as evil as ever and has his minions kidnapping children. This book is much darker than the previous two in that Tristan is able to see and feel the suffering of Black people of the past. King Cotton is growing more powerful and it’s up to Tristan and his friends to stop him.
While I truly enjoyed the previous two, this one was a bit of a slog for me. The plot seemed to meander before coming back to the central theme. I really wanted to like this book as much as the others but it just was not of the same caliber. Still worth the read if only to see the conclusion.
#TristanStrongKeepsPunching #RickRiordanPresents #NetGalley
October 12, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book. I am providing my honest opinion voluntarily.
CONTENT WARNING: violence, slavery, grief, death, racism
I absolutely adored the first two books in this series, so obviously I happy danced when NetGalley approved me for the third book. The author is a fresh voice in fantasy, and I love the creativity and conversational tone of the story.
Throughout this series, Mbalia has skillfully combined African mythology and Black American folktales to create a completely engrossing story. The brutal history of slavery isn’t avoided, but rather creates the crux of the central conflict. Central tenets that upheld slavery are portrayed as the villains (as they should be), and remembering the history rather than allowing it to be covered up is the key to overcoming the challenges the heroes face.
Tristan himself learns a lot on his journey in this book as well. His grief over the loss of his friend was a main challenge in earlier books, but in this one, he has to learn how to accept help from others and stop being so headstrong. At times, I wanted to shake him, but I had to remember that he’s only 12 and needed time to grow and stop making the same mistakes. Sometimes watching him struggle was painful, but he kept his sense of humor and understood the value of the great people surrounding him.
The pace of the story was fast. I read this book incredibly quickly, and there’s a lot of action. Nothing dragged, and this is the kind of the book that can be read in just a few sittings. I couldn’t put it down, and always wanted to know what was going to happen next. The best part of this was that I learned things while reading, but it never felt like a history lesson. It touches on a lot of the things that aren’t taught in the educational system, but are important aspects of American history.
This is the kind of book that would be ideal to include in school curricula. It could help kids get interested in books while learning history, without being boring in any way. These are the kind of books that provide kids with characters who look like them, and have important messages without being overly obvious. If more books like this were taught in schools, maybe more kids would be interested in reading. I’m thrilled to see that this series is being released as graphic novels as well, to make this even more accessible. Kwame Mbalia is a highly talented voice in MG fiction, and I can’t wait to read his other books.
CONTENT WARNING: violence, slavery, grief, death, racism
I absolutely adored the first two books in this series, so obviously I happy danced when NetGalley approved me for the third book. The author is a fresh voice in fantasy, and I love the creativity and conversational tone of the story.
Throughout this series, Mbalia has skillfully combined African mythology and Black American folktales to create a completely engrossing story. The brutal history of slavery isn’t avoided, but rather creates the crux of the central conflict. Central tenets that upheld slavery are portrayed as the villains (as they should be), and remembering the history rather than allowing it to be covered up is the key to overcoming the challenges the heroes face.
Tristan himself learns a lot on his journey in this book as well. His grief over the loss of his friend was a main challenge in earlier books, but in this one, he has to learn how to accept help from others and stop being so headstrong. At times, I wanted to shake him, but I had to remember that he’s only 12 and needed time to grow and stop making the same mistakes. Sometimes watching him struggle was painful, but he kept his sense of humor and understood the value of the great people surrounding him.
The pace of the story was fast. I read this book incredibly quickly, and there’s a lot of action. Nothing dragged, and this is the kind of the book that can be read in just a few sittings. I couldn’t put it down, and always wanted to know what was going to happen next. The best part of this was that I learned things while reading, but it never felt like a history lesson. It touches on a lot of the things that aren’t taught in the educational system, but are important aspects of American history.
This is the kind of book that would be ideal to include in school curricula. It could help kids get interested in books while learning history, without being boring in any way. These are the kind of books that provide kids with characters who look like them, and have important messages without being overly obvious. If more books like this were taught in schools, maybe more kids would be interested in reading. I’m thrilled to see that this series is being released as graphic novels as well, to make this even more accessible. Kwame Mbalia is a highly talented voice in MG fiction, and I can’t wait to read his other books.
November 7, 2021
Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is the third and final book in Tristan Strong series written by Kwame Mbalia. It follows Chicago seventh grader Tristan Strong, who travels to Mississippi in pursuit of his archenemy – King Cotton to stop his nefarious plans that threatens both worlds.
A fortnight after the events of the previous installment, Tristan Strong is trying to find the many Alkeans scattered across the country. While searching for his Alkean friends, Tristan discover children and spirits are being snatched and that his old foe, King Cotton, is free and has a nefarious plan that threatens the Alkeans' and Tristan's worlds alike.
Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is written rather well. Fascinating new characters are introduced and old friends reappear as sobering truths are balanced with humor and moments of wisdom throughout. The pacing is quick, albeit choppy at times, but this story is just as action-packed as the installments that preceded it. Tristan, no longer a reluctant hero, continues to behave with reckless impetuousness despite experiencing the consequences of his actions, moving him from realistically fallible to borderline questionable, but real nevertheless.
Overall, the Tristan Strong series was written extremely well. Mbalia has created a wonderful and sympathetic, albeit reluctant hero at first in Tristan Strong, who grows in his role as hero in each successive installment. Mbalia expertly weaves a meaningful portrayal of family and community with folklore, myth, history, and great amounts of action and humor. All three books are about African-American folktales that are brought into modern times.
All in all, Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is written rather well and is a wonderful conclusion to an equally wonderful series.
