I read these because CBR told me to, actually. I asked my sister if the Best Niece in Australia had read them, and she’d never heard of it, so I took it upon myself to read and recommend in turn.
My fellow CBR-er was correct – these are really good.
Amari’s brother is missing. He told the family he’d found a job right out of school, and then bam! gone. Their family is from “the wrong side of the tracks,” so everyone assumes he’s run away for Reasons. (Reasons: Amari and her family are not white, and people are shitty and awful.)
One night, Amari gets a delivery from her brother, and finds out he’s been off in MagicWorld (generic description mine). And he’s recommended her for an internship, too. Thus begins a kind of painful fish out of water storyline. Amari was already a scholarship kid, so she’s used to it… but it still sucks.
Without further spoilers, I love this world. I love it for Best Niece, too. Amari is an outsider who insists on doing The Right Thing, regardless of how things are “supposed” to be done.
Book Two was a little less successful for me, in the same way that Umbridge was a bridge too far for me in Harry Potter. There’s a level of very real despair in powerful people stepping on the little guy that hits wrong for me in a kids book.
I am, however, very confident that Amari will prevail in the upcoming Book Three, and I am looking forward to reading it.