In this day and age, there seems to be a lot to talk about. There are the environmental issues around the world. There are rights and protections that seem to be in the possibility of being lost. Today we are sharing a magical middle grade novel that could lead to discussions about some of these issues. The book is The Genie Game by Jordan Ifueko. It is recommended for ages 10 to 14.
About the Book:
Harriet the Spy meets Black Mirror in The Genie Game, the start of a thrilling new middle-grade series from Jordan Ifueko, author of the New York Times bestselling fantasy Raybearer.Valentine Adesanya has two missions: 1) become a Feared and Fabulous Film Director and 2) find her missing big sister, Mango. She suspects The Trio Trust, a collection of creepy mega-companies that now rule the United States, made Mango disappear.
A text lures Valentine to a magical boba shop, which comes to life and tells Valentine she is now a GENIE: a member of the General Employee Network of Immortal Engineers, an underground workforce run by the Trio Trust. Genies may only leave their bottles to grant the wishes of mortals. With each granted wish, The Trio Trust gains more magic, and so the Trio hosts a glamorous wish-granting competition, rewarding top players with fabulous prizes. The twist?
The greedy Trio forbids genies from using magic. Genies must grant wishes using nothing but smarts, luck, and elbow grease.
To free her sister Mango and escape the Genie Game, Valentine must score more wish-granting points than any other Genie. But how did the Trio Trust get so powerful in the first place? Why is a magical monster stomping through her home city of Gloss Angeles?
And why does the Trio Trust seem so afraid of 13-year-old Valentine Adesanya?
From Me:
This book is so interesting. It is in a world where three businesses own and run the company basically. They have discovered magic wish power to create everything. To get this wish power they force people of different ages to be genies where they are stuck in their genie "bottles" or in the genie realm unless they are granting wishes. They earn a currency to improve their lives and bottles when they grant the wishes. Valentine gets a message about her long lost (and almost forgotten) sister. When she goes to find her sister, she becomes a genie and it gets really interesting. Valentine has one goal--find her sister. She hears different stories about where Vanessa may be, but Valentine wants to find her and help her. Valentine also has a true heart and is going into eighth grade. Yet she finds way to grant impossible wishes that include farm laborers who are striking for better working conditions as well as uncovering issues with the food. Many of the genies are happy to live in the magic world and think it is better than the mortal world. Valentine is not so sure. She questions things every which way and causes all sorts of issues for the owner of the company she is a genie for.
This book is the right level of creative and crazy. Valentine is fighting the monster that is trying to destroy the city and is the one who is successful. She is in eighth grade!! Other genies are much older and more experienced. The issues of three businesses running and owning much of the country and world calls into question how wealth is distributed and capitalism. The fact that children of any age can become genies calls into question labor laws. The people are taken from their lives and everyone who knows them has their memories erased of them. Then there are the food allergies. Some people live on food inhalers because they are allergic to the actual food provided. The food is grown and produced with magic and Valentine finds reasons to question it and what is truly causing the allergies. There is also the question of what the companies are doing to the Earth. The sky is now green because of the oopsies gasses they have released. Instead of planting trees they have holographic ones lining the streets of Gloss Angeles. Gloss is the name of one of the companies.
At the end of the book is the author's note which explains a bit of how the book is slightly based on real life right now. It explains how much of our food is sold by ten companies. It also explains about capitalism and how the companies need to continue growing and gaining to survive. The entire book is so interesting and a fun read. At the end I wanted more, and it definitely could lead to a second book! I would love to see this book read in classrooms where discussions could be happening about the various issues and the parallels to our society. This book can work in so many different classroom settings and has a mix of fantasy, politics, economics and more!
