Mythology Mondays: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

I love reading about mythology and folklore from classics such as the Odyssey by Homer to retellings or new takes on stories. There are so many wonderful and interesting stories out there which is why I wanted to start a new post, Mythology Mondays. It'll give me a chance to showcase all the books and stories that I really want to read such as Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia.

This looks so interesting and I think the cover is absolutely gorgeous. The premise seems to have Tristan possibly opening a magical portal to another world or time where he meets the great American folk hero John Henry and have to save the world. I'm very interested in seeing how this story will play out.

Book: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Tristan Strong book #1) by Kwame Mbalia 

Description:

Winner of a Coretta Scott King Author Honor

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents Kwame Mbalia's epic fantasy, a middle grade American Gods set in a richly-imagined world populated with African American folk heroes and West African gods.

Seventh grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he's going to spend on his grandparents' farm in Alabama, where he's being sent to heal from the tragedy.

But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up in his bedroom and steals Eddie's notebook. Tristan chases after it--is that a doll?--and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree. In a last attempt to wrestle the journal out of the creature's hands, Tristan punches the tree, accidentally ripping open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters that are hunting the inhabitants of this world.

Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle that has left black American folk heroes John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted. In order to get back home, Tristan and these new allies will need to entice the god Anansi, the Weaver, to come out of hiding and seal the hole in the sky. But bartering with the trickster Anansi always comes at a price.

Can Tristan save this world before he loses more of the things he loves?