About This Book:
Pick a book. Grow a Reader! This series is part of Scholastic’s early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!
Kwame and his friends are excited to participate in the Nkonyaa Games — a series of magic competitions! As the games begin, a mysterious new teacher named Elder Z arrives. Soon after, a spell is cast on two students, trapping them in stone. And no one knows how to break it! The evil Boni calabash tells Kwame he must enter the Cursed Realm to save his classmates. But can Kwame trust the green calabash? And who cast the forbidden spell? Could it have been Elder Z?
*Review Contributed by Olivia Farr, Staff Reviewer*
CURSE OF THE AKOMA STONE is an engaging chapter book fantasy. Kwame is excited for the upcoming Nkonyaa Games, and even more excited when he gets selected to compete. After his friends are turned into statues, Kwame will need to keep his wits about him as he figures out how to help them and who to trust.
What I loved: This is a fast-paced and engaging fantasy read. The story is one that young readers can relate to with Kwame looking forward to a competition, wanting to help his friends, and deciding who he can trust along the way. Of course, this also has lots of magic and a curse that add to the fun of the read and bring it to another level.
As a Branches book, there are illustrations on every page. This helps to break up the text and make the reading experience more enjoyable as independent readers can take a break to check out the images and bring additional context to the story. The illustrations are black and white, but they are full of detail and expressive characters that make them really fantastic throughout.
The font is a little larger and the story is broken into relatively short chapters, which is also helpful for independent chapter book readers. This one is a bit longer and has a lot of novel words with names/places that will help to stretch and advance children’s reading skills.
Final verdict: With a consuming story and detailed illustrations, CURSE OF THE AKOMA STONE is a fast-paced and entertaining chapter book that will work well for independent readers who are beginning to advance.
*Find More Info & Buy This Book HERE!*
