Loyalty can't wait to celebrate Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms with Jamar J. Perry, Adrianna Cuevas, and Kwame Mbalia! This event is free to attend and will be held digitally via Crowdcast. Click here to register for the event. You can also order a copy of the book on our website to be automatically added to the registration list, and there will be an option to snag the book during the event.

As the true Descendant, I command to open
The door to Chidani; it shall be broken

Magic awaits those who seek the queen's peace
And all the suffering you feel will cease

Those who open the histories will hear a sound
What was lost has finally been found.

Cameron Battle grew up reading The Book of Chidani, cherishing stories about the fabled kingdom that cut itself off from the world to save the Igbo people from danger. Passed down over generations, the Book is Cameron's only connection to his parents who disappeared one fateful night, two years ago.
Ever since, his grandmother has kept the Book locked away, but it calls to Cameron. When he and his best friends Zion and Aliyah decide to open it again, they are magically transported to Chidani. Instead of a land of beauty and wonder, they find a kingdom in extreme danger, as the Queen's sister seeks to destroy the barrier between worlds. The people of Chidani have been waiting for the last Descendant to return and save them . . . is Cameron ready to be the hero they need?

Inspired by West African and Igbo history and mythology, this adventurous middle-grade fantasy debut perfect for fans of Aru Shah and Tristan Strong celebrates the triumphs and challenges of a boy finding his truth path to greatness.

Dr. Jamar J. Perry is a debut author who received his PhD in Literacy Education, Language, Culture, and Social Inquiry from the University of Maryland, College Park. Before, he taught middle school Language Arts for four years, where the majority of the students were Black boys. Now, his work centers Black boy vulnerable and progressive masculinity and focuses on training English instructors to teach these students in the middle school and high school classroom. Like Cameron, he hopes that one day all Black boys can understand how magical and joyful they really are, no matter how different they may feel.

Adrianna Cuevas is the author of the Pura Belpre honor book The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez, Cuba in My Pocket, and The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto. She is a first-generation Cuban-American originally from Miami, Florida. A former Spanish and ESOL teacher, Adrianna currently resides in Austin, Texas with her husband and son. When not working with TOEFL students, wrangling multiple pets including an axolotl, and practicing fencing with her son, she is writing her next middle grade novel.

Kwame Mbalia is a husband, father, writer, a New York Times bestselling author, and a former pharmaceutical metrologist in that order. His debut middle-grade novel, Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, was awarded a Coretta Scott King Author Honor, and it—along with the sequels Tristan Strong Destroys the World and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching—is published by Rick Riordan Presents/Disney-Hyperion. He is the co-author of Last Gate of the Emperor with Prince Joel Makonnen, from Scholastic Books, and the editor of the #1 New York Times bestselling anthology Black Boy Joy, published by Delacorte Press. A Howard University graduate and a Midwesterner now in North Carolina, he survives on Dad jokes and Cheezits.

Please note Loyalty has a zero tolerance policy for harassment or intimidation of any kind during this virtual event.

Jamar J. Perry, Adrianna Cuevas, and Kwame Mbalia for CAMERON BATTLE AND THE HIDDEN KINGDOMS