Rayleigh Mann in the Company of Monsters

July 31, 2023
On his birthday—the same day as All Hallows’ Eve—Black British 12-year-old Rayleigh Mann can’t wait to join his troublemaking classmates for annual trickery. After sneaking past his snoozing grandmother, who is from Jamaica, Rayleigh searches for his friends. But he can’t find them, and with London’s mandatory “Lights Out to Help Out” curfew swiftly approaching, he makes his way back to his family’s fancy high-rise apartment, only to be intercepted by a girl named Marley. She introduces him to Thelonius, a creature called a jumbie seemingly straight out of his Nana’s Caribbean monster stories. Thelonius claims to be Rayleigh’s uncle and informs the tween that he’s a monsterling, and son of the infamous Bogey Mann—a legendary “Supreme Scarer”—who’s gone missing. After agreeing to help search for his father, Rayleigh journeys to Below-London with Marley and Thelonius. On top of his quest, he must pass a series of trials, be accepted by the leader of the underworld, and settle a power struggle. In this action-packed fantasy adventure, Smart (Witches Steeped in Gold) combines organic-feeling descriptions of eerie London streets with Caribbean folklore to craft a world teeming with ghoulish scares and creepy creatures of the night. Ages 8–12.