The Manifestor Prophecy, the first book in Angie Thomas’ keenly anticipated Nic Blake and the Remarkables series, is an exhilarating ride of super-charged family magic, friendship, African American history and fantasy adventure, with a wonderful heroine driving the action to overcome injustices. Sharing the inspirational message that power comes from within, it feels both fresh and timeless, and brings zing to the Middle Grade fantasy landscape.
Nic has just turned twelve and been gifted a hellhound, Cocoa, for her birthday. She’s also a Remarkable who lives with her dad in the Unremarkable world, which makes for a tricky existence. As a Remarkable and a Manifestor, Nic has powers she hopes to hone to become as special as her dad. As Nic explains, “although we Manifestors are born with the Gift inside of us, we still have to learn how to use it”. And, as Dad explains, “nothing about any Black people started with slavery. For us Manifestors, the Gift was first given to our ancestors, the Wallinzi, in Africa”. Moreover, as Nic’s Uncle Ty shares, “The beauty of the Gift is that it helps us when we need it. It knew that our ancestors needed to fly and it helped them to do so”.
Through a speedily unfolding plot and escalating sense of peril, Nic is subjected to shocking blasts from her past as secrets come to light about her family. Why has her dad been lying, and who’s stolen the magical Msaidizi, a powerful weapon that “changes form to be whatever the person it answers needs it to be”? When Dad is imprisoned for a crime he definitely didn’t commit, Nic steps up to the plate and uses her gift to take flight, as her ancestors did before her.
Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy Synopsis
Internationally bestselling superstar author Angie Thomas makes her middle grade debut with the launch of a new contemporary fantasy trilogy inspired by African American history and folklore.
It's not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool - like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much - like not being trusted to learn magic because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbour.
All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad. But before she has a chance to convince him to teach her the gift, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she's never heard of... to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed.
A fast-paced, epic rollercoaster of a fantasy adventure, Nic Blake and the Remarkables shares much of what readers love about Angie’s writing – young people standing up for what they believe in, taking their destiny into their own hands, and finding the power within.
“I hope you leave Nic Blake’s world wanting to make ours resemble it a bit more. And just like Nic, you realize that you already have the magic you need to do it.” - Angie Thomas
'The phrase “voice of a generation” is surely one of the most overused in popular culture. Angie Thomas, however, is one of the rare authors for whom it rings true.' - The I
'No one else writes like Angie' - The Guardian
'Utterly compelling' - Sunday Times
'Pure magic' - The Observer
Author
About Angie Thomas
Angie Thomas was born and raised in a tough neighbourhood in Jackson, Mississippi where gunshots were a frequent refrain. The library became her sanctuary; a place where she could escape into fantastical, magical worlds.
“I still remember the first time I travelled to Narnia, the first time I met Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which; the first time I rode a broom with the boy with the lightning scar.”
Yet these magical worlds never included girls who looked like her; or reflected her culture. It led her to believe that books weren’t for kids like her. She knew then that she didn’t want any other child to feel that way. She pursued a writing career and was the first Black teenager to graduate from her creative writing course at Belhaven University. Struggling to secure an agent with her work-in-progress, Angie turned her pen to YA and contemporary stories inspired by true events.
Her debut novel The Hate U Give was published to critical and commercial acclaim around the globe – it launched straight to No.1 on the New York Times bestseller list and has remained on the list since the book’s publication in 2017. In the UK, it was an Amazon No.1 bestseller, and was awarded the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, British Book Awards’ Children’s Book of the Year and the Amnesty CILIP Honour for the Carnegie Medal. An award-winning film adaptation was released in 2018, starring Amandla Stenberg. Her second novel On The Come Up was inspired by her time as a teen rapper, and is also a New York Times bestseller and film, released in 2022 and available to stream on Paramount+.
Angie founded A Tough ACT Productions to bring Black Girl Magic and Black Boy Joy to screens and was a producer on both The Hate U Give and On The Come Up adaptations. She is also the author of Concrete Rose (2021), a prequel to The Hate U Give, and Blackout (2021), co-authored with Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon.
