I am thrilled to announce that The Blazing Star won an honorable mention in the North Street Book Prize. The third annual North Street Book Prize honored self-published books of fiction, memoir, and creative nonfiction, and received over 350 entries. The contest shared its winning review of The Blazing Star below.
“Imani Josey’s The Blazing Star is a paranormal Young Adult novel with strong female characters who share complicated bonds of love and rivalry. The book opens at a high school in contemporary Chicago where Portia, the narrator, struggles to individuate from her fraternal twin sister, academic superstar Alexandria. Their teacher shows them Egyptian artifacts that magically transport the twins and a classmate to ancient Egypt, where Portia discovers her paranormal powers. The girls ally with priestesses in the temple of Isis to resist an evil magician who is plotting a royal coup. Portia’s budding romance with the young Pharaoh ends the book on a cliffhanger for the next installment of the series.
The girls’ adventures were suspenseful and their emotions were realistic for their age group. Though they were smart and resourceful, they were clearly still teenagers, unable to resist irreverent jokes and immature jealousy at times. Magic is not an easy solution to problems here: using their powers takes a physical toll on Portia and other characters with paranormal abilities, raising the stakes for their decisions under pressure. The book makes a positive contribution by depicting women with a variety of well-delineated personalities and ages, working together to save Egypt from chaos.”
For more information, please check out the Winning Writers website.