Serwa Boateng's guide to vampire hunting

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Title:

Serwa Boateng's guide to vampire hunting

Author:

Brown, Roseanne A., author.

Series:

Serwa Boateng ;

Series Number:

Summary:

For most kids, catching fireflies is a fun summer activity. For twelve-year-old Serwa Boateng, it's a matter of life and death. That's because Serwa knows that some fireflies are really adze, shapeshifting vampires from the forests of Southeastern Ghana. Adze prey on the blood of innocents, possessing their minds and turning them into hulking monsters, and for generations, slayers like Serwa and her parents have protected an unknowing public from their threats. Serwa is the best adze slayer her age, and she knew how to use a crossbow before she could even ride a bike. But when an obayifo (witch) destroys her childhood home while searching for a drum, do Serwa's parents take her with them on their quest to defeat her? No. Instead, they dump Serwa with her hippie aunt and cryptic-obsessed cousin in the middle of Nowheresville, Maryland "for her own safety." Now, instead of crossbows and battle armor, she's dealing with mean girls and algebra, and for the first time in her life she doesn't have to carry a staff everywhere she goes, which is. . . kind of nice, actually. Just as Serwa starts to get the hang of this whole normal girl who doesn't punch vampires every day thing, an adze infiltrates her school. It's up to her to whip some of her classmates into monster-fighting shape before all of them become firefly food. And when she uncovers a secret that upends everything she thought she knew about her family's role in the slayer vs. adze war, Serwa will have to decide which side of herself--normal girl or slayer--is the right one. -- Amazon.

Audience:

Ages 10-14. Disney/Hyperion.

Grades 7-9. Disney/Hyperion.

General Note:

"Rick Riordan presents"

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

[viii], 386 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Genre:

Fantasy fiction.

Subject Term:

Vampires -- Juvenile fiction.

Magic -- Juvenile fiction.

Mythology, African -- Juvenile fiction.

Ghanaians -- Juvenile fiction.

Good and evil -- Juvenile fiction.

Middle schools -- Juvenile fiction.

Middle school students -- Juvenile fiction.

Publisher:

Disney/Hyperion,

Publication Date:

2022

ISBN:

9781368066365

9781368066389

Publication Information:

Los Angeles ; New York : Disney/Hyperion, 2022.

Call Number:

M BROWN

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003637058	Middle Fiction	BROWN	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

For most kids, catching fireflies is a fun summer activity. For twelve-year-old Serwa Boateng, it's a matter of life and death.

That's because Serwa knows that some fireflies are really adze, shapeshifting vampires from the forests of Southeastern Ghana. Adze prey on the blood of innocents, possessing their minds and turning them into hulking monsters, and for generations, slayers like Serwa and her parents have protected an unknowing public from their threats.

Serwa is the best adze slayer her age, and she knew how to use a crossbow before she could even ride a bike. But when an obayifo (witch) destroys her childhood home while searching for a drum, do Serwa's parents take her with them on their quest to defeat her? No. Instead, they dump Serwa with her hippie aunt and cryptic-obsessed cousin in the middle of Nowheresville, Maryland "for her own safety." Now, instead of crossbows and battle armor, she's dealing with mean girls and algebra, and for the first time in her life she doesn't have to carry a staff everywhere she goes, which is . . . kind of nice, actually.

Just as Serwa starts to get the hang of this whole normal girl who doesn't punch vampires every day thing, an adze infiltrates her school. It's up to her to whip some of her classmates into monster-fighting shape before all of them become firefly food. And when she uncovers a secret that upends everything she thought she knew about her family's role in the slayer vs. adze war, Serwa will have to decide which side of herself--normal girl or slayer--is the right one.

After all, seventh grade is hard enough without adding vampires to the mix.

Author Notes

Roseanne "Rosie" A. Brown was born in Kumasi, Ghana and immigrated to the wild jungles of central Maryland as a child. Writing was her first love, and she knew from a young age that she wanted to use the power of writing to connect the different cultures she called home. She worked as an assistant teacher, journalist, and editorial intern before writing her first two young adult novels, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin , an instant New York Times best-seller, and A Psalm of Storms and Silence . This is her middle grade debut, and it will be followed by Serwa Boateng's Guide to Witchcraft and Mayhem . Rosie currently lives outside Washington, D.C., where she can usually be found explaining memes to her elderly relatives or thinking about Star Wars. She can neither confirm nor deny if she has ever been possessed by a vampire. Follow her on Twitter @rosiesrambles.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Courageous 12-year-old Serwa Boateng has trained her entire life to become a fully fledged Slayer of the Abomofuo order, Ghanian warriors blessed by the gods and charged with defeating dark creatures, including the adze--shape-shifting vampires that can inhabit a human host. When a surprise attack compromises the family's northern U.S. safe house, precipitating their flight, Serwa's parents are tasked with slaying Boahinmaa, a witch who leads the forces of black magic and killed Serwa's paternal grandmother. Instead of fighting alongside her parents, though, Serwa is forced to stay with distant family she barely knows, attending middle school in a town utterly devoid of magic. But all is not what it seems in Rocky Gorge, Md., and before long, Serwa is caught up in a startling vampire hunt of her own. Planning an underworld heist, meeting with deities, and dodging school bullies are just the beginning of Serwa's journey, undertaken alongside "smelly forest spirit" Boulder, a gnomelike mmoatia; supportive cousin Roxy; and new friends Eunju, Gavin, and Mateo. Via Serwa's savvy narration, Brown (A Song of Wraiths and Ruin) melds Ghanian folklore, smart action, thoughtful commentary about liminal spaces, and a healthy dose of tween hijinks, making for an exhilarating introduction to Serwa Boateng's magic-filled world. Ages 10--14. Agent: Quressa Robinson, Nelson Literary. (Sept.)