A fortnight after the events of the previous installment, Tristan Strong is trying to find the many Alkeans scattered across the country. While searching for his Alkean friends, Tristan discover children and spirits are being snatched and that his old foe, King Cotton, is free and has a nefarious plan that threatens the Alkeans' and Tristan's worlds alike.
Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is written rather well. Fascinating new characters are introduced and old friends reappear as sobering truths are balanced with humor and moments of wisdom throughout. The pacing is quick, albeit choppy at times, but this story is just as action-packed as the installments that preceded it. Tristan, no longer a reluctant hero, continues to behave with reckless impetuousness despite experiencing the consequences of his actions, moving him from realistically fallible to borderline questionable, but real nevertheless.
Overall, the Tristan Strong series was written extremely well. Mbalia has created a wonderful and sympathetic, albeit reluctant hero at first in Tristan Strong, who grows in his role as hero in each successive installment. Mbalia expertly weaves a meaningful portrayal of family and community with folklore, myth, history, and great amounts of action and humor. All three books are about African-American folktales that are brought into modern times.
All in all, Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is written rather well and is a wonderful conclusion to an equally wonderful series.
June 25, 2023
I really liked this one! I felt like it picked up right from the beginning, and I was very intrigued by the plot. I would have liked to see more of Tristan’s younger cousin because he seemed interesting, but I liked some of the new characters we met and also enjoyed seeing the old ones come back together.
The action and excitement of this one felt like it was constant. The haints were relentless, and Tristan never gave up even when the odds were against him. I liked his character growth in this one, and I liked his friendships with Ayanna and Gum Baby as the reconnected.
The pacing was good, and this one moved along quickly. There were some parts that I wish had had more explanation, but overall I really enjoyed this book and thought it was an excellent read. The epilogue was really sweet, and made me smile.
The action and excitement of this one felt like it was constant. The haints were relentless, and Tristan never gave up even when the odds were against him. I liked his character growth in this one, and I liked his friendships with Ayanna and Gum Baby as the reconnected.
The pacing was good, and this one moved along quickly. There were some parts that I wish had had more explanation, but overall I really enjoyed this book and thought it was an excellent read. The epilogue was really sweet, and made me smile.
October 26, 2021
A well written ending to an excellent series . This book was a roller coaster ride starting from confusion city through sadness ultimate and ending in happiness junction. And the ending was amazing . And Cotton had bagged the title of being the most irritating and hated villian of all the books I have ever read .
December 3, 2023
The final book in the Tristan Strong in which a boy has adventures with African gods, and black folklore icons in the modern day. This is among the best of the Rick Riordan Prensents line of books with a perfect mix of entertaining adventure and meaningful representation. It's laugh-out-loud funny too.
March 18, 2025
"Grief never went away, but we were expected to keep going, to get over it. But you didn't get over grief. You put it inside your heart with all the other baggage you'd collected while existing and you tried to get along with it."
This book is by far the strongest installment in this series. Tristan Strong Keeps Punching picks up a little after the previous book. Tristan is in Louisiana with his grandparents when things start to go south. He spots Cotton roaming about, up to no good, and the plot picks up from there.
I found myself really enjoying the plot taking place in the "overworld" (I don't what else to call it), instead of Alke. The plot is definitely a bit darker than the previous two and focuses on racism a lot, but also the other social issues that have been discussed throughout the series. Though the humor is still there, I did enjoy the darker vibes of this book.
Tristan's character arc is fantastic in this book. His anger and impulsiveness is explored a lot and as someone who experiences both those emotions quite often, I found him to be so relatable. Not only that, but I think Black kids especially who read these books will probably relate to the anger that Tristan feels.
I think, overall, this series was filled with many important themes and fun characters that I grew to love. However, the world-building was a bit shoddy to me and while I felt satisfied with the ending, I still have many unanswered questions about this world.
October 6, 2021
"I'm angry because the world keeps telling me I shouldn't be angry."
This book is Important. I really hope that everyone takes the time to read this series, but god, this book in particular, because WOW. Let's talk about shared grief and personal grief, let's talk about race and the erasure of history, let's talk about the power of stories, let's talk about rage--cultural rage, personal rage, the impossible frustration of being powerless--let's talk about how adults treat children they don't know how to handle, let's talk about the power of stories.
There is so much in this book. I hope you learn something from it. And I hope you have fun while learning.
Also, god, SOMEONE give Tristan a HUG, DAMN BOY.
This book is Important. I really hope that everyone takes the time to read this series, but god, this book in particular, because WOW. Let's talk about shared grief and personal grief, let's talk about race and the erasure of history, let's talk about the power of stories, let's talk about rage--cultural rage, personal rage, the impossible frustration of being powerless--let's talk about how adults treat children they don't know how to handle, let's talk about the power of stories.
There is so much in this book. I hope you learn something from it. And I hope you have fun while learning.
Also, god, SOMEONE give Tristan a HUG, DAMN BOY.
October 11, 2021
I’m so happy this series exists. It’s not often that you get to read a book that you can see yourself in. So, when one comes along, I have to get it! It’s one of the many reasons I have a deep appreciation for Rick Riordan and “Rick Riordan Presents.” I highly recommend this series. The growth Tristan displays is phenomenal. It was great to see and catch up with some characters. Gum Baby will forever be my favorite, but Tristan really made me proud. The world-building, as usual, is perfection. The tour of the South was nice. Tristan learning more about himself and what he can do was refreshing. While I wish this series wouldn’t end, I do appreciate it being a trilogy.
