Kwame Mbalia has done it again! As a fan of the Tristan Strong trilogy, I had high hopes for Jax Freeman and it did not disappoint. Filled with non-stop action and Mbalia's signature humor, Jax Freeman takes on another aspect of American lore - the railway system and the porters.

Jax Freeman finds himself thrust into a world steeped in lore and old magic when he moves to Chicago to live with his grandma and uncle. Told he is part of a magical community called Summoners, Jax is sure there must be a mistake. But as more and more strange things keep happening to him, he comes to realize that not everything is as it seems, and he may just have the power to help right an old wrong and help restore his family name.

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Sent to live in Chicago with family after being involved in a fight (or maybe not), Jax expects to have to face a new school and new friends. Instead, he finds himself confronting normal sixth-grade woes AND a whole new world of magic, along with several new-to-him chapters of family history. As Jax realizes the scope of his powers, he also piles on responsibilities for his new friends' safety, to redeem his family name, and to save the community of summoners from themselves and a shadowy villain.

This book is incredible - I truly cannot wait to put it in kids' hands. It weaves a balance between being action-packed, funny, and incredibly well-written. (There is also more than a touch of real history and valuable life lessons about self-love that will go down easily with this action-packed plot). In short, kids are going to love it, and so will teachers and parents. When Jax screams in lowercase at the beginning of the book, I almost fell out of my chair laughing and also started planning 17 different writing lessons with this as the mentor text. Kwame Mbalia is the Christopher Paul Curtis/Louis Sachar/Rick Riordan mash-up that middle-grade needs.

Porter. Only Kwame Mbalia could craft all the meanings of the word into a fantastic story that runs the gamut of history and folklore. Jackson Freeman is sent to live in Chicago on his twelfth birthday and is quickly faced with a magical world he knows nothing about. Jax’s family has a magical history involving porters, trains, good and bad spirits and something that happened to his great great grandfather that has made all the other magical families dislike him. As Jax slowly learns more about his history, the faster the drama ramps up with magical kidnappings and evil spirit attacks. Jax is a wonderful and empathetic character that I can’t wait to read more about.
Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for this DRC.
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Kwame Mbalia embarks on another youthful adventure, complete with action, humor, probing questions, and likeable characters. I love the blend of fantasy and youth storytelling and Kwame always has a home in my school library.