On the Shelf: Nic Blake and the Remarkables

By Courtney Warren

I am so excited to tell you all about another book I just finished. Recently, I’ve been given the opportunity to get Advanced Reader’s Copies of books in exchange for reviews. Some are good, some are great, and this one is fabulous! If your middle grade reader enjoys the Percy Jackson series, the Harry Potter series, or anything of the like, I’ve got a book for you. 

Angie Thomas is no stranger to Mississippi, being a Jackson native and Belhaven grad. She wrote The Hate U Give after being inspired by the Black Lives Matter Movement, and the book instantly rose to fame after an intense publishers’ auction. It was later turned into a very successful film. Thomas said during the pandemic she just could not deal with the realities of 2020, so she returned to a manuscript she previously abandoned, and we got Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy.  The book is described as it’s not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool—like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much—like not being trusted to learn magic, because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbor.

All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad. But before she has a chance to convince him to teach her the gift, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she’s never heard of...to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed.

It’s amazing! I read it so quickly. It’s set in Jackson, and it was such a fun experience to read about places I could easily picture in my mind. The characters were hilarious, relative, and diverse. The history was rich, informative, and beautifully told. This book will be a series, and I was left on the edge of my seat. I immediately ordered a copy for my classroom, and I can’t wait to see what happens to Nic and her friends next!