July 14, 2021
Tristan Strong Keeps Punching.
Firstly I am saying I love this series. I think it is amazing that Rick Roridan works with other authors and helps them write stories. I think though that this could just be a little better, and a little more structured.
Firstly I am saying I love this series. I think it is amazing that Rick Roridan works with other authors and helps them write stories. I think though that this could just be a little better, and a little more structured.
April 14, 2024
i love gum baby
June 24, 2023
I have been putting this review off for a decade and a half because I grew exhausted just thinking about gathering my thoughts together for this book. When I say it was terrible that is an understatement. Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is one of the worst middle grade books I’ve ever read. It took me months to get through. I wrote eight pages of notes. Worse than that I went into it knowing for a fact it wouldn’t be good because of how middling I found the previous two books.
The first thing I noted was that like I assumed would happen, all of Tristan’s grandmothers’ adventures in Alke were completely ignored. This takes place a few weeks after the events of the last book and all we get is a single flashback Tristan has to when they talked about it right after he saved her in which we learn nothing of consequence. Seeing as this is the final book (at least at the moment of this review) it makes no sense that what is presented as a life changing revelation in the past book never comes up in a meaningful way. Why introduce it when you won’t be doing anything with it? It adds to the overall feeling that this series is a bunch of independent ideas that a group of editors agreed upon - more on that a bit later as arguably that’s exactly what this is.
Case in point, a non-binary character named Memphis is introduced in this book for absolutely no reason. Not that you need a reason per se to include queer characters and to be fair, the lack of development is common for all characters in this series, but the fact that there was absolutely nothing queer at all in the last two books made the jump to including Memphis feel disingenuous. In terms of queer representation, Thandiwe discovering she’s nonbinary would have made more sense to me - she is an established character lacking in many traits already so this would have killed two birds with one stone. Especially since like I noted before Memphis is barely a character. Memphis appears eleven pages in the first quarter of a book that is over 400 pages and does nothing that could not have been shifted to a different character. Again, this isn’t about queerness needing a justification so much as the utility in the story being so lacking.
Sometimes inclusion is as simple as saying a character is black, queer, disabled, etc. Proof isn’t exactly required. What makes a character a good depiction of marginalization can be difficult to quantify. That being said, the reason this stands out to me as thrown in just for the sake of it is because that’s the tone for the entire series.
I’m particularly skeptical of intention considering this series is commissioned by Cake Literary (this review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... sums up the situation nicely) and not Kwame Mbalia’s idea. As I alluded to earlier, this series is a hodge podge of ‘hello fellow kids’ nuts and bolts from other better books gathered together by a bunch of people who regardless of their (supposedly) noble goals of spreading diversity are going to be concerned with the bottom line. That’s not to say that any diverse idea greenlit by a big box company is primarily or only money hungry. I love that diversity is being pushed in many different ways. I love that we’re trying to expand past the white, eurocentric narrative prevalent in a majority of the media in the United States. But, it’d be naive to think that how much money can be made does not also enter into the equation.
Companies know that looking like they care is more important than actually caring. People are so starved for representation, they’ll swallow a lot of flaws. Couple that with how pervasive virtue signaling has become and you’ve got a foolproof way to release a product, seem progressive and not have to even fight your own battles regarding criticism because the desperate masses will do it for you.
I’m getting more into general critique of modern children’s media rather than Tristan Strong, so getting back to the topic at hand: my point here is not that a book can’t flourish in spite of these circumstances. My point is that Tristan Strong is not a series that does and it shows.
I wouldn’t care about Memphis being included in a different book because the author being the arbiter (as far as I know, I’m aware that the majority of the time I will never know for certain how responsible an author is for all aspects of their work and will be operating under an assumption) of the work means I will naturally presume they wanted to include the marginalization due to an interest or belief in its significance or its bearing on the plot. When you incorporate a corporate interest is when I begin to doubt authenticity. And Tristan Strong has not one thing executed well enough to make me give it the benefit of the doubt.
The series has no definitive, stand-out villains and heroes. This is a series predicated on the idea of Black peoples’ stories, history, and culture being bombastic, vibrant, and worthy of attention. Yet, Tristan Strong always chooses the most boring, heavy handed way possible to communicate its subject matter at every turn.
The Gods feel like stand-ins for parents, to their detriment especially since Tristan has Grandparents’ who could easily fill the role. Their names and their powers are given, but they aren’t actually characters to root for. They are a presence to outwit. If the point is to revel in these characters in a way that has been denied to us for so long it was a poor choice to make them definitively, uncharitably this ever serious, oppressive barrier to Tristan doing what would be considered the ‘fun’ parts of the book. The weight of what this person represents as a concept in real life always took precedence over making them funny or interesting. They are written to appeal to the adults in charge of reading lists rather than for the kids directly.
The villains are typically random amalgamations of objects or concepts used for Black subjugation which makes them exceedingly difficult to keep track of when attacking or remember in general. I would have killed for a simple dog beast to start roaming around instead of things like the personification of a jail imbued with racist energy. If this was an adult satire, I’d get it. For a kids adventure book? I cannot see any child finding that compelling when it’s too ill-defined to actually envision. When Percy Jackson battles Medusa, he’s literally battling a snake lady. There is more lore to it obviously, but snake lady is not that hard to imagine on its face.
Not to mention the haphazard criss-crossing of African American versus African mythos and heritage means the world is underdeveloped and vaguely discordant. The complexity of the Black diaspora is nowhere in sight. It’s a grab bag of disparate cultural mixings added purely for name recognition. This book absolutely treats Blackness as if it’s monolithic which is a direct result of how shallow the worldbuilding is.
