When I checked out this book I thought it would be a novelization of the recent movie "Black Panther" but it turned out to be a prequel to the movie. In this story T'Challa is a young teen (middle school aged). When war threatens Wakanda, T'Challa's father, the king of Wakanda, arranges for T'Challa and his best friend, M'Baku, to travel to America incognito. The goal is to get them out of harm's way and let them experience a different culture. Once in Chicago, the boys have a falling out and M'Baku starts hanging out with the basketball team while T'Challa makes friends with the nerdy kids. The head of M'Baku's crowd, Gemini Jones, is a self proclaimed warlock. T'Challa doubts that his boasts of magic power are true, but as time goes on, he begins to suspect that there is something sinister happening among the "in" crowd of boys. T'Challa has a Vibranium suit that his father gave him "in case of emergency" and T'Challa has to decide whether to use it and reveal his true identity, or let his best friend follow a path that leads to mortal danger.Ronald Smith is a veteran author that has written a number of successful series for children. This may not be one of his best, but it was still an entertaining book to read. The story is very Marvel-esque. As I listened to it I imagined how the different scenes could have played out in a comic book or on the big screen. There was one part near the end where I thought, "Ok, someone didn't do their physics research when writing this scene." I actually laughed out loud and rolled my eyes it was so ridiculous. Still, it was a fun book to read. T'Challa is a likable character, and though I haven't seen the movie yet I imagine there was a ton of foreshadowing of future events and characters that will make more sense once I do see the movie. All in all it is a good choice for superhero fans, and fans of the recent Black Panther movie in particular. (2018, 272 p.)
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