Kwame Crashes the Underworld

Farmer, Craig Kofi. Kwame Crashes the Underworld. 2024. 336p. ISBN 9781250900265.

There are times twelve-year-old Kwame regrets that his grandmother immigrated from Ghana decades ago. Like when he has to visit Ghana, where he stands out like a sore thumb with his general lack of Ghanian cultural awareness, his desire for American food, and his embarrassment at wearing the dashiki his grandmother made especially for him. But he loves his grandmother, who acts as his anchor to a world he does not quite know, so her death shakes him to the core. 

It's been three weeks since her passing, and the family is traveling to Ghana to participate in a celebration of life for her. Kwame doesn't believe there is an afterlife, and he feels really lonely without her stories. On his last night before flying out to Ghana, Kwame spends the night at his best friend's house. Autumn is deaf and wears hearing aids, but the two of them usually communicate in ASL. That night, as Kwame stresses about the upcoming trip and wishes he didn't have to go, he has a strange dream of a being he recognizes as Mother Earth from Ghanan myths, and when he awakens, his hand glows a faint gold. At the same time, a strange monkey breaks into Autum's house and steals Kwame's dashiki before sprinting out again.

Chasing the monkey, which Kwame now recognizes as an aboatia, a mythical monkey from Akan, Kwame reaches the pier, closely followed by Autumn who grabbed a sword Kwame didn't know she had. When Woo the abotia (that's what Kwame named it) jumps into the water with the dashiki, Kwame does not hesitate and follows, with Autumn right behind. Which is when Kwame finds himself in the Asamando, the place where dead Ghanans travel to following their death, in the middle of an election campaign for a new Mother Earth to replace the one who died 12 years ago. There, he encounters his grandmother in a much younger form, and together they set up to unravel a divine plot by nature gods who plan to destroy humanity ...

A great immersive experience in a culture most readers are not familiar with, Kwame Crashes the Underworld is fast-paced and action-packed, and explores such issues as cultural alienation, differently-abilities, intergenerational relationships, identify, and love. 

Solo

Alexander, Kwame. Solo. 2017. 464p. ISBN 9780310761839. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Rutherford Morrison is multi-millionaire star that struck it rich with amazing music, Morrison eventually lost his guiding star when his wife, died of a heart attack following an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Now addicted to drugs and hoping to accomplish a comeback that never concretizes, Rutherford is more famous for his antics and his myriad rehab stints than his music.

Morrison has two kids, Storm and Blade. Storm has released her own music album, but everyone except her find it a terrible mismash of sounds and a clear lack of talent. Blade is ready to graduate high school and move on. He misses his mother terribly, and he wishes his father would reconnect with the music he loved so much. Blade is in love with Chapel, a beautiful girl, but her parents have forbidden them seeing each other based on the pretext they don’t want her introduced to drugs, even though Blade is the opposite of Rutherford.

When the valedictorian bows out, Blade, as salutatorian, is expected to deliver a speech. A born songwriter and poet, Blade is encouraged by Chapel to write a song instead of a speech and perform it in front of his peers. Unfortunately, Blade’s performance never gets off the ground as his father, drunk and high, crashes graduation on a motorcycle accompanied by a scantily clad woman. In an event recorded by many and posted online, Rutherford ruins Blade’s graduation. During a particularly epic fight that night, Storm reveals that Blade is in fact adopted.

Crushed by this revelation, Blade turns to Chapel for comfort, only to discover her in someone else’s arms. Feeling abandoned by the love of his life and by a birth mother who gave him up and never looked for him, Blade decides to look for her. Unfortunately, she now works in Ghana as a missionary. Blade resolves to find her and forge a relationship with someone he didn’t know he missed until now. Will going to Ghana help Blade heal his mind and emotions from his chaotic life?

Filled with mentions of rock and roll and interspersed with original songs, this audiobook is a classic coming of age and finding oneself novel using a slightly different approach. Blade is self-centered, but he is a realistic teenager, and his desire to know more about his roots and reconnect to the music he loves drives this story. Readers who enjoy books about music will appreciate this tale.