There are so many students who would love this book! A secret world of magic and magicians...so fun. The mystery surrounding Quinton and Amari‘s quest to find him and clear his name will excite readers. The way he ended this first book in the series will generate lots of interest in finding out what happens next. I’ll recommend this one often.

Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston will be a huge hit in my middle school classrooms. Students will connect with Amari and appreciate the fantasy world that has been created. Alston developed a beautiful story that will easily capture the attention of everyone who reads this book. We will be adding book sets of Amari and the Night Brothers to our fantasy unit.

Goodreads: This fantasy ride will definitely be a hit. 13 yo protagonist Amari - gritty, brave, bold, loyal and looking for genuine friendship - is well-developed and easy to root for in this action-packed, dark-magic fantasy. The plot hooked me early, was fast and straight-forward, and contained some surprising turns while Alston familiarized readers with his Supernatural World. I like how he incorporated racism & othering in both Amari's real and Supernatural worlds. I did though find there were leaps in logic a few times. I can easily see why it's already been picked up to become a movie. It's nice to see a Black girl join the ranks of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. I can't wait for the sequel.

I have found my new fandom. What a truly excellent first book. I will recommend to those who like HP.

I can’t wait for the follow-up to Amari and the Night Brothers, and that’s about the highest praise I can offer.

Amari’s big brother Quinton is a legend in the Rosewood low-income housing project where they grew up: Not only did Quinton get into the fanciest prep school in town, he was also accepted to two Ivy League colleges and ended up with a mysterious government job. Amari’s brother is her hero — and so when he suddenly goes missing, she’s devastated. In her search for clues, she finds a ticking suitcase in her brother’s closet (surely it wasn’t always there?) and a nomination for the summer tryouts at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs.

Quinton’s weird nomination opens up a world Amari never imagined — suddenly, she’s roommates with a weredragon, full of dangerous magic, and learning that there’s a whole magical world to explore. She’s determined to seize this opportunity to find out what happened to Quinton — but to do that, she’s going to have to follow in her brother’s footsteps and ace the summer Junior Agent competition against kids who’ve been training for this their whole lives. But that’s OK: Amari’s never run from a challenge before, and she’s not going to start now.

I loved so many things about this book, but one of the things I loved most was how effortlessly B.B. Alston demonstrates that a book can be a fabulous fantasy and also have strong family relationships, address racism, classism, and feminism, and refuse to settle for easy binaries of good and evil. In a middle grades book, y’all! The story doesn’t miss a beat, but it’s full of good, challenging questions and important discussions. This really may be that middle grades fantasy series you’ve been looking for — it was for me.

What a fun book! Reminded me a lot of Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend. Amari is such an awesome, strong female protagonist and I will definitely be picking up the second book in this series once it comes out. There was some good world-building and a few twists that kept me interested throughout.

This was fantastic. Inventive and fun, and I am here for more genre titles that include everyone. This will be added to my classroom library.

Note: This review is based on a library copy that I read, because I was not able to get to the ARC before the pub date.

I enjoyed this fantasy novel and I think my students will, too (in fact, I have a student reading it right now, and she has expressed how much she is enjoying it). It has a bit of a Men in Black feel that I think will appeal to young readers, but there are also themes of friendship and discrimination that will require some thoughtful consideration. I can't wait to read more about Amari.

Amari learns that her brother Quinton was working for the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs when he went missing. Now she has a chance to tryout to become a junior agent, but only one chance. This is a whole new world for Amari, a fantastic, magical, and dangerous world. But she is determined to become a junior agent and find her brother. What a fun story of magic, adventure, friendship, and family!

This book is beautiful in its reimagining of worlds for the younger readers. I couldn't put it down.

Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston

Amari’s brother is missing, and though the police have written him off (so many young men from neighborhoods like theirs get involved with bad elements, after all), Amari is determined to find him. When she receives a mysterious briefcase from her brother, it opens a huge new magical world—one that reveals her brother’s secrets and opens new doors for her to find him. He’s recommended her for a spot at magical summer camp in the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. When she arrives, she quickly makes friends with her roommate, Elsie, a were-dragon who hasn’t been able to shift—who’s also a genius inventor. But things start looking bad for Amari when she’s tested for her supernatural ability, only to find out that her own gift is considered illegal in the magical world, and that everyone expects her to become a supervillain. Despite the difficulties training for Junior Agent (and in being paired with golden boy Dylan Van Helsing, who might just become a friend, but whose sister Lara hates her guts), Amari’s not going to give up on her brother. And as she works on finding him, she might just end up saving the supernatural world.

Why adults should read it:

The comparisons of Amari’s adventures to a certain wizard’s adventures at Hogwarts are easy to make: B. B. Alston’s world has the same whimsy that I loved when I first read the Harry Potter series. (There are talking elevators, each with their own personalities; Yetis are known troublemakers and environmental activists; aliens had to help tow Apollo 11 to the moon.) As many adults who grew up with that familiar and famous series are angry about the author’s transphobic statements, a lot of us have been looking for new books that capture the same magic we felt when we read her works. Amari’s not a repeat in any way—she’s her own unique person in her own unique world—but the feelings I got from her world exactly filled that need.

Better still, Alston’s world reminded me of Anton Strout’s Department of Extraordinary Affairs in his Simon Canderous series (which has frequently been compared with Men in Black). We only get glimpses of the adult world where Amari’s brother worked, but the sense of the Bureau being a department that manages human interactions with the supernatural, and the campers being trained to directly become a part of that world when they’re adults, felt like a really sensible way to mix the normal world with the supernatural one. Anton was an Outland contributor who passed away last year, and we’ve deeply felt his loss (you can still help his family here); to read a book that so positively reminded me of what I’d loved about his works was a kindness from the universe I didn’t expect.

