genies

The Genie Game by Jordan Ifueko – Book Recommendation

| Tasha
Cover image for The Genie Game by Jordan Ifueko, featuring a Black girl in a beret and sparkling dress, a red-headed girl in an orange hoodie, and a boy wearing glasses with colored orbs floating near them and a cityscape behind them.

The Genie Game by Jordan Ifueko

  • Publisher: Amulet Books
  • Publication Date: April 21, 2026
  • Reviewed from Netgalley e-galley
  • ISBN: 9781419764370

Valentine hadn’t even realized that her family had forgotten her older sister until she received a message from her. Suddenly Valentine could remember her big sister, Mango and how much they loved and supported one another. Mango was the only person to tell her not to grow up too fast even as their parents pushed them both to get good jobs with one of the three powerful companies that run the United States. When Valentine follows the message her sister sent her, she ends up trapped in the Genie Game where she must now work to grant wishes to people in order to win her freedom. The game gathers magic but doesn’t allow the genies working for them to use it. Can Valentine win not only her freedom but also find Mango and rescue her too?

This incredibly compelling story creates a future United States entirely ruled by three corporations. The game itself is inventive and unlike anything I’ve seen in a novel before. Valentine manages to skirt the rules, use them against the game itself, and find unlikely allies as she works to win the season. Along the way, readers will see our modern world reflected back, including loss of autonomy, the need to grow up too fast and the pressures young people are facing. It is all presented in a book that is compellingly written with an impeccably built diverse world. 

A great new middle grade fantasy series full of modern magic. Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Review: Emma and the Blue Genie by Cornelia Funke

| Tasha

emma and the blue genie

Emma and the Blue Genie by Cornelia Funke, illustrations by Kerstin Meyer

Emma often spends her nights out by the sea with her dog, away from her pesky brothers.  One night she finds a bottle floating in the waves and opens it to discover Karim, a very small blue genie inside.   Karim has had most of his magic stolen away when Sarim, the huge yellow genie, stole his nose ring and trapped him in the bottle.  Now Karim has to head back to avenge himself and to save the kingdom from the evil rule of Sarim.  Emma decides to go with him and she sets off aboard his magic carpet for the kingdom of Barakash.  There, she is quickly caught up in the battle against Sarim, but once he sees her yellow hair, he immediately takes her prisoner.  There’s not much that a girl can do to escape from an evil genie who keeps you in a cage, but all is not lost when you have a blue genie and a brave dog on your side!

Funke has written a wonderfully original book for young readers.  The Middle Eastern setting comes alive as Emma walks through the busy castle on her way to see the young king.  Funke incorporates many references to the desert into people’s vernacular, even more firmly setting this book in a specific place.  Emma is a great female character, filled with plenty of gumption and not scared of much.  She doesn’t shrink away from anything in the book, enjoying flying on a magic carpet, seeing new places and having wild adventures.

The illustrations are in full color and add a lot of life to the book.  Used differently from one page to the next, they add a dynamic piece to the book design.  The differences between the two genies could not be more clearly shown, with the calm blue and the wild yellow.  Meyer also manages to show the opulence without things becoming too busy and overwhelming for the eye. 

Fun and original, this book will share aloud well with a class and will be an inviting pick for children reading chapter books.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from e-galley received from Random House Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss.

Review: The Fire Wish by Amber Lough

| Tasha

fire wish

The Fire Wish by Amber Lough

The war between the jinnis and the humans has been going on for years.  Najwa is a young jinni who is being specially trained in covert operations and visiting the human world.  Zayele is a human, selected to marry a  prince whom she’s never met.  When the two of them meet, Zayele makes a wish on Najwa and switches their places.  Now Zayele is the jinni, living among other jinnis in the crystal caves under the earth and Najwa is the human, heading for marriage to a prince.  The two must keep themselves secret, both knowing that they will be killed by the people around them if they are discovered.  But war and love make everything more complicated and the two discover secrets about themselves and their worlds that will change everything.

Lough’s debut novel is the first in a series.  It intelligently combines the author’s experience in the deserts of the Middle East with the fantasy elements of jinnis and wishes.  The setting is vividly depicted, both the crystal caverns of the jinnis with the lakes of dancing flame and the desert world of the humans are well drawn.  The differing cultures juxtapose clearly against one another, each with different freedoms and neither considered wrong or right.  There is a lot of respect for cultures in this novel.

The two main protagonists are also nicely different from one another.  While Najwa is a character who is very likeable and easily related to, Zayele serves as her foil.  Najwa worries more for her entire people while Zayele makes choices that focus more on herself and her situation.  Neither character would completely work without the other there too and both display nice and natural growth as the story progresses.  The book also has an element of romance to it, it too is handled with a natural pace and progression.

A strong debut book that is a tantalizing blend of romance, magic and wishes.  Appropriate for ages 13-15.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House Children’s Books.