The Druid Scholar

Bumps in the Night by Amalie Howard is a fantastic middle grade fiction book set in Trinidad and Tobago about a young witch discovering her lineage and coming into her power to save her family and the world. Bumps in the Night explores the folklore of Trinidad and Tobago in a way that is both incredibly fun and packed with urgency. Human destruction of the natural environment has led to the corruption of magic and power on the island and only the Lovelace Trinity (maiden, mother, crone) can save the world from the wrath of Bazil, a powerful demon trapped in a silk cotton tree. Darika, or Rika for short, must overcome his trials while learning how to utilize the power within her. This book has strong themes of environmentalism, family, friendship, and overcoming adversity and is an excellent read for older children and tweens.

Folklore is a passion of mine, and folklore is inherently tied to place and culture. Bumps in the Night is a story that couldn’t take place anywhere else because the lore is so intricately tied to the island. And yet, how we treat the land anywhere has its ripple effects around the world, connected as we are to each other in the age of global commerce. It is easy to see how a godly figure could become tainted to the point of revenge in the face of current global catastrophe. But this book has an important message: change begins one person at a time. One kinder act, one moment of forgiveness and empathy, one sustainable choice in micro. One choice builds onto the next and so on until we create a better society, one connection to another.

Ok, so it’s not exactly speedrunning to a sustainable future, but in the grand scheme of things, the smaller steps often matter much more than the giant leaps.

“In scary situations, small steps are the answer. No matter how little, it’s better than nothing. Small steps.”

Amalie Howard. Bumps in the Night (Kindle Locations 3231-3232). Kindle Edition.

My favorite thing about this book was Rika’s magic. Every character is so well crafted that their magic makes sense. The Minders are elemental, and their attitudes reflect their elements, at least in my opinion. It isn’t totally clear what kind of magic Rika’s mother and grandmother have, but Rika’s talent is art. She is only in Trinidad for the summer because she got in trouble for vandalizing her school by painting on the walls. At her grandmother’s home, she paints a magical mural without realizing what it is she has truly done. Her grandmother, it is clear, understands early on what kind of magic it is that Darika wields, providing her with a small pot of paint that ultimately enables her to defeat Bazil.

For most of the time she spends in the maze, Rika doesn’t have much of a conception of her own powers. She had spent most of her time struggling with trying to make anything happen, often with antagonism from Monique, one of the Minders with a grudge against Rika from their younger days. It’s Piku, her iguana familiar, who pushes her to understand what power she holds, and once she does, it changes her whole perspective on herself.

“I’m not a flop or a dud. I just have a different kind of magic than the Minders do, one rooted in creativity.”

Amalie Howard. Bumps in the Night (Kindle Location 3009). Kindle Edition.

What I loved about this is the fact that every person alive is unique, and we each have unique ways in which we can be successful in the modern world. Often, we find ourselves in a battle with comparison, the thief of joy. It’s only by eschewing our need to succeed the same way others do that we can truly discover and explore what is great about ourselves.

While this book appears to be a standalone, I could easily see this becoming a thrilling series should Howard wish to pursue such a thing. Though the story neatly tied all of its edges together, I believe it could easily be opened back up again, though hopefully Piku the iguana will forget all the slang Rika taught him by then.

For youngers readers of horror, this book is for you if you like Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston, The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste, and Root Magic by Eden Royce.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC.