Alabama

Alabama is where Tristans' grandparents live and where he goes to spend the first half of his summer vacation. Tristan is a "city boy" from Chicago and is not looking forward to going to his grandparents' farm in a rural region in the middle of nowhere. When Tristan arrives at the farm though and sees it with his own eyes, he feels a tug of pride for the land that has been in his family for generation. It is their territory; the Strong domain. Alabama is sprawling with nature, fields, and old interesting trees. Alabama is also where the portal to the land of Alke is. In the forest by his grandparents' farm, Tristan discovers a passageway to a land beyond his wildest imaginings.

Alke

Alke is magical land inhabited by African American folk heroes and African gods. In the novel, the portal between the human world and...