While these comparisons are all positive, Amari and the Night Brothers is more than just a book that reminds me of things I loved about other books. It’s a great story with a strong-voiced young narrator who struggles against the expectations of others. In the human world, she faces prejudice from her schoolmates at a private school because she’s a scholarship student (poor) and because she’s Black. In the Bureau, she faces similar prejudice because of her supernatural abilities. Alston doesn’t shy away from showing us her struggle, or her resilience. He also surrounds her with a caring community: her family, her mentors, and Elsie (who is a great character in her own right). It’s a truly enjoyable read, and while this one stands alone, I’m looking forward to seeing future episodes of Amari’s adventures.

Amari Peters on the verge of being expelled from her elite academy because she pushed a student, whose influential parents wanted retribution for the "assault" on their daughter. Being empathetic to her plight, the principle decides to revoke Amari's scholarship instead, it didn't seem to matter anyone that this student had bullied Amari all year, in school and on social media and mocked her beloved brother whose went missing without a clue as to his whereabouts. Amari's mom already works herself to the bone as a nursing assistant to provide their family with their basic needs, how will she ever be able to pay her tuition to the academy without it? Serendipitously that same week, Amari gets a invitation to interview for another elite camp, one that her brother Quinton attended, eager to find clues about her brother's disappearance, Amari goes on the interview, and is immediately accepted, "easy peasy" as Amari would say, convincing her mom would be a bit more difficult. Once she arrives at the camp, Amari learns that her brother lead a secret life, not one of nefarious stereotypical activities, that plague some young Black men who reside at the Rosewood Low Income Housing Projects, as the police suspect, but as a special secret agent for the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, saving the world from the entities that go bump in the night. Can Amari learn the truth about Quinton's vanishing before it's to late or will life hand her another devastating loss, I strongly recommend you enter the B.B. Alston's magical world and find out.

Like so many others, I absolutely loved Amari and The Night Brothers, it was magical and mysterious, endearing and enchanting. It is perfect children ages 8-12 and those who have the hearts of an 8 or 12 year old. Amari will simply steal your heart especially when she learns her fate as the world's most powerful magician, in a realn where being a magician is outlawed. The book is filled with some strong vocabulary to help enhance literacy development as well as information which will entice young readers to improve their research skills, if you want don't know who is Big Foot, the origins of a flying carpet, or where was the Berlin Wall, researching these things are helpful with developing middle graders information literacy skills. Amari and The Night Brothers is also chucked with teachable moments about family, friendship, loyalty, bullying, discrimination, and class.
It is a feast for the senses and there is not a slow or dull moment in this book.

Amari finally lets BIPOC kids the chance to see themselves as the main character in a fantasy novel. This story delivers everything you want from magical school fantasy. Though some scenes felt familiar, the story is engaging and the action never lets up.

Great book! I was definitely drawn to the cover art. The story didn't disappoint. There are similarities with Harry Potter but with unique magical elements. I definitely recommend this for 4th grade and up.

Fantastic adventure story, perfect for kids who never feel like they fit in. Excellent descriptions and actions, I could easily picture what was happening and who was in the story. I highly recommend this book to everyone! I can’t wait for more from this author.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc. 5 stars!!!! I can't recommend this book enough! It was original, creative, and beautifully written! I will be recommending this book to everyone!

Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston is an exciting, magic-packed debut that’s certain to captivate readers of all ages. The story is told from the point of view of Amari, a thirteen-year-old girl who grew up in low-income housing and in the shadow of her seemingly perfect older brother, Quinton. But when Quinton goes missing and the police stop investigating, Amari refuses to give up. Amari receives a mysterious briefcase sent from Quinton with an invitation to attend the tryouts at the secret Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. Certain that there is more behind Quinton’s disappearance and that the Bureau is where she’ll find answers, Amari attends tryouts and is thrust into a magical world full of supernatural creatures and magicians.

This book is a spectacular fantasy! From start to finish it champions black girl magic, self-confidence, friendship, and family. Amari is a fierce and strong protagonist, determined to solve the mystery of her brother’s disappearance and reunite her family. Even when she struggles against the prejudices of her wealthier classmates, her own illegal ability, and her lack of knowledge about the magical world, Amari never backs down. She charges ahead, growing in friendship with her were-dragon roommate and discovering her own potential as an illusionist. Alston keeps readers turning pages with the book’s fast pace and unexpected twists. I’m excited to see how Amari grows into her abilities and confidence as the series continues.

In the meantime, I cannot wait to get Amari and the Night Brothers into the hands of as many young readers as possible! I would recommend this book for fans of Men in Black, Nevermoor, and Harry Potter.

I absolutely loved Amari and her spark! This book is middle grade, but I think has appeal for older kids, too.

This book was so good. Full of girl power, magic, and will be a hit with fans of Rick Riordan's books! I can't wait to recommend it to readers at the library.

Well there's nothing I can type that won't already be said. My one critique of this book is that the beginning is a little . . . hard to get rooted. Sometimes it feels fantastical for fantasy's sake, silly for silly's sake, and magical for magic's sake without having first rooted the reader in any kind of reality. And I'm sure that's what the author intended, for us to be as confused as Amari but I think it was to the detriment of the book, rather than to the illumination of her experience. I also didn't love the plot twist, it was obvious and cliche and I really actually liked that character, and it would have been nice if that character could have been . . . just good?

BUT the end more than made up for it, about halfway through I realized how much I liked this book. It'll be on everyone's top of the year list, no problem.