REVIEW Kwame Crashes the Underworld by Craig Kofi Farmer

 

Kwame Crashes the Underworld (Kwame Powell #1) by Craig Kofi Farmer
Rating: 4 Stars
Release Date: September 10, 2024
Format: eBook (Personal Library)
Publisher: Roaring Book Press

Craig Kofi Farmer’s Kwame Crashes the Underworld was an emotional and entertaining fantasy read. A middle grade novel based on Ghanaian mythology, it explores themes of culture, family and identity. Readers who enjoyed books like Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Kwame Mbalia’s Tristan Strange Punches a Hole in the Sky will definitely enjoy this read. 

Kwame Powell is a twelve year old kid out of North Carolina who is grieving the loss of his beloved Grandmother. Unwilling to accept the fact that she’s gone (and uncomfortable with the Ghanaian part of his heritage that she represented), Kwame’s loath to travel with his parents to her celebration of life. However, after a tricksy monkey steals the last gift his grandmother gave him, the chase leads him into an entirely different world and thrusts him straight into a godly conflict. 

There is so much action and adventure in this book, but it's also balanced with weighty emotion. Kwame and Autumn must escape Asamando to stay alive, but it means saying goodbye to his grandmother seemingly forever. This parallels the fact that Kwame is unwilling to make an effort to acknowledge his heritage and culture early in the book, despite his best efforts to separate himself from that identity in his day to day life. The journey that Kwame goes on to embrace that part of him was fun to watch, and I appreciated the life lessons that the author interspersed along the way (such as the fact that “Ignorance isn’t a disease that you catch. It’s a choice you make”.) 

The characters were a definite highlight of the book. Kwame is the son of immigrants, and struggles to deal with his dual heritage (which I think is such an important topic for kids to be exposed to). Autumn is a member of the deaf and hard of hearing community, and I really appreciated how well the author wove sign language into the story. It was a pleasant surprise to see how the author highlighted some of the challenges a member of the deaf community might face in their day to day life. Woo the aboatia was hilarious, and he reminded me a lot of Abu from the Aladdin movies.  I loved Kwame’s grandmother as well - it was an interesting dynamic that “Asamando lets their residents take the age that they felt most alive”. The other more minor characters rounded out the story well, and I appreciated how easy the author made it to follow the various figures from mythology and where they originated. 

Overall, this was an excellent novel and I completely devoured the story while reading. Narrator Joshua Quinn did an excellent job bringing the story to life. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy kid lit fantasy complete with mythological inspiration, wacky adventures, and diverse characters.