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For Zuberi, Uzochi, and Lencho, Nubia is a mystery. Before they were born, a massive storm destroyed their ancestral homeland, forcing their families to flee across the ocean to New York City. Nubia, a utopic island nation off the coast of West Africa, was no more, and their parents’ sorrow was too deep for them to share much of their history beyond the folklore.
But New York, ravaged by climate change and class division, is far from a safe haven for refugees, and Nubians live as outcasts, struggling to survive in the constantly flooding lower half of Manhattan, while the rich thrive in the tech-driven sky city known as the Up High.
To many, being Nubian means you’re fated for a life plagued by difficulties and disrespect. But Zuberi, Uzochi, and Lencho are beginning to feel there might be more. Something within them is changing, giving each of them extraordinary powers. Extraordinary and terrifying powers that seem to be tied to the secrets their parents have kept from them.
And there are people Up High watching, eager to do anything they can to become even more powerful than they already are. Now Zuberi, Uzochi, and Lencho will be faced with the choice—do they use their inheritance to lift their people, or to leave them behind. The fate of their city, and their people, hangs in the balance.
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
November 8, 2022 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593609705
- File size: 277252 KB
- Duration: 09:37:36
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- Lexile® Measure: 820
- Text Difficulty: 3-4
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Reviews
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October 31, 2022
Entertainer Epps and Haynes (The Legacy of Jim Crow) explore class discrimination and climate change via three superpowered teens in this epic series opener. After a climate catastrophe displaced N.Y.C. citizens, the privileged wealthy developed and hid themselves away in sky cities known as the Up High, leaving the underprivileged to struggle in the derelict remains of lower Manhattan, with only a mammoth, ramshackle seawall as protection from rising sea levels and destructive weather. When Zuberi, Uzochi, and Lencho—teenage descendants of Nubian refugees to the U.S.—suddenly develop supernatural powers, their parents reveal that Nubians once had abilities that were lost but are now emerging in the new generation. Meanwhile, pro-Nubian philanthropist Krazen St. John is plotting a revolution using gifted Nubian children for his own ends, pitting the newly powered teens wishing to use their abilities for good against their kin. The discrimination and oppression experienced by the protagonists is believably rooted in contemporary reality. Epps and Haynes skillfully build emotional and narrative suspense by weaving the cast members’ conflicting needs and expectations into an explosive adventure. Ages 14–up. -
Three Nubian refugees navigate postapocalyptic New York City. Amir Abdullah narrates chapters involving the male characters Uzochi and Lencho, and Emana Rachelle narrates those involving the female characters Zuberi and Sandra. Jeorge Bennett Watson voices the short sections from Adisa, along with the timeline and prologue. Together, they weave a story of struggling teenagers with incredible emerging powers who are connected to a past their parents have kept secret. Their abilities come with the power to lift their people up, but manipulations from Up High could lead to their doom. This story is passionately narrated but verging on the melodramatic. As the point of view shifts from chapter to chapter, there is little differentiation between the character voices that are delivered by the same narrator. A.K.R. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
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