#bbalston — Public Fediverse posts

My family has been fans of BB Alston's Amari series since we listened to the audiobook of the first book a few years ago. We're reading through the 3rd in the series right now.

I can't say enough good things about this series!

I adore Alston's writing style but in particular his dialogue. It's so authentic. You can't write a book about a southern Black girl but write her dialogue like she's a white kid from the Midwest.

We honestly missed a really, really fun gem of foreshadowing in the 3rd book because it's wordplay that only really works with particular accents. But with a little knowledge of how AAVE speakers sometimes emphasize different syllables than "standard" (white) American English speakers the pieces fall into place for a fantastic setup.

The books are filled with this kind of authenticity. Alston occasionally eschews "correct" (white) grammar in such a way that the first person perspective of the books really works. I would absolutely believe that the series was a memoir written by a Black girl from Atlanta.

Anyhow, go read these books!

https://www.bbalston.com/books/

#Bookstodon #Books #BBAlston #Amari #Fantasy #MGFantasy