FREEDOM FIRE PRESENTS
JAX FREEMAN AND THE PHANTOM SHRIEK
★ “With Jax’s humor and wit shining even in the darkest moments, fans of Tristan Strong and magic-school stories will want this one on their shelves.” —Booklist, starred review
Summary
What do you get when you combine Kwame Mbalia’s incredible imagination
and world-building talent with trains, history, and ghosts? Nothing less
than middle grade magic. On his twelfth birthday, Jackson “Jax”
Freeman arrives at Chicago’s Union Station alone, carrying nothing but
the baggage of a scandal back in Raleigh. He’s been sent away from home
to live with relatives he barely knows. But even worse are the strangers
who accost him at the train station, including a food vendor who throws
dust in his face and a conductor who tries to steal his skin. At
his new school, Jax is assigned to a special class for “summoners,”
even though he has no idea what those are . . . until he accidentally
unleashes an angry spirit on school grounds. Soon Jax is embroiled in
all kinds of trouble, from the disappearance of a new friend to full-out
war between summoning families. When Jax learns that he isn’t
the first Freeman to be blamed for a tragedy he didn’t create, he
resolves to clear his own name and that of his great-grandfather, who
was a porter back in the 1920’s. By following clues, Jax and his
schoolmates unlock the secrets of a powerful Praise House, evade
vengeful ghosts, and discover that Jax may just be the most talented
summoner of all. A unique magic-school fantasy from the
best-selling and award-winning author of the Tristan Strong trilogy has
just pulled into the station.