Personally I think the universe is threadbare on purpose to distract from how dissonant many plot elements are.
Gum Baby is rescued early in the book. She quite literally blips out of existence on page 65 only to reappear on page 111 as if nothing happened. There was no reason she’d leave the room Tristan and her were in. It’s well known when the two are together she basically sticks to him like glue for one thing. For another, the two just got back into contact. Why would she leave him? More than that, if she were going to leave it would not be quietly so you can’t even say that maybe Tristan didn’t hear her go. There’s a splash as if she might have jumped in the water, but why would she do that? Her favorite pastime is picking on Tristan and he’s sitting in his room sulking; a prime opportunity for mischief.
Tristan is surprised that the secondary antagonist Patty Roller is a haint when he falls into a trap she laid to capture him when he tries to ‘save’ her. He has to check his adinkra bracelet to know for certain. Why wouldn’t he automatically assume it was a haint? Why would some random lady be trying to trap him? How would a random lady know his name?
King Cotton was in a bottle that Tristan accidentally broke in book 1 and he escaped, but how is this haint up and about exactly? Did King Cotton release her? Do haints naturally haunt our world and we just can't see them? Is this simply Alkean spill over? How is she able to trap 'real', corporeal kids? Spirit kids is one thing, kids in Alke is one thing, but how is she capturing kids that originate in the real world? I have ideas, but it shouldn’t be me guessing: it should be a conclusion drawn, fully supported by a coherent, logical narrative.
Speaking of Alkean spillover, the Alke displacement is meaningless. Take Ayanna for instance, she has been out virtually alone in a totally unfamiliar world and she doesn’t speak once about how difficult that was or how she got by. She had no money. She had no proof of existence by way of a birth certificate or social security card. They didn’t have smartphones or Internet (as far as I can tell) in Alke. She can’t get a job in most places because she’s too young. Slang, social cues, and general everyday life those of us in America take for granted will be utterly foreign to her. How did she navigate such a strange, new environment? It’s anyones’ guess.
This series is built on the Black diaspora and is using it as a backdrop for its plot but takes no pains to actively explore how that kind of displacement affects the people it purports to care about.
At one point, Gum Baby reveals she has a credit card. Obviously, I know this is supposed to be a joke, but it’s just too egregious for me to ignore. How did she get one? You need a bank account, an ID, a home address, a social security card - to name a few things - and of course, she won’t have any of those things. She can't just walk into a bank to set one up. These questions are clearly meant to be part of the gag except that doesn't work when the basis of the world is so flimsy already. This only adds to the laziness of the construction of the universe: a cheap gag is more important than maintaining immersion.
Not to mention all of those questions go double for the Alkeans that are literal talking animals or creatures. How did Brer Rabbit - a talking bunny - live life out and about without causing some kind of panic? There is some magic afoot that shields the coffles kidnapping kids from being photographed or caught on video, however, it is established that regardless of that some people are still able to see them. So even if they aren’t immediately visible how is it that rumors didn’t start spreading at the very least? Tristan didn’t see weird mentions online or hear of odd happenings second hand? And again, if it is true that the magic is a kind of defense then that needs to be stated in the book not me making an assumption on its behalf.
Tristan actively puts everyone at risk before choosing to set sail for Angola for his own self interest even though he'd been warned off yet he feels no guilt for this decision when it almost destroys Mami Wata’s ship since it was a trap. No one brings up the misstep or shames him either. What was the point in making it a trap in the first place if there was no fallout?
Right before the halfway point, Anansi is ticked enough at Tristan’s failure that he actually gets Tristan’s Anansesem duties suspended pending further review by the Gods. He’s desperate to find Junior and mad because Tristan wants to go after Cotton before rescuing the Alkeans only for Tristan's plan literally 3 pages later to be…. rescue the Alkeans before going after Cotton. What was the point in this fight or escalating so far only for Tristan to change his mind immediately? There were other, far better ways to separate Tristan from the SBP.
High John starts to consume his stories assuming that it would make him stronger because he was using the power behind the stories to bolster him, however, this actually makes him weaker because the strength comes from the belief in the stories ie people trading them, sharing them, etc rather than the existence of the story alone. He becomes so weak he eventually dies as the stories no longer are out there being told. Except this flat out doesn’t make any sense.
1, the US isn't the entire world. 2, there are people who study folklore 3, Tristan's family aren't the only people who would trade the stories amongst each other as a community venture. So shouldn't he literally be incapable of dying? Like he's built on stories? How does that die? Especially when he apparently is the amalgamation of every 'John' story that's out there. There are an infinite amount of tales surrounding this figure. Somebody somewhere is believing and as long as they do then shouldn’t he always be able to live? Plus, the crux of the story is that King Cotton is harnessing story energy for nefarious purposes. Why does he get stronger, but High John instead dies?
(Also, I feel a little like a God would know this already and like not do that because the entire series is predicated on the idea that stories need to be told to people but I digress.)
New Orleans has a lot of storied history when it comes to Black people. None of the history, namely the racism that went into the literal construction of the city, is ever discussed. Hurricane Katrina and the fallout of that, for example, is never mentioned. Homelessness is supposed to be a major plot thread. Post-Katrina homelessness swelled to practically 4x its rate before. Why not connect the two or establish a trend?
It’s further evidence of how vaguely the book is written. It gives the impression that Mbalia was purposely avoiding writing anything that would require additional research or looking back at the previous books.
