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About the Author
ANGIE THOMAS was born and raised in Mississippi, but now calls Atlanta her home. She is a former teen rapper whose greatest accomplishment was an article about her in Right-On Magazine with a picture included. Angie Thomas holds a BFA in Creative Writing from Belhaven University and an unofficial degree in Hip Hop. She can also still rap if needed. When she isn’t writing Angie spends her days as a minion to her puppy, Kobe.
Angie Thomas was an inaugural winner of the Walter Dean Myers Grant in 2015, awarded by We Need Diverse Books. Her award-winning, acclaimed debut novel, The Hate U Give, is a #1 New York Times bestseller and major motion picture from Fox 2000. Her second novel, On the Come Up, is also #1 NYT bestseller, as well as a film produced by Paramount. In 2020, Angie released Find Your Voice: A Guided Journal to Writing Your Truth as a tool to help aspiring writers tell their stories. In 2021, Angie returned to the top of the NYT bestseller list with Concrete Rose, a prequel to The Hate U Give.
Her latest work, Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy, is the first in a series aimed at young readers, as well as Angie’s first foray into the fantasy genre. Another #1 NYT best seller, it follows twelve-year-old Nic Blake, who finds herself immersed in a magical world heavily influenced by Black history and folklore. A film adaptation is forthcoming with Angie helming the script and producing.
About the Book
Nic Blake just wants to master her Manifestor magic, but her dad’s secret identity, alleged crimes, absent mom, and a mysterious prophecy keep getting in the way.
It’s not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool—like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much—like not being trusted to learn magic because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbor. All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad, but he insists she is not ready to learn yet.
After years of moving from place to place with her father, Nic is finally beginning to feel at home in Jackson, especially as her best friend JP lives next door. But then, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she’s never heard of…to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed.
Internationally bestselling superstar author Angie Thomas makes her middle grade debut with the launch of this inventive, hilarious, and suspenseful new contemporary-fantasy-trilogy inspired by African American history and folklore. This book expertly weaves a fantasy world around Black US history and sheds new light on racial power struggles and responsibility in today’s America.
Resources/Teaching Ideas
Educators Guide, produced by Harper Stacks
Discussion questions
Activity - pair novel with picture-book The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales, by Virginia Hamilton
Writing prompt - the novel ends on a cliffhanger; have students write their own ending or predict events that will happen in the sequel
Research extension - research a figure from Black folktales
CBS Mornings Interview with Angie Thomas, on writing Nic Blake and the Remarkables
Audiobook Sample, narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt; excellent audiobook, especially helpful for learning pronunciations for African folklore terms and names
Discussion Questions from Unleashing Readers:
How does Nic deal with her life turning upside down? What does this tell you about her character?
How does the author intertwine history within her fantasy novel? What do you think her purpose of doing this is?
What folklore influences Thomas’s story?
What are the different character traits of the trio? How do they complement each other? How do the three of them compare/contrast to the original trio of Nic’s mom, dad, and godfather?
How does Nic’s story compare to the hero’s journey?
Anikefoundation.org - online collection African Folktales
@TalesByMoonlightAnike - YouTube channel with several animated African Folktales
https://nicblake.com/ is Angie Thomas's website specifically for this novel
Has fun illustrations of characters and a bookmark
Social Media
Instagram: @AngieThomas
Google Sites
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