Abeni's Song

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By P. Djèlí Clark

Publisher Description

IN DARKNESS, A SONG CAN LEAD THE WAY. BEWARE WHICH ONE YOU LISTEN TO.

Abeni's Song by award-winning author P. Djèlí Clark is the enchanting beginning of an epic West African and African Diaspora-inspired fantasy adventure for middle-grade readers about a reluctant apprentice to magic and the stolen villagers she sets out to save.

“Lush and magical.” —KWAME MBALIA • “Astonishing.” —MARK OSHIRO • "Abeni's story will sweep you away." —AMANDA FOODY

On the day of the Harvest Festival, the old woman who lives in the forest appears in Abeni's village with a terrible message:

You ignored my warnings. It’s too late to run. They are coming.

Warriors with burning blades storm the village. A man with a cursed flute plays an impossibly alluring song. And everyone Abeni has ever known and loved is captured and marched toward far-off ghost ships set for even more distant lands.

But not Abeni.

Abeni is magically whisked away by the old woman. In the forest, Abeni begins her unwanted magical apprenticeship, her journey to escape the witch, and her impossible mission to bring her people home.

Abeni’s Song is the beginning of a timeless, enchanting fantasy adventure about a reluctant apprentice, a team of spirit kids, and the village they set out to save.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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24 Reviews

3.5

Joseereads

Created about 2 months ago

“This middle grade book kept me captivated the whole time!! I’m going to be getting my niece and nephews a copy as they are middle grade aged. If you’re a parent looking to get your child into reading or are just interested in reading it yourself I would recommend it! I feel that all ages could enjoy this book. I won this in a good reads give away and I’m so happy that I did!”

Luna

Created 4 months ago

Sarah - SarahEvermotionsBooks

Created 6 months ago

“TL;DR: An absolutely magical adventure novel about a young girl trying to save her family. Highly recommend. Abeni's Song by P. Djèlí Clark is a fantastic coming of age story about a young girl who sets out to save her family. It's clearly the first in a series, and I can't wait to see more of it. The story follows Abeni who watches her entire family and village taken by living ropes, seemingly commanded by Storm Women and a man in a Goat Mask. She is saved by Auntie Asha, the witch who was used to protect their village but seemingly can't anymore. I'm going to be honest, the start of this didn't quite get me. The opening chapter isn't even from Abeni's perspective but from another girl as the children of her village are kidnapped by a song. Then we move to Abeni and it's a bit of a slow start. Then as the Storm Women attack we begin to see magic and once we're with Auntie Asha? It kicks into full magical mode. Auntie Asha's everything is magic. The House, the grass, the blankets, and Asha herself is an intriguing and fantastic character. That same level of magic and lovability bleeds into everyone and everything. Abeni is adorable, she acts and thinks like I remember acting and thinking when I was a young girl at times. Her friends she meets along the way all have unique and interesting stories. The darkness of the world around her is hinted at, not completely revealed and having kept up with P. Djèlí Clark's backlist I know it's going to hit when it does. The book is also metaphorically dealing with a lot of big and heavy topics but in ways that I think are well executed. The slave trade, blood diamonds, etc. It's clear but done in such a way that kids won't feel spoken down too and adults will also enjoy. This was a great middle grade, one I was hesitant about though this author is a favorite. I honestly should have just known going in I'd love - he never lets me down. 4.5 fighting blankets (the blanket was my favorite character, I'm sorry I loved it)”

Diamondcutup

Created 6 months ago

Christina

Created 8 months ago

“Actual rating 3.5★ Abeni’s Song is a Middle grade African-inspired Fantasy. We follow Abeni, young girl whose entire village was taken by the mysterious Witch King. Saved by an old woman that her townsfolk call a witch, she begins a reluctant magic apprenticeship and sets out on a mission to save her friends and family. What I loved most about this book is the setting and the very rich way the world was built. The book is very plot heavy, although not extremely action packed – it felt more quest-like with a steady thrum of a sense of adventure. I quite enjoyed the different places Abeni found herself in and the vivid way Clark illustrated them. Abeni’s character arc was really lovely to read too. It was a very gradual progression where she grew into herself and learned to to care for more than her own wants. She nicely stepped up into a more responsible role that the plot forced her into. She met a gaggle of girls along the way and it was really lovely to read the friendship that blossomed between them. I do wish the secondary characters were more concretely characterized as I feel like their personalities were very surface level. This is Clark’s first Middle Grade book and unfortunately it is very telling as there were certain times that it felt a little too mature as well as having certain points in the novel that felt as if it was just a little bit contrived for its middle grade audience. Middle graders would definitely have a lot more trouble following the lengthy prose-heavy novel compared to other middle grade books. This problem lent itself a little more clearly in terms of structure- for example, chapter length seemed targeted to a more adult audience. It took me close to 5 hours of read time to finish the book and chapter length averaged 20 minutes of read time. I doubt a 10-year-old would enjoy sitting and reading a chapter for that long. Additionally, there was A LOT of exclamation points. If I read the book out loud to a child I’d read it with all the inflection that the exclamation points imparted but I do not think that the abundance of punctuation was necessary to make the book appealing to a middle grade audience. Overall, I enjoyed the story but I do think there’s quite a bit to improve on for its target audience., The world building, our main character, and the plot intrigues me enough I am excited to find out what happens next. Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.”

About P. Djèlí Clark

Born in New York and raised mostly in Houston, P. DJÈLÍ CLARK (he/him) spent part of his childhood in Trinidad and Tobago, the homeland of his parents. He is the author of the novel A Master of Djinn and the novellas Ring Shout, The Black God’s Drums, and The Haunting of Tram Car 015. He has won the Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards and been nominated for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and Sturgeon Awards. His stories have appeared in online venues such as Tor.com, Daily Science Fiction, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Apex, Lightspeed, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and in print anthologies, including Griots, Hidden Youth, and Clockwork Cairo. He is also a founding member of FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction and an infrequent reviewer at Strange Horizons.