The Genie Game

Gr 5-9–The latest work by Ifueko continues to confirm her fantasy worldbuilding and character development expertise. This first volume of a new trilogy introduces readers to Nigerian American Valentine Adesanya, 13, who quickly becomes enmeshed in an underground world of magic and business tycoons as she searches for Vanessa, the sister that the world insists does not exist. In ­Valentine’s world, the sky is green and everything is owned by one of three corporations collectively known as the Trio Trust: Bumblebell Foods, Gloss & Gleam Beauty, and Farafyte Technologies. When Valentine receives a text purportedly from Vanessa asking her to meet, she hopes to reunite with her sister but instead discovers an underground world run by the General Employee Network of Immortal Engineers (G.E.N.I.E.) who all report to the Trio Trust. Valentine learns that the wishes granted by the bottled (trapped) genies is what has been powering her entire world under the guidance of the corporations. Valentine agrees to participate in the genie games, using anything but magic to grant people’s wishes, when she learns that her sister was once involved. In her mission to locate her sister, Valentine quickly rises to the top of the leader board while embarking on side quests that deftly touch on environmental and social justice issues, consumerism, and Artificial Intelligence concerns. Valentine’s driving motivation to find ­Vanessa is answered by the end, but other concepts arise, promising future adventures.