If homelessness and the fact that Black kids/people who are homeless are more likely to be homeless and be ignored for being homeless is so important then why wasn’t Memphis made into a main character? They could have given actual insight into the epidemic. Instead we got new kids popping up at irregular intervals to be grateful to Tristan for noticing them or saying loaded comments like 'oh it's real rough out here' with no explanation as to what exactly is so rough. It attempts to get points for 'saying something' sans real effort.
I do not doubt that it is awful to live out on the streets or to not have a stable place to stay every night. However, the whole point in adding a social issue into a book is to fully explore the concept. You don’t know what a reader already knows coming into a story - if you choose to add a social issue you should feel obligated to do some legwork.
Also, this book conflates homelessness with foster care. Foster care kids do not strictly have homes in the family sense - a home is wherever I’m with you etc - and it can be unstable, but it’s not the same as being literally homeless. There is still a sense of structure. Obviously, the foster care system is imperfect. Kids do end up abused in the system or lacking in basic rights. That being said, while that may mean that kids in both situations may have similar feelings about their experiences, it does not make the two situations the same. They have individual hardships that should be addressed as such.
Granny Z - a magical woman who gains power from her belief in the goddess Erzulie but is not an Alkean transplant - runs a skate park that Thandiwe was kicking it at with High John. She is presented as providing a haven for at-risk kids except what she’s doing is a childs’ idea of helping. She knowingly allows kids who are runaways and orphans stay at the skate park. Is she not at all concerned about the liability of dozens of kids she barely knows being in her place of business at all hours? Where do these kids sleep? Social media culture makes it even more ludicrous; I don’t buy that a set-up of this scale would stay a secret.
Thandiwe and High John were apparently arranging permanent living arrangements, but that only raises more questions: how the heck are they doing that when their idea of this world is literally only like 3 weeks old? There are people who struggle in America after emigrating years ago. Yet, I’m supposed to believe after a few weeks Thandiwe and High John have it down enough to engage with social services, lawyers, landlords, and who knows who else to make this work?
Like I called back in Book 1, Ayanna and Tristan now have mutual feelings for one another. We still know nothing about Ayanna and their crushes sprung up out of nowhere. While I knew this was coming, there was literally no evidence to suggest it in-text. The two were purely platonic in every way up until now. Any allusions to the contrary were sparse and arguably ill-founded: I’m simply highly attuned to romantic underpinnings.
Patty Rollers has these minions - Redliners - who pop-up throughout the city. The two we meet are two normal racist white people contradicting the internal logic the book has been running on that only Alkeans or those naturally touched by a bit of Alke can see magic. All of those people are established to be Black. White people are not suggested to be blessed in this manner. Is Patty Roller simply that strong? Did she gift them powers to see her? Your guess is as good as mine.
They act like goofy 80s cartoon characters thereby undermining the very real harm such behavior causes. They mindlessly parrot racist rhetoric that has no teeth because it’s all generic, arbitrary statements. There is no reason for this to even be a plot point. They have no impact on larger plot beats. This is subjective, but they’re not funny. And I cannot stress enough how bad it is to sell kids on blatantly racist actions disguised as innocuous fights for ‘civil liberties’ as a joke when it’s one of the most insidious forms of racism there is.
Tristan’s arc follows the same path as his arcs always do: introduce at the start, drop it 25% or so in, don’t mention it again until it’s time to finish the book out. His anger momentarily causes him strife, but it doesn’t impede him further after the first time it’s a problem. Trust me, there were plenty of opportunities for it to sabotage him that would have tied the whole thread together.
TSKP is the culmination of every issue I’ve had with this series with a few others tacked on for fun. I cannot /not/ recommend this enough. A kid probably will be fine, but there are other better series out there. I am utterly disappointed by how much potential this series wasted. I could write more (I did write more, editing down is a beast) but I'll leave it here now for my own sanity.
The first thing I noted was that like I assumed would happen, all of Tristan’s grandmothers’ adventures in Alke were completely ignored. This takes place a few weeks after the events of the last book and all we get is a single flashback Tristan has to when they talked about it right after he saved her in which we learn nothing of consequence. Seeing as this is the final book (at least at the moment of this review) it makes no sense that what is presented as a life changing revelation in the past book never comes up in a meaningful way. Why introduce it when you won’t be doing anything with it? It adds to the overall feeling that this series is a bunch of independent ideas that a group of editors agreed upon - more on that a bit later as arguably that’s exactly what this is.
Case in point, a non-binary character named Memphis is introduced in this book for absolutely no reason. Not that you need a reason per se to include queer characters and to be fair, the lack of development is common for all characters in this series, but the fact that there was absolutely nothing queer at all in the last two books made the jump to including Memphis feel disingenuous. In terms of queer representation, Thandiwe discovering she’s nonbinary would have made more sense to me - she is an established character lacking in many traits already so this would have killed two birds with one stone. Especially since like I noted before Memphis is barely a character. Memphis appears eleven pages in the first quarter of a book that is over 400 pages and does nothing that could not have been shifted to a different character. Again, this isn’t about queerness needing a justification so much as the utility in the story being so lacking.
Sometimes inclusion is as simple as saying a character is black, queer, disabled, etc. Proof isn’t exactly required. What makes a character a good depiction of marginalization can be difficult to quantify. That being said, the reason this stands out to me as thrown in just for the sake of it is because that’s the tone for the entire series.
