Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Tristan Strong #1)

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky is a 2019 middle grade fantasy-adventure novel written by Kwame Mbalia. Published under the "Rick Riordan Presents" imprint, the novel is focused on African American folktales and West African mythology. The story follows teenager Tristan Strong, who is struggling with guilt after his best friend's death. Tristan accidentally creates a rift that transports him to Alke, a parallel world where myths are real, and must survive the evil forces that threaten Alke's people and discover his own abilities. Like many of the other works in the "Rick Riordan Presents" imprint, the book, which is the first in Mbalia's Tristan Strong series, has been praised for its diverse representation of characters and mythological deities, as well as its plot and character development.