Amari and the Night Brothers

Pitch by Piper Lynch

In B.B Alston’s novel, Amari Peters’ brother Quinton goes missing for months, leaving behind only a briefcase for his younger sister. Within this mysterious briefcase, he’s left her a nomination for a summer tryout at the secretive Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. Amari is thrust into the supernatural world and competes against the wealthiest kids for a Junior position in the bureau her brother used to occupy. Amari works to overcome the obstacles of not growing up in the magical world and hone her blossoming supernatural abilities.

Why does this book matter?

Amari Peters is a young Black girl from a low-income household who struggles against social and systemic injustices at a predominantly wealthy white institution. In an advanced reader's copy of the novel, the author B.B Alston discusses that white protagonists are the default middle-grade hero, and he remembers longing for main characters that looked like him as a child. Readers witness the microaggressions and systemic barriers of the natural world and the supernatural that affect Amari as a Black girl. Amari is bullied at her predominantly wealthy white high school in the regular world. In the supernatural world, she faces discrimination based on her race and class (discrimination grounded in reality), like being looked down upon due to her lack of wealth and education in the supernatural realm. Although Amari also faces discrimination based on her magical abilities, systemic oppression exists in the supernatural world (fantastical discrimination though not foreign in concept).