I’m particularly skeptical of intention considering this series is commissioned by Cake Literary (this review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... sums up the situation nicely) and not Kwame Mbalia’s idea. As I alluded to earlier, this series is a hodge podge of ‘hello fellow kids’ nuts and bolts from other better books gathered together by a bunch of people who regardless of their (supposedly) noble goals of spreading diversity are going to be concerned with the bottom line. That’s not to say that any diverse idea greenlit by a big box company is primarily or only money hungry. I love that diversity is being pushed in many different ways. I love that we’re trying to expand past the white, eurocentric narrative prevalent in a majority of the media in the United States. But, it’d be naive to think that how much money can be made does not also enter into the equation.
Companies know that looking like they care is more important than actually caring. People are so starved for representation, they’ll swallow a lot of flaws. Couple that with how pervasive virtue signaling has become and you’ve got a foolproof way to release a product, seem progressive and not have to even fight your own battles regarding criticism because the desperate masses will do it for you.
I’m getting more into general critique of modern children’s media rather than Tristan Strong, so getting back to the topic at hand: my point here is not that a book can’t flourish in spite of these circumstances. My point is that Tristan Strong is not a series that does and it shows.
I wouldn’t care about Memphis being included in a different book because the author being the arbiter (as far as I know, I’m aware that the majority of the time I will never know for certain how responsible an author is for all aspects of their work and will be operating under an assumption) of the work means I will naturally presume they wanted to include the marginalization due to an interest or belief in its significance or its bearing on the plot. When you incorporate a corporate interest is when I begin to doubt authenticity. And Tristan Strong has not one thing executed well enough to make me give it the benefit of the doubt.
The series has no definitive, stand-out villains and heroes. This is a series predicated on the idea of Black peoples’ stories, history, and culture being bombastic, vibrant, and worthy of attention. Yet, Tristan Strong always chooses the most boring, heavy handed way possible to communicate its subject matter at every turn.
The Gods feel like stand-ins for parents, to their detriment especially since Tristan has Grandparents’ who could easily fill the role. Their names and their powers are given, but they aren’t actually characters to root for. They are a presence to outwit. If the point is to revel in these characters in a way that has been denied to us for so long it was a poor choice to make them definitively, uncharitably this ever serious, oppressive barrier to Tristan doing what would be considered the ‘fun’ parts of the book. The weight of what this person represents as a concept in real life always took precedence over making them funny or interesting. They are written to appeal to the adults in charge of reading lists rather than for the kids directly.
The villains are typically random amalgamations of objects or concepts used for Black subjugation which makes them exceedingly difficult to keep track of when attacking or remember in general. I would have killed for a simple dog beast to start roaming around instead of things like the personification of a jail imbued with racist energy. If this was an adult satire, I’d get it. For a kids adventure book? I cannot see any child finding that compelling when it’s too ill-defined to actually envision. When Percy Jackson battles Medusa, he’s literally battling a snake lady. There is more lore to it obviously, but snake lady is not that hard to imagine on its face.
Not to mention the haphazard criss-crossing of African American versus African mythos and heritage means the world is underdeveloped and vaguely discordant. The complexity of the Black diaspora is nowhere in sight. It’s a grab bag of disparate cultural mixings added purely for name recognition. This book absolutely treats Blackness as if it’s monolithic which is a direct result of how shallow the worldbuilding is.
Personally I think the universe is threadbare on purpose to distract from how dissonant many plot elements are.
Gum Baby is rescued early in the book. She quite literally blips out of existence on page 65 only to reappear on page 111 as if nothing happened. There was no reason she’d leave the room Tristan and her were in. It’s well known when the two are together she basically sticks to him like glue for one thing. For another, the two just got back into contact. Why would she leave him? More than that, if she were going to leave it would not be quietly so you can’t even say that maybe Tristan didn’t hear her go. There’s a splash as if she might have jumped in the water, but why would she do that? Her favorite pastime is picking on Tristan and he’s sitting in his room sulking; a prime opportunity for mischief.
Tristan is surprised that the secondary antagonist Patty Roller is a haint when he falls into a trap she laid to capture him when he tries to ‘save’ her. He has to check his adinkra bracelet to know for certain. Why wouldn’t he automatically assume it was a haint? Why would some random lady be trying to trap him? How would a random lady know his name?
King Cotton was in a bottle that Tristan accidentally broke in book 1 and he escaped, but how is this haint up and about exactly? Did King Cotton release her? Do haints naturally haunt our world and we just can't see them? Is this simply Alkean spill over? How is she able to trap 'real', corporeal kids? Spirit kids is one thing, kids in Alke is one thing, but how is she capturing kids that originate in the real world? I have ideas, but it shouldn’t be me guessing: it should be a conclusion drawn, fully supported by a coherent, logical narrative.
Speaking of Alkean spillover, the Alke displacement is meaningless. Take Ayanna for instance, she has been out virtually alone in a totally unfamiliar world and she doesn’t speak once about how difficult that was or how she got by. She had no money. She had no proof of existence by way of a birth certificate or social security card. They didn’t have smartphones or Internet (as far as I can tell) in Alke. She can’t get a job in most places because she’s too young. Slang, social cues, and general everyday life those of us in America take for granted will be utterly foreign to her. How did she navigate such a strange, new environment? It’s anyones’ guess.
This series is built on the Black diaspora and is using it as a backdrop for its plot but takes no pains to actively explore how that kind of displacement affects the people it purports to care about.
