Reading certain texts in the Bible growing up began my love for all things supernatural. The more I studied the subject and understood the worldview of the biblical authors and of other ancient cultures, the more I began to see these scenes in vivid color. With my passion for theological study (personally and as part of a master’s program), my work as a police officer, and my love for fantasy fiction perfectly positions me to write stories in which deep supernatural elements intersect with the gritty and real space of everyday life.
Finding great fiction that features black leads set in America is hard enough. Finding fantasy fiction that features a black female lead is even harder.
I was thrilled, therefore, when I saw this book in stores. The cover is stunning and the story is even better.
This story featured everything I love in a good, urban, fantasy: secret societies, human warriors who must fight demonic beings, supernatural powers, and all of this happening outside the eyesight of regular human beings.
If you want a book that feature heart-pumping moments, twists and turns at every junction, a bit of romance, and #blackgirlmagic, then look no further.
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award
Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy reinvents the King Arthur legend and “braids together Southern folk traditions and Black Girl Magic into a searing modern tale of grief, power, and self-discovery” (Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles).
After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill…
Grant’s book is yet another series that feature young adults who wield extraordinary powers.
From burning lasers, to telekinesis, to canceling gravity itself, I was fascinated to discover all of the gifts that these teens inherited once their little home of Perdido Beach became isolated, in space and time, from the rest of the world.
In addition to those supernatural elements, Grant explores the very gritty reality of what it would be like to live in an isolated city, devoid of adults in which these teens are forced to govern, manage, lead, and feed their group with ever-diminishing resources.
3
authors picked
Gone
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This book is for kids age
12,
13,
14, and
15.
What is this book about?
Welcome to the FAYZ! The first book in the bestselling cult YA thriller series GONE that Stephen King calls a 'driving, torrential narrative'.
In the blink of an eye all the adults disappear in a small town in southern California and no one knows why.
Cut off from the outside world, those that are left are trapped, and there's no help on the way. Sam Temple and his friends must do all they can to survive. Chaos rules the streets. Gangs begin to form. Sides are chosen - strong or weak. Cruel or humane.
Desperate to honor his father’s dying wish, Layken Martin vows to do whatever it takes to save the family farm. Once the Army discharges him following World War II, Layken returns to Missouri to find his legacy in shambles and…
Adeyemi’s book features wonderful powers and magic, all set in an epic setting.
The masterful way she writes, the supernatural world she paints, and her expert use of story elements all caused me to emote out loud in fits of “oh my god!”, “don’t do it!”, and “I can’t stand (insert person)!” while reading the book.
I’m always a sucker for writers who construct worlds in which powers fall into categories.
I love the idea of wondering which type of power would be best and which one would I want to have in real life.
Tomi Adeyemi conjures a stunning world of dark magic and danger in her West African-inspired fantasy debut Children of Blood and Bone. Winner of the Tonight Show Summer Reads with Jimmy Fallon.
They killed my mother. They took our magic. They tried to bury us. Now we rise.
Zelie remembers when the soil of Orisha hummed with magic. When different clans ruled - Burners igniting flames, Tiders beckoning waves, and Zelie's Reaper mother summoning forth souls.
But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, anyone with powers was targeted and killed, leaving Zelie without…
I’ve always wondered what an apocalyptic battle between angels and demons would look like.
Though this book is a theological non-fiction piece, it vastly expanded my imagination, in that realm, as I came to learn more about the supernatural worldview of the biblical authors and of other ancient religions.
What I loved most about the book was the exploration of this theme that hidden, divine beings walk among us.
It captures the fascinating image of the ordinary world being interrupted by that which is extraordinary—and these extraordinary phenomena are a lot closer than we think.
Angelic beings taking human wives. Ancient giants. God holding royal court among other gods. In Supernatural, Dr. Michael S. Heiser tackles these remarkable biblical themes and many more, based on his fifteen years of research into what the Bible really says about the unseen realm. Heiser shines a bright light on the supernatural world--not a new light, but rather the same light in which the original, ancient readers and writers of Scripture would have seen it.
This book (and its sequels) are about overcoming the odds; about learning to improve the skills and abilities you have, rather than dwelling on what you can't do. Conflict, plague, and scheming politicians are all featured along the way–but none of the characters are human!
This was one of the first fiction books I read that set before me a world that is ordinary interrupted, and affected by another world that is supernatural.
In this book, when the main character goes to sleep, he wakes up in another world populated by mysterious beings and people.
Perhaps most interesting about this set up, is that events in this “dream world” affect events in the waking one.
While the main character only retains a passive ability (entering this other world and healing) the whole traveling between both spaces, his interactions with both divine and malevolent beings, and his race to stop his world from destruction all pulled me into the story in such a way that I could not put down.
Enter the adrenaline-laced story that started it all: the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance of one man's choices as dreams and reality collide.
Thomas Hunter narrowly escapes mysterious assailants only to encounter a silent bullet that clips his head . . . and his world goes black. He awakens in an alternate reality and soon finds himself pulled between two worlds. In one, Thomas is an average guy working in a coffeehouse. In the other, he's a battle-scarred general leading a band of warriors known as the Circle.
Every time Thomas falls asleep in one reality, he…
Fifteen-year-old Maleek Warden's normal high school life is about to change. When he discovers a dying angelic being impaled on a tree and is given a mysterious message from another realm, Maleek uncovers the ancient truth about gifted human warriors, invisible divine beings, and a chaotic war hidden in plain sight.
But the evil spirits begin to coordinate for something sinister, Maleek’s own powers seem to elude him. If Maleek is going to stop the incoming threat and protect those he cares about, he must overcome his limitations before it's too late. Welcome to the epic journey of Maleek Warden, where destiny and danger collide in the ultimate fight of good against evil.
Lena thinks she knows her future: in her small village, nothing much has changed for two hundred years. Women farm and fish, plant and harvest: a cooperative, productive, peaceful life. Until the day a soldier rides in, to ask the unthinkable of the women: learn to fight. Invasion is imminent,…
Taking only what they can quickly pack, 11-year-old Mardella and her mom secretly move away from their abusive home to start a fresh life in Haven, MN. But Mardella’s sure she's to blame—if only she hadn’t dialed 911, her dad wouldn’t be in jail, her mom wouldn't have been fired,…
