Publishers Weekly
★ 08/01/2022
Newbery Medalist Alexander’s gripping historical novel in verse, a trilogy opener rooted in the Asante Kingdom in 1860, centers 11-year-old Kofi Offin—a child deeply connected to water. In early, lyrical chapters that evoke a dreamlike childhood, Kofi lives with his family in Upper Kwanta, where he swims in the river that is his namesake, engages with best mate Ebo, crushes on longtime friend Ama, and listens to the tales of his village-storyteller grandfather, Nana Mosi—who details “the past/ like it lives/ in him,/ like it still matters.” He also clashes with his cousin, a bully, and Mr. Goodluck Phillip, the schoolteacher imparting “the Queen’s English” and Shakespeare to students speaking their native Twi. When an annual festival pits wrestlers from Upper and Lower Kwanta against one another, and Kofi’s older brother, Kwasi, is set to represent their village, an unexpected death sets off a series of tragedies that upend Kofi’s world. Interweaving moments of joyful exuberance and heartbreaking sadness via sensate lines by turns sweet and stinging, Alexander’s sweeping novel conjures a captivating, resonant world of African tradition, life, and ancestral wisdom. Ages 10–up. Agent: Arielle Eckstut, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
"Absolutely spellbinding: Kwame Alexander weaves together storytelling, poetry, music and history like no one else can. An unforgettable journey to be treasured and shared across generations.”—Rick Riordan, New York Times bestselling author of the Percy Jackson series
“Kwame Alexander's story, The Door of No Return, humanizes the experience of the people who knew the flavors of freedom long before they knew the sting of slavery. Alexander lures you in and endears you to Kofi and his world in a way that has you fully invested in time and place. Alexander seems to trust the heaviness of history to hold its own, and so he is able to tell a story with such a lightness of foot which only further emphasizes that weight of history that is undeniable and irrevocable. His writing is at once vivid and simple, lyrical and surgical, expressive and exacting, comforting and cutting. It hypnotizes and sobers, hypnotizes and sobers, in a rhythm as timeless as the talking drum that carries the tales of his people: Kum-PUM PUM! Kum-PUM PUM! I wish this book existed alongside Huckleberry Finn when I was in school. I am glad it exists now!” —Lupita Nyong’o, Actress and Author
"Alexander turns the nightmare of the past into an epic story for all times and all people. The Door of No Return is a breathtaking, heartbreaking triumph and an instant classic."—Lev Grossman, New York Times bestselling author of The Magicians
School Library Journal
★ 09/01/2022
Gr 5 Up—The beginning of a planned trilogy set in western Africa in 1860, the latest offering from Newbery winner Alexander introduces readers to Kofi Offin. His experiences are a window to what life would have been like for a boy growing up in that specific place and time. He has a crush on Ama. He loves his grandfather's stories. He has learned English in school but speaks Twi with his family and friends. His cousin bullies him and he challenges him to a swimming race. When Kofi's brother accidentally kills his opponent in a wrestling match, the gentle verse narrative is disrupted because the family of the dead wrestler captures Kofi and his brother. They take them away from their village to the coast; Kofi goes through the door of no return and is put on a boat where things get very bad very quickly. The cliff-hanger ensures that future volumes will tackle the rest of Kofi's story. Books with enslaved main characters certainly exist in juvenile fiction, but the reality of the transatlantic slave trade hasn't been so adeptly captured for young readers to date. This important book is ideal for classroom discussion; shelve alongside Sharon Draper's Copper Sun and Julius Lester's Day of Tears. VERDICT Told in Alexander's lyrical and masterly style, this gritty and compelling novel of Kofi's life should be included in all library collections that serve young readers.—Kristin L. Anderson
JULY 2022 - AudioFile
British Ghanaian performer Kobna Holdbrooke-Smith lends his vocal talents to this trilogy opener, which finds 11-year-old Kofi thrust through the titular door into the Middle Passage. Before this happens, however, listeners are immersed in Kofi’s rich, full life in the Asante village of Upper Kwanta, where he navigates friendship, rivalry, school, and a crush. Modulating easily among characters, Holdbrooke-Smith’s protean voice evokes the pompous tones of Kofi’s teacher, the plummy accents of his British captors, the indifferent nasality of the American seaman who counts him aboard the slaver, and Kofi’s every emotion along the way. The text’s free-verse line breaks are largely inaudible; where they are heard, as when Kofi reluctantly, word by word, tries to stop time in the moment before his capture, the effect is haunting. V.S. 2023 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2022-06-08
A boy’s life is turned upside down following a wrestling match in West Africa’s Asante Kingdom in 1860.
Eleven-year-old Kofi Offin loves his family, admires his friend Ama, and tries to avoid his bully of a cousin. Kofi’s teacher, Mr. Goodluck Phillip, who canes him for speaking Twi, is convinced the students must learn the Queen’s English, but Kofi prefers the stories of Nana Mosi, his grandfather and the village storyteller. The place he truly feels at home is the river, where he practices swimming and dreams of defeating his cousin in a race. But before that can happen, all attention turns to the Kings Festival, which features highly anticipated wrestling contests against representatives from their rival village. This year, Kofi’s older brother, Kwasi, has been chosen to compete. During the match, Kwasi accidentally kills Prince Yaw Boateng, his opponent and the nephew of the King of Lower Kwanta, changing the direction of their lives when the king retaliates. The immediacy of this verse novel places readers alongside Kofi, thriving as a young boy surrounded by family love and legacy before being abruptly snatched from all he has known. Alexander’s rich language is lyrical and haunting as the water, long a source of comfort for Kofi, becomes full of uncertainty and danger.
A riveting, not-to-be-missed trilogy opener that will leave readers invested in what is to come. (glossary) (Verse historical fiction. 10-18)