At one point, Gum Baby reveals she has a credit card. Obviously, I know this is supposed to be a joke, but it’s just too egregious for me to ignore. How did she get one? You need a bank account, an ID, a home address, a social security card - to name a few things - and of course, she won’t have any of those things. She can't just walk into a bank to set one up. These questions are clearly meant to be part of the gag except that doesn't work when the basis of the world is so flimsy already. This only adds to the laziness of the construction of the universe: a cheap gag is more important than maintaining immersion.
Not to mention all of those questions go double for the Alkeans that are literal talking animals or creatures. How did Brer Rabbit - a talking bunny - live life out and about without causing some kind of panic? There is some magic afoot that shields the coffles kidnapping kids from being photographed or caught on video, however, it is established that regardless of that some people are still able to see them. So even if they aren’t immediately visible how is it that rumors didn’t start spreading at the very least? Tristan didn’t see weird mentions online or hear of odd happenings second hand? And again, if it is true that the magic is a kind of defense then that needs to be stated in the book not me making an assumption on its behalf.
Tristan actively puts everyone at risk before choosing to set sail for Angola for his own self interest even though he'd been warned off yet he feels no guilt for this decision when it almost destroys Mami Wata’s ship since it was a trap. No one brings up the misstep or shames him either. What was the point in making it a trap in the first place if there was no fallout?
Right before the halfway point, Anansi is ticked enough at Tristan’s failure that he actually gets Tristan’s Anansesem duties suspended pending further review by the Gods. He’s desperate to find Junior and mad because Tristan wants to go after Cotton before rescuing the Alkeans only for Tristan's plan literally 3 pages later to be…. rescue the Alkeans before going after Cotton. What was the point in this fight or escalating so far only for Tristan to change his mind immediately? There were other, far better ways to separate Tristan from the SBP.
High John starts to consume his stories assuming that it would make him stronger because he was using the power behind the stories to bolster him, however, this actually makes him weaker because the strength comes from the belief in the stories ie people trading them, sharing them, etc rather than the existence of the story alone. He becomes so weak he eventually dies as the stories no longer are out there being told. Except this flat out doesn’t make any sense.
1, the US isn't the entire world. 2, there are people who study folklore 3, Tristan's family aren't the only people who would trade the stories amongst each other as a community venture. So shouldn't he literally be incapable of dying? Like he's built on stories? How does that die? Especially when he apparently is the amalgamation of every 'John' story that's out there. There are an infinite amount of tales surrounding this figure. Somebody somewhere is believing and as long as they do then shouldn’t he always be able to live? Plus, the crux of the story is that King Cotton is harnessing story energy for nefarious purposes. Why does he get stronger, but High John instead dies?
(Also, I feel a little like a God would know this already and like not do that because the entire series is predicated on the idea that stories need to be told to people but I digress.)
New Orleans has a lot of storied history when it comes to Black people. None of the history, namely the racism that went into the literal construction of the city, is ever discussed. Hurricane Katrina and the fallout of that, for example, is never mentioned. Homelessness is supposed to be a major plot thread. Post-Katrina homelessness swelled to practically 4x its rate before. Why not connect the two or establish a trend?
It’s further evidence of how vaguely the book is written. It gives the impression that Mbalia was purposely avoiding writing anything that would require additional research or looking back at the previous books.
If homelessness and the fact that Black kids/people who are homeless are more likely to be homeless and be ignored for being homeless is so important then why wasn’t Memphis made into a main character? They could have given actual insight into the epidemic. Instead we got new kids popping up at irregular intervals to be grateful to Tristan for noticing them or saying loaded comments like 'oh it's real rough out here' with no explanation as to what exactly is so rough. It attempts to get points for 'saying something' sans real effort.
I do not doubt that it is awful to live out on the streets or to not have a stable place to stay every night. However, the whole point in adding a social issue into a book is to fully explore the concept. You don’t know what a reader already knows coming into a story - if you choose to add a social issue you should feel obligated to do some legwork.
Also, this book conflates homelessness with foster care. Foster care kids do not strictly have homes in the family sense - a home is wherever I’m with you etc - and it can be unstable, but it’s not the same as being literally homeless. There is still a sense of structure. Obviously, the foster care system is imperfect. Kids do end up abused in the system or lacking in basic rights. That being said, while that may mean that kids in both situations may have similar feelings about their experiences, it does not make the two situations the same. They have individual hardships that should be addressed as such.
Granny Z - a magical woman who gains power from her belief in the goddess Erzulie but is not an Alkean transplant - runs a skate park that Thandiwe was kicking it at with High John. She is presented as providing a haven for at-risk kids except what she’s doing is a childs’ idea of helping. She knowingly allows kids who are runaways and orphans stay at the skate park. Is she not at all concerned about the liability of dozens of kids she barely knows being in her place of business at all hours? Where do these kids sleep? Social media culture makes it even more ludicrous; I don’t buy that a set-up of this scale would stay a secret.
Thandiwe and High John were apparently arranging permanent living arrangements, but that only raises more questions: how the heck are they doing that when their idea of this world is literally only like 3 weeks old? There are people who struggle in America after emigrating years ago. Yet, I’m supposed to believe after a few weeks Thandiwe and High John have it down enough to engage with social services, lawyers, landlords, and who knows who else to make this work?
Like I called back in Book 1, Ayanna and Tristan now have mutual feelings for one another. We still know nothing about Ayanna and their crushes sprung up out of nowhere. While I knew this was coming, there was literally no evidence to suggest it in-text. The two were purely platonic in every way up until now. Any allusions to the contrary were sparse and arguably ill-founded: I’m simply highly attuned to romantic underpinnings.
