Tracey Baptiste

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GZLA

MOKO MAGIC 01: CARNIVAL CHAOS

August 2024, Freedom Fire/Disney, 400 pp

Cousins Misty, Aidan, and Brooke discover that they carry the ancestral power of real moko healers from west Africa, and are the descendants of the first moko jumbie who followed a slave ship across the Atlantic ocean. The revelation comes with new magical abilities: Misty can see into the past and the future. Aidan can heal with a touch. Brooke can project force fields to protect.

They also learn that their community is filled with the descendants of other magical beings with extraordinary abilities like flying, granting wishes, or making food that can cause temporary super powers. The cousins must protect them all. But a series of mysterious attacks that drains magic threatens the community. In the lead-up to the Caribbean Day Parade on Eastern Parkway when all magical beings will be gathered, the attacks grow worse. The cousins need to quickly learn to control their abilities, figure out how to get along, and stop the attacks before all the magic is gone.

STARRED REVIEWS

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY – “Lively alternating third-person perspectives center immigrant and Caribbean experiences with humor and heart, culminating in an engaging mystery that emphasizes the high spirits of the festival season and its importance to the tweens’ Afro-Caribbean heritage.”

NOTE: A sequel is under contract.