CAKE Literary is thrilled to announce that Kwame Mbalia’s middle grade fantasy debut, Tristan Strong Punches a Hole In the Sky, has now graced the New York Times Children’s bestseller list for nine weeks and counting. It debuted on the list at number six, and has been holding steady ever since.
The stellar New York Times review of the book says “one of the elements that separate Mbalia’s book from many other middle-grade fantasy books is its emphasis on the primacy of story. The holy grail the various factions vie for is not some instrument of war, but rather the Story Box of Anansi. Known as a trickster, Anansi is also the god of story, and the characters all know that whoever controls their stories, controls their fates. And Tristan, who starts the novel feeling like the victim of a story being told about him, becomes the heroic author of his own tale.” It also notes that “Mbalia escalates tension with a sure hand, and his plot developments are powerful and surprising. He has a good ear for dialogue and, in the midst of a ripping yarn, makes time for graceful turns. As Nyame repairs the Story Box, “he filled the cracks in the wood with a father’s pride and a mother’s belief.”