Patty Rollers has these minions - Redliners - who pop-up throughout the city. The two we meet are two normal racist white people contradicting the internal logic the book has been running on that only Alkeans or those naturally touched by a bit of Alke can see magic. All of those people are established to be Black. White people are not suggested to be blessed in this manner. Is Patty Roller simply that strong? Did she gift them powers to see her? Your guess is as good as mine.
They act like goofy 80s cartoon characters thereby undermining the very real harm such behavior causes. They mindlessly parrot racist rhetoric that has no teeth because it’s all generic, arbitrary statements. There is no reason for this to even be a plot point. They have no impact on larger plot beats. This is subjective, but they’re not funny. And I cannot stress enough how bad it is to sell kids on blatantly racist actions disguised as innocuous fights for ‘civil liberties’ as a joke when it’s one of the most insidious forms of racism there is.
Tristan’s arc follows the same path as his arcs always do: introduce at the start, drop it 25% or so in, don’t mention it again until it’s time to finish the book out. His anger momentarily causes him strife, but it doesn’t impede him further after the first time it’s a problem. Trust me, there were plenty of opportunities for it to sabotage him that would have tied the whole thread together.
TSKP is the culmination of every issue I’ve had with this series with a few others tacked on for fun. I cannot /not/ recommend this enough. A kid probably will be fine, but there are other better series out there. I am utterly disappointed by how much potential this series wasted. I could write more (I did write more, editing down is a beast) but I'll leave it here now for my own sanity.
October 8, 2021
Rating: 4.5
This book was an epic conclusion to the Tristan Strong series. Mbalia did an excellent job with this book.
The plot was much better in this book, and I loved how it kept the core themes while making them better. The world-building in this book as usual was just perfect. I loved that the book mixed mythology and history, two of my favorite things.
The characters were once again amazing. I learnt more about Ayanna, which I loved. Tristan was still a strong and relatable MC, however Gum Baby is also still my favorite. The other characters in this book also are relatable and they grow on you.
Overall, I loved this book. I believe that young children will love this series and libraries should get these books.
*I received this book in exchange for my honest review.*
This book was an epic conclusion to the Tristan Strong series. Mbalia did an excellent job with this book.
The plot was much better in this book, and I loved how it kept the core themes while making them better. The world-building in this book as usual was just perfect. I loved that the book mixed mythology and history, two of my favorite things.
The characters were once again amazing. I learnt more about Ayanna, which I loved. Tristan was still a strong and relatable MC, however Gum Baby is also still my favorite. The other characters in this book also are relatable and they grow on you.
Overall, I loved this book. I believe that young children will love this series and libraries should get these books.
*I received this book in exchange for my honest review.*
February 15, 2022
This is a great conclusion to the Tristan Strong series. I love that it wraps up all the plot points, without making it feel like the characters themselves are finished—just the story.
There's a little bit of everything in this story: adventure, introspection, found family, daring rescues, sad moments, and even a touch of budding romance. I appreciate how the kids handle most of the action (it is, after all, a middle grade book) but the adults do provide real, tangible help. The adults are actually present in the book, which is nice to see.
There are definite mentions of and reference to slavery, but it is a MG book and everything is tailored to its audience. I think any age group could read this and learn something from it.
There's a little bit of everything in this story: adventure, introspection, found family, daring rescues, sad moments, and even a touch of budding romance. I appreciate how the kids handle most of the action (it is, after all, a middle grade book) but the adults do provide real, tangible help. The adults are actually present in the book, which is nice to see.
There are definite mentions of and reference to slavery, but it is a MG book and everything is tailored to its audience. I think any age group could read this and learn something from it.
February 6, 2022
I am so sad that this is the last book in the series! I have lived and loved all three books. For the third book, Mr. Mbalia’s skillful intertwining of African American History and the importance of never forgetting those stories, passing them down so that they live on for generations to come, is integral to the plot and pace of the book. Tristan’s constant reminder that “God’s never die, they live on in the stories we tell” is a reminder that our history will not die if we hold on to it, retell it truthfully, and learn from it.
March 8, 2024
Man I wished I would’ve had the chance to read this book series when I was younger. Regardless, the message it provides still hits home as an adult. I loved seeing Tristan wrestle with not wanting to put his friends in danger but also not wanting to be taken out of the fight. I’ll definitely have to read more of the Rick Riordan Presents series, as the exploration of lesser-known mythologies is super cool to me
9/10
9/10
January 22, 2022
This series is amazing. Tristan, the villain, Anansi, and so many characters and side plots are given an entire and well done arc. Seeing the transformation of the characters and stories is a gift of these books. These books take readers on a unique and captivating adventure while discussing grief and social emotional health and while prompting readers to think about the powers of story and thoughtfully weaving in Black American history.
February 7, 2022
MUCH better than the 2nd book, as the other world is now in the "real" world (leading to most interesting ways for the fantastic to integrate into the mundane) and our hero doesn't really have to hide his derring-do from his grandparents anymore.
Also, just like "Spider-man 2" a lot of crud gets thrown at him, and rather than crumble, he stands and continues to do what he knows is right.
Also, just like "Spider-man 2" a lot of crud gets thrown at him, and rather than crumble, he stands and continues to do what he knows is right.
February 15, 2024
A great ending to the Tristan Strong series, throughout the whole thing your learning about the past. All the while Tristan has to learn how to not let his anger use him while finding that sometimes the power isn't what your given but what you have inside you. Favorite quote "This movie is rated G for Gum Baby, so come get these hands"
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