This Afro-futuristic tale stars two Black, nonbinary siblings, Yren and Augi, grappling with the loss of their parents in a post-apocalyptic world. They live in a village created by the love and wisdom of Black, Indigenous, and queer people, where a coming-of-age ceremony includes stating the name and pronouns one wants to use, and queer elders offer wisdom. Yren is also starting to learn the special powers given to them by a strange creature that helped heal them when they were younger; powers that no one quite understands, and some fear.
There is a fair amount of exposition as author Chy Ryan Spain sets up this first book in an intended series, but we also see Yren and Augi begin their quest to discover the mystery of their parents’ disappearance—a mystery, the book hints, connected to what might save the remains of humanity. And the story offers a mythos grounded in social justice, with lyrical, hopeful passages such as the one in which an elder tells Yren, “But our people—Black and Brown people, queer and gender non-conforming people—we are endlessly creative…. Never doubt that profound change is possible. With time, and intention.”
Woodblock illustrations by Sydney Kuhne help reinforce the spirit of the tale (though this is an illustrated middle grade book, not a picture book).
