KEYNAN MASTERS AND THE PEERLESS MAGIC CREW

What’s the point of having a crew? Having folks who tough it out with you.

Twelve-year-old poet Keynan “Keymaster” Masters is content with his neighborhood, life with his mom and baba, and attending virtual school. When he gets a surprise acceptance letter from the Peerless Academy of Movement, Art, Genealogy, Instrumentation, and Composition, he’s resolute about not attending, because it would mean leaving Bizzy Block, his tight-knit co-op community. Full of family, food, and fun, Bizzy Block is safe—well, except for the raging storms that seem to come from nowhere and threaten to swallow everything up. After a particularly destructive storm roars through, Keymaster decides to go to Peerless after all, hoping they’ll have the knowledge to help him stop the storms. But Peerless holds more secrets than that, among them the fact that there is broken magic out there that must be held at bay lest it destroy everything. Magic is hard to contain, however, and Keymaster inadvertently rhymes up trouble. He and his creative crew—artist Amari and dancer Leah—face the biggest threat they’ve ever seen. Collectively, their artistic talents keep Peerless safe, but there’s more trouble in store, as Keymaster learns when he returns home for the summer. Sanders’ debut is a culturally and linguistically rich journey through a magical world populated by young Black creatives, featuring diverse portrayals of Black youth. The fast pace will keep readers absorbed.

This magical, action-packed journey is layered with challenges and enriched by friendship.