Each Friday I share the link to a read-aloud preview of a book from SRCSA library. The “First-chapter Friday” selection for Aug. 18, 2023 is Amari and the Night Brothers, by B. B. Alston.
Presenting ... a nominee, for 2023-2024, in the California Young Reader Medal’s Middle School/Junior High Category. Amari and the Night Brothers was also a finalist, in 2022, for the Kids’ Choice Book Awards, “World Changer” category. Amari Peters has never stopped believing her missing brother, Quinton, is alive. Not even when the police told her otherwise, or when she got in trouble for standing up to bullies who said he was gone for good. So when she finds a ticking briefcase in his closet, containing a nomination for a summer tryout at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, she’s certain the secretive organization holds the key to locating Quinton—if only she can wrap her head around the idea of magicians, fairies, aliens, and other supernatural creatures all being real. Now she must compete for a spot against kids who’ve known about magic their whole lives. No matter how hard she tries, Amari can’t seem to escape their intense doubt and scrutiny—especially once her supernaturally enhanced talent is deemed “illegal.” With an evil magician threatening the supernatural world, and her own classmates thinking she’s an enemy, Amari has never felt more alone. But if she doesn’t stick it out and pass the tryouts, she may never find out what happened to Quinton.
