Note: I received a prerelease review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The only saving grace was T'challa's friend group, providing advice, astonishment, and grounding for him. Character growth just isn't happening. The "bad guys" are all goofy, cartoony, or generic 80s clichés of villains. I don't recommend this book for anyone that likes Black Panther. ( )

This is a perfectly fine middle school adventure book -- decent themes (responsibility, honorable behavior, friendship negotiations, independence). However, there are some major plot holes that, while typical of superhero life, are troubling.

1) T'Challa's father sends him and his best friend alone to Chicago to live in a hotel like setting and attend middle school on the South Side. Who sends their middle school aged kid to live alone in Chicago without an adult? I don't think the concierge at the embassy really did much of a job filling that role, but maybe this is just how the extremely wealthy live.

2) There's a whole lot of the I have to handle this without adult support attitude going on here. Nick Fury is useless, as usual, and it basically comes down to kid superheros saving the day, but I don't like that trope when carried to extremes.

3) Gemini Jones is betrayed by his father and then vanishes -- end of story. Will he return as an arch-nemesis? Will he become an ally after he gets over his years of trauma? No info. ( )

This book is about a prince who finds himself as the leader in his tribe. As he becomes the leader, he finds trouble and has to do something about. He gets his strongest soldiers and tries to protect his tribe. Throughout the book, many challenges are presented, but he eventually wins and gets his tribe back to normal. I gave this book a 4 out of 5 because it is a good book to get kids engaged. ( )

Several novels are being written with young adult characters as the superheroes. We’ve had Wonder Woman and Batman as just two examples. This novel does the same with Black Panther. It is a 2019 Lone Star novel.

T’Challa is happy with his family and his best friend, M’Baku. M’Baku can make T’Challa push boundaries, such as run around in the forest where they aren’t supposed to be because it’s dangerous. It’s this danger that changes their lives. N’Gamo is M’Baku’s father and head of security for the Black Panther-- T’Challa’s father who is the King of Wakanda. When war looms, both of the boys are sent away to Chicago in America where they will be safe. T’Challa feels that he is abandoning his family and his people, but his duty is to obey his father. His brother, Hunter, says he’ll stay and fight while T’Challa is having fun. Obviously, some brotherly tension here!

Once they arrive in Chicago, T’Challa and M’Baku learn that American life is very different. T’Challa worries about his home. They also must keep secrets as to some of their technology, derived from the wealth of Wakanda--Vibranium. He takes everything seriously--especially the ring his father sends him with as well as a black panther suit. They learn that America is pretty nice and has a lot of freedoms. M’Baku, unbeknownst to T’Challa, has felt like he’s not important and wants this freedom to be whatever he wants. He makes snide comments and decides some bullies are more interesting than T’Challa because they are athletes. T’Challa can find new friends.

Bad things are happening at school. The guys that M’Baku are hanging around are in to some weird things--they are getting kids to swear to something. M’Baku is only allowed to use the black panther suit in an emergency. When his ring disappears, M’Baku must decide if he can trust his new American friends to help him fight evil that appears to be returning to life.

This is a short novel that’s a lot of fun to read. There’s a lot of conflict that needs to get resolved quickly with both good and bad friends helping or creating problems. I think this will be a popular book. ( )

In the beginning of the book the prince named T'Challa and his friend M'Baku are having fun when they are ordered by the Dora Milaje (the King's warriors) to go see T'Challa's father the king of Wakanda. When they both get to the king's throne T'Challa's father and M'Baku's father both tell there son's a stunning announcment. They told T'Challa and M'Baku that they would be staying in Chicago for a few days because of some trouble that's brewing in Wakanda. Later that day a big feast was held before M'Baku and T'Challa left Wakanda, then they eventually landed in Chicago a few hours later. When they landed they were taken to a embassy and then taken to South Side Middle School, there they made new friends and enemies. The next day a school something terrible happened. M'Baku betrayed T'Challa and went to go live with the school bully/warlock named Gemini. Then over the weekend T'Challa and his friends went to the school to see what was going on and found a nasty surprise. Gemini's dad had turned into a demon and T'Challa put on his Black Panther suit and deafeted him in a few blows with the help of Gemini.
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I thought this book was great because black panther is my favorite charactor and this book is all about him. As I read, I imagined that I was Black Panther, fighting along side the Avengers, deafting the villian Thanos. The fact is, I wanted this book to have more action and more adventure, but I guess the book is fine the way the author made it. Two words that describe this book would be great and amusing because this book really grabs your attention. One of the most amusing parts of the story is when T'Challa keeps bumping his head on various building ceilings, because he forgets that he can jump high. This book includes elements from three genres: action, adventure, and superhero-fiction that I love to read the most. I would really recommend this book for people who like superheros stories, especially if Black Panther is one of your farvorite Marvel characters. ( )