Freedom Fire: Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek

by Kwame Mbalia (Author)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

The award-winning author of the best-selling Tristan Strong trilogy has created a secret world where kids can wield magic by summoning the power of their ancestors. What do you get when you combine Kwame Mbalia's incredible imagination and world-building talent with trains, history, and ghosts? Nothing less than middle grade magic.

On his twelfth birthday, Jackson "Jax" Freeman arrives at Chicago's Union Station alone, carrying nothing but the baggage of a scandal back in Raleigh. He's been sent away from home to live with relatives he barely knows. But even worse are the strangers who accost him at the train station, including a food vendor who throws dust in his face and a conductor who tries to steal his skin. At his new school, Jax is assigned to a special class for "summoners," even though he has no idea what those are . . . until he accidentally unleashes an angry spirit on school grounds.

Soon Jax is embroiled in all kinds of trouble, from the disappearance of a new friend to full-out war between summoning families. When Jax learns that he isn't the first Freeman to be blamed for a tragedy he didn't create, he resolves to clear his own name and that of his great-grandfather, who was a porter back in the 1920's. By following clues, Jax and his schoolmates unlock the secrets of a powerful Praise House, evade vengeful ghosts, and discover that Jax may just be the most talented summoner of all.

A unique magic-school fantasy from the best-selling and award-winning author of the Tristan Strong trilogy has just pulled into the station.

Select format:
Hardcover
$17.99

Kirkus

All aboooooard!

ALA/Booklist

Starred Review

With Jax’s humor and wit shining even in the darkest moments, fans of Tristan Strong and magic-school stories will want this one on their shelves.

Kwame Mbalia
Kwame Mbalia is a #1 New York Times best-selling author and the publisher of Freedom Fire, an imprint of Disney Hyperion devoted to stories about the Black diaspora by Black creators. His debut middle-grade novel, Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, was awarded a Coretta Scott King Author Honor, and it was followed by Tristan Strong Destroys the World and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching. Kwame lives with his wife and children outside Raleigh, North Carolina, where he is currently working on the next Jax Freeman adventure. For more information, go to www.KwameMbalia.com.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781368064736
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Freedom Fire
Publication date
October 01, 2024
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV041050 - Juvenile Fiction | Transportation | Railroads & Trains
Library of Congress categories
African Americans
Magic
Chicago (Ill.)
Fantasy fiction
Monsters
Railroad trains
Good and evil
African American boys
Monster fiction

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