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2025 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award

“Using Kwame’s sympathetic first-person POV as a reluctant hero struggling to express his grief and connect with his Ghanaian heritage, Farmer deftly weaves together an inclusive tale of friendship, family, and identity featuring characters and adventure readers will yearn to revisit.”
—Publisher’s Weekly

“The novel welcomes an ASL-signing duo into the supernatural realm and opens up a conversation about navigating intersectional identity, where all characters are fully realized. As an Obayifo—a supernatural being who just wants to eat pasta and watch theater—reminds Kwame, “We’re all three-dimensional. Look at yourself—a piece of a Ghanaian goddess inside you, and yet you feel disconnected from your culture. Go figure.””
—School Library Journal, Starred Review

Kwame Crashes the Underworld

Written by Craig Kofi Farmer
Published by Roaring Brook Press

Twelve-year-old Kwame Powell isn’t ready to deal with losing his grandmother, even as he and his family head to Ghana for her celebration of life.

He’s definitely not ready when he’s sucked into a magical whirlpool that leads straight to Asamando, the Ghanaian underworld. There, he comes face to face with his grandmother, who is very much alive, and somehow still…a kid? Together with his best friend, Autumn, and a talkative aboatia named Woo, Kwame must battle angry nature gods, and stop the underworld from destroying the land of the living.

But there’s an even bigger problem: Only living souls can leave Asamando. In order to save the mortal world and return home, Kwame will need to find the courage to do the bravest thing of all——learn how to say goodbye.

Primary ISBN: 9781250900265
Publication Date: September 2024
Available As: Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook, eBook
Middle Grade, Age 08 or older

Community Represented:

Themes: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Setting: Ghana

Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: 1st Generation

Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience

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