Ballad and Dagger by Daniel Jose Older

Welcome Back, Booklovers! So this is my first book by Daniel Jose Older. I've heard so much about his work with Star Wars and the Shadowshaper series as well as Bone Street Rumba. My interest in reading more urban fantasy drew me to Ballad and Dagger. 

This story takes place in Little Madrigal, which is a community in Brooklyn made up of former residents and descendants of San Madrigal. 15 years ago San Madrigal sunk beneath the waves of the Caribbean Sea. Caribbean culture blends with pirate culture, sephardic judaism and santeria in this tight knit community.

Mateo learns that he was initiated as a child of the Galanika and possesses special healing abilities during a popular holiday celebration in his community. This also means his destiny is to help raise the island from the sea.  On the same night he witnesses a murder and monsters start threatening the community. 

There's a lot of world building and it's slower paced at times as you take it all in. I prefer a faster pace in my fantasies usually. But there was something about Mateo and his community that kept me reading. I loved his relationship with his Tia Lucia. With his parents off traveling the world as doctors she's his guardian and main supporter. 

I liked that Mateo was awkward and unsure. So often we read these stories where people discover they have great power and they talk about being unsure but we don't really see and feel it. Mateo finds out he has these powers and he freaks out! He just wants to play his music. The sight of blood makes him squeamish and he's just not built for this! He's also experiencing his first big crush on Chela who also has powers she doesn't know how to control. They were so cute together and I hope in the next book we get to know her more.

This is a definitely conversation starter for diaspora Caribbean children. Many people don't necessarily want to reflect on the after effects of colonialism and colorism especially with so many island nations pushing this idea of "We're all XYZ nation" while ignoring that the darkest in society still stays at the bottom years after slavery ended. The island of San Madrigal boasts about having never been conquered however it's racial dynamics closely resemble it's Caribbean cousin's that were. The children are trying to balance their identity in the US along with their feelings for the island they don't remember or never visited. 

Not sure how many books are supposed to be in this series but it definitely has potential to build on the foundation set here. And it made me want to check out some of this author's other work.