Where the Black Flowers Bloom

Name: Where the Black Flowers Bloom
Brand: Harper Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Ronald L. Smith
ISBN: 9780358639527

Author: Ronald L. Smith

Narrator: Nneka Okoye

Unabridged: 5 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Clarion Books

Published: 01/31/2023

Categories: Children's Fiction, Fantasy Stories, Regional Stories

Synopsis

A gripping, richly imagined fantasy set in an alternate ancient African world in which a Black girl finds her power and saves her people from evil, by the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award-winning author of Black Panther: The Young Prince. In the land of Alkebulan, twelve-year-old Asha is an orphan, raised by Madame S, the proprietor of a traveling carnival. When Madame S is attacked by ghoulish creatures, she manages to tell Asha before she dies, “Seek the Underground Kingdom, where the black flowers bloom.”Asha doesn’t understand the mysterious words, but they launch her onto a page-turning quest to protect her people and stop an ancient evil. Along the way, she uncovers shocking secrets about the family she never knew and begins to find her place in the world as she discovers her own untapped powers.

About Ronald L. Smith

Ronald L. Smith is the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award–winning author of several novels for young readers, including Hoodoo, The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away, Gloom Town, Project Mercury, and the Black Panther: The Young Prince series. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland. To learn more, visit strangeblackflowers.com.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Lex

I am withholding my review until Harper Collins comes to an equitable agreement with the union. Updating on 2/12/23 now that there’s a tentative agreement! When I saw that this was a middle grade fantasy fiction with a Black girl main character, I knew I wanted to read it! Plus the premise was very in......more

Goodreads review by Ashley

I was so excited when I saw this. A fantasy with a Black girl on the cover? Sign me up! I want to talk about what I really liked with this book first. We’ve got a non-Eurocentric society. We’ve got a non-Eurocentric cast. We’ve got griots, a found family. All these things I love. And it’s incredible t......more

Goodreads review by Christina

Thanks again Clarion Books and NetGalley for the eARC to read in exchange for an honest review! Where the Black Flowers Bloom is a whirlwind fantasy that has the classic overpowered, chosen one trope enriched by otherworldly magic, found family goodness, fantastical creatures, and the fierce heart of......more

Goodreads review by Rebecca

The story follows twelve-year-old Asha, an orphan raised by Madame S, the owner of a traveling carnival. When ghoulish creatures attack and fatally wound Madame S, her dying words to Asha are, “Seek the Underground Kingdom, where the black flowers bloom.” These cryptic instructions set Asha on a thr......more