Maya and the Rising Dark Book Review

Maya and the Rising Dark 
By Rena Barron
Published May 5, 2020

Mom's Review
Maya and the Rising Dark is the story of Maya and her two friends who must battle the Lord of Shadows to save the world and Maya's father. Until Maya's father goes missing, she did not know of her celestial heritage, thinking that monsters and myths were nothing more than stories. She quickly learns that her father has been guardian of the barrier that keeps "darkbringers" out of the world, and that she and her friends possess powers to battle darkbringers. While Maya is the main character, Eli and Frankie are no less integral to the story, each with his or her own powers and unique personalities. The plot is well crafted and exciting; the characters are relatable and complex. The fast-paced adventure is thoroughly enjoyable! I had fun reading it now, and I would have loved it as a kid.

I wish that Maya and the Rising Dark had been available to me as a middle grader, when I was blowing through my library's fantasy books. I would have gobbled it up and been better off for the African mythology and folklore it includes. Looking back, I see that pretty much all the fantasy and mythology I read stemmed from central Europe or Greece. I feel like I kind of missed out on the rest of the world, but I'm enjoying it now with T. If you haven't heard of an orisha, impundula, eloko, or grootslang, let my narrow childhood reading be a lesson to you. (I first encountered the grootslang, impundula, and eloko when seeking out traditional literature from different continents for T. See: Spotlight on Traditional Literature or 3 Fun Books to Help Your Child Learn World Geography.)

Son's Review
(Age: 5)
Chapters 1-5:
I like it. It's just the right amount of spooky.

End of Chapter 5:
I wanna have a little break. It's too spooky how the things from the stories are becoming real. That's too spooky.

Keep our place and can we read it later?

Worth noting: Maya and her dad fight with staffs. Since reading the first 5 chapters, T has been eager for us to battle in the yard with giant sticks. Super fun!

Note: Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review.