by Ronald L. Smith (Author)
A gripping, richly imagined fantasy set in an alternate ancient African world in which a Black girl finds her power and saves her people from evil, by the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award-winning author of Black Panther: The Young Prince.
In the land of Alkebulan, twelve-year-old Asha is an orphan, raised by Madame S, the proprietor of a traveling carnival. When Madame S is attacked by ghoulish creatures, she manages to tell Asha before she dies, "Seek the Underground Kingdom, where the black flowers bloom."
Asha doesn't understand the mysterious words, but they launch her onto a page-turning quest to protect her people and stop an ancient evil. Along the way, she uncovers shocking secrets about the family she never knew and begins to find her place in the world as she discovers her own untapped powers.
Author Biography
Ronald L. Smith is the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award-winning author of Hoodoo, The Mesmerist, The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away, Gloom Town, and Black Panther: The Young Prince. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
www.strangeblackflowers.com
Twitter: @RonSmithbooks
Instagram: @ronsmithwriter
Number of Pages: 240
Dimensions: 1 x 8.3 x 5.5 IN
Publication Date: January 31, 2023
Accelerated Reader:
Quiz Name: Where the Black Flowers Bloom
Interest Level: Middle Grades, 4-8
Reading Level: 4.7
Point Value: 6
