In this episode I’m talking with B.B. Alston, author of AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS.

Amari is a 13-year old girl from the projects, attending a private school on scholarship. Her academic career sits in the shadow of her genius brother, Quinton, who graduated top of his class and fielded Ivy League offers. But after taking a mysterious job offer, Quinton has gone missing. His disappearance hangs heavily on Amari’s shoulders. 

When an altercation with elitist bullies costs Amari her scholarship, she and her over-worked nurse mother face a long summer trying to figure out how to pay for school. But everything changes when Amari receives a highly unusual, for-her-eyes-only delivery. The briefcase from her brother contains several eye-opening surprises, including a nomination for something called the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. 

Amari discovers a hidden world around her—of magicians and monsters, faeries and aliens, marvelous machines and devious dangers—managed and defended by the Bureau. As a young recruit, she’ll meet friends and make enemies among kids who’ve known magic their entire lives. And, if fitting in wasn’t already hard enough, she soon discovers her own magical talent is quite illegal. 

Surrounded by adversaries in a supernatural world under threat of a powerful evil force, the challenges are overwhelming. But if Amari doesn’t succeed in the Bureau’s tryouts, she may never find out what happened to her beloved brother.

AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS is a middle grade fantasy novel, available now from Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins: 

• Amazon
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Books-a-Million
• IndieBound

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About B.B. Alston

B.B. Alston started writing in middle school, entertaining his classmates with horror stories starring the whole class where not everyone survived! After several years of trying to break into publishing, he had just been accepted into a biomedical graduate program when a chance entry into a twitter pitch contest led to his signing with TBA, 20+ book deals worldwide, and even a film deal. When not writing, he can be found eating too many sweets and exploring country roads to see where they lead.

B.B. was inspired to write AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS because he couldn’t find any fantasy stories featuring Black kids when he was growing up. He hopes to show kids that though you might look different, or feel  different, whatever the reason, your uniqueness needn’t only be a source of fear and insecurity. There is great strength and joy to be found in simply accepting yourself for who you are. Because once you do so, you’ll be unstoppable.

Follow B.B. Alston

• Website
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• Instagram
• Amazon Profile
• Goodreads