4.5 rounded up. I heard plenty of positive things about the award-winning "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" (all true!) before I finally had a chance to pick it up, but I don't think I ever heard just how funny it is! Tristan's narrator voice is funny enough, but the first (and second...and fifth...) time a character goes into a Sap Attack (tree sap, not mushy nostalgic sap) I laughed out loud. It's also a hugely ambitious book (especially for a debut) that represents sensitive topics and cultural touchstones with respectful inventiveness and skill.

I came for the retelling/reimagining of the West African and African American folklore, but I stayed for the high energy humor and adventure — and the relationships being developed (and put to rest) that are at the heart of the adventure. Highly recommend.

[Book two, "Tristan Strong Destroys the World" is also excellent and teases a third book that goes in a direction that has me Very Interested.]