The Battle and The Jumbie God's Revenge

Riazi, Karuna. The Battle (The Gauntlet #2)
August 27th 2019 by Salaam Reads / Simon &aSchuster Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Ahmad has just gotten into a lot of trouble in school for leaving detention and retrieving a package from the office. The package is addressed to him and is from his older sister, Farah, who is off at college. He didn't actually take it; another student, Winnie, delivered it to him. After she tells the assembled teachers and administrators this, they let Ahamd off, even though he is usually in big trouble for something or other. When Ahmad and Winnie walk home together, they look at the game and suddenly get sucked into the world of Paheli. Winnie has seen Ahmad draw pictures of this, so is excited to see that it's real. The Master Mind, at the behest of the Architect, has frozen New York City, and Ahmad must go into the world of the game before it will be unfrozen. In the time since he and his sister were in the game, it has been upgraded, and there are lots and lots of problems with the code. They find out a little about this from Tim Salt, but spend most of their time working on the challenges that the game, The Battle, sets for them. They meet people from the former incarnation of the game who aren't happy with the way things are going, and complete all of the challenges... only to find that it isn't enough to release them. A new form of evil is in charge of the game. Can Ahmad and Winnie use their wiles to defeat it?
Strengths: Like The Gauntlet, this has a lot of action and adventure, and this time, it is video game based. That's always a plus. Winnie and Ahmad get to save Machi men, battle rats, go through several mazes, drive space cars, and do all sorts of fun and exciting things in their challenges.
Weaknesses: There aren't as many cultural references, which I really liked in the first book, and I vastly preferred Farah as a main character to Ahmad.
What I really think: The first book has not circulated well even though I am constantly pushing it-- I think the cover doesn't appeal to my reader. I may not purchase this one unless I can get students to read The Gauntlet a bit more.

Baptiste, Tracey. The Jumbie God's Revenge.(The Jumbies #3)
September 3rd 2019 by Algonquin Young Readers
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

So many great fantasies have come out since #WNDB started in 2014! I'm a bit behind of reviews now that school has started, but make sure you don't miss this one!

From Goodreads.com
"In book three of the popular Jumbies series, Corinne must use her emerging supernatural powers to battle the angry god who would destroy her Caribbean island home.

When an out-of-season hurricane sweeps through Corinne’s seaside village, Corinne knows it’s not a typical storm. At first Corinne believes Mama D’Leau—the powerful and cruel jumbie who rules the ocean—has caused the hurricane. Then a second, even more ferocious storm wrecks the island, sending villagers fleeing their houses for shelter in the mountains, and Corinne discovers the storms weren’t caused by a jumbie, but by the angry god Huracan.

Now Corinne, with the help of her friends and even some of her enemies, must race against time to find out what has angered Huracan and try to fix it before her island home is destroyed forever."

Do you think I can partner with Lands End and make some money? Be a spokesperson or something? Their clothing makes up a large portion of my wardrobe, but I always get the items at the thrift store, so they're not exactly making money off me! They do have lovely cardigans!