Hoodoo
A 1930s Alabama boy who cannot cast spells must confront a mysterious stranger bringing dark magic to his town. Southern Gothic middle grade at its finest — steeped in folk magic, African American history, and the specific dread of a child who knows something is wrong but has no one to tell. Praised as Stephen King meets Zora Neale Hurston. The book that introduced Ronald Smith to the world of middle grade fiction.
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky
A boy from Chicago accidentally tears a hole in the sky and falls into a world where African American folk heroes and West African gods are real. Bold, inventive, and deeply rooted in Black cultural tradition.
The Jumbies
A girl who doesn't believe in jumbies — the scary spirits of Caribbean folklore — must face one to save her family. Rooted in Trinidadian tradition, creepy in the best possible way, and a landmark in diverse middle grade horror.
The Mesmerist
In Victorian London, a girl named Jessamine discovers she can read minds and is recruited by a secret society to fight necromantic evil. Ronald Smith's second novel proves he can move between settings — American South to foggy Victorian London — without losing any of the atmospheric dread that defines his work.
Where Hoodoo drew on African American folk tradition, The Mesmerist reaches into the spiritualist craze of the 1880s — séances, mesmerism, the Victorian obsession with communicating with the dead — and places a Black girl at the center of that history.
Maya and the Rising Dark
A girl discovers she is the daughter of the Orisha of death and must stop the Lord of Darkness from merging the dark world with her own. Afrocentric mythology, genuine stakes, and a protagonist who earns her power.
Black Panther: The Young Prince
T'Challa, age 12, is sent from Wakanda to an American school — keeping his identity secret while confronting racism, bullying, and a mystical threat. Ronald Smith's Marvel debut showed that licensed fiction could be literature, and that T'Challa deserved a childhood story as complex as his adult mythology.
The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away
A boy convinced he has been abducted by aliens navigates trauma, belief, and the question of what is real. Ronald Smith moves into speculative sci-fi territory while maintaining his gift for atmospheric unease and the specific inner life of a child who sees the world differently than the adults around him.
More Voices in Diverse Middle Grade Speculative Fiction
The Awards That Shape the Field
Recognizes outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults. The John Steptoe New Talent Author Award — won by Ronald Smith for Hoodoo in 2016 — honors debut authors of exceptional promise. The most important recognition in diverse Black children's literature.
A nonprofit advocacy organization and publisher of anthologies including The Hero Next Door — featuring a story by Ronald Smith. Their work has transformed how publishers, librarians, and educators think about representation in children's books.
The most distinguished contribution to American literature for children, awarded annually by the American Library Association. Many of the most important diverse middle grade novels of the past decade have received Newbery recognition — reflecting a significant shift in what the field recognizes as excellence.
Teaching Diverse Speculative Fiction
Teaching Hoodoo: Themes, History, and Discussion Questions
A teacher's guide to Ronald Smith's award-winning debut — connecting the novel's 1930s Alabama setting to the history of the Great Depression, African American folk tradition, and the literary tradition from which it emerges.
HarperCollins Educator Resources →Booking Ronald Smith for School Visits
Ronald Smith offers in-person and virtual school visits through The Author Village — covering his books, his writing process, the importance of reading, and how imagination can take you anywhere. His visits are especially resonant for middle grade readers encountering speculative fiction for the first time.
The Author Village →Building a Diverse Speculative Fiction Collection for Middle Grades
A practical guide for school and public librarians building collections that reflect diverse experiences and traditions — using award lists, WNDB resources, and review sources to identify the strongest titles across multiple genres and traditions.
We Need Diverse Books →