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Jax Freeman and the Tournament of Spirits
  • Published: 4 November 2025
  • ISBN: 9781368065108
  • Imprint: Disney Publishing
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $35.00

Jax Freeman and the Tournament of Spirits

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All Aboard! The sequel to Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek has pulled into the station!

From the award-winning author of the best-selling Tristan Strong trilogy comes a magical series about a special boy who is granted summoning powers from his ancestors.

All Aboard! The sequel to Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek has pulled into the station!

From the award-winning author of the best-selling Tristan Strong trilogy comes a magical series about a special boy who is granted summoning powers from his ancestors.

Seventh grader Jackson "Jax" Freeman recently learned two important facts: one, he's a summoner—someone who can call on the magical powers of his ancestors to help him do amazing things—and two, he isn’t the only person with this ability.

After much training, Jax and four of his summoner classmates from DuSable Middle school in Chicago are thrust into a competition called the Tournament of Spirits where they'll face the most skilled summoners from around the world.

But while everyone is focused on winning, Jax is given a special side quest by the elders of the four magical families: he has to spy on each of the competitors—including his own teammates—in order to uncover who is releasing endangered, and very dangerous, cryptids into the arena.

Can Jax take the top spot in the tournament and save himself and his friends from a mysterious foe?

Kwame Mbalia's incredible imagination and world-building talents are on full display in this thrilling adventure that's packed with magic, friendship, non-stop action, and a lot of heart.
  • Published: 4 November 2025
  • ISBN: 9781368065108
  • Imprint: Disney Publishing
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $35.00

About the author

Kwame Mbalia

Kwame Mbalia is a husband, father, and New York Times bestselling author of the Tristan Strong series, for which he received a Coretta Scott King Author Honor award for Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky. Kwame also cowrote Last Gate of the Emperor with Prince Joel Makonnen and edited the instant New York Times best seller Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood. Kwame lives with his wife and children near Raleigh, North Carolina, where he is currently working on several projects—including a new middle-grade series—and cultivating cutting edge dad jokes.
KM

Also by Kwame Mbalia

Jax Freeman and the Graveyard Forest
Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek
Rick Riordan Presents: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, The Graphic Novel
Rick Riordan Presents: Tristan Strong Keeps Punching-A Tristan Strong Novel, Book 3
The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities
Black Boy Joy
Rick Riordan Presents: Tristan Strong Destroys the World-A Tristan Strong Novel, Book 2
See all

Praise for Jax Freeman and the Tournament of Spirits

Praise for Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek:

“Jax Freeman is my new best friend. I loved everything about this book—the characters, the humor, the page-turning adventure. I’m glad Kwame Mbalia is such a prolific writer because I will be bugging him for the sequel immediately.”—Rick Riordan, New York Times #1 best-selling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series

“Funny, fast-paced, and full of heart and adventure. You’ll be laughing and cheering and racing through the pages—and guessing right up to the end.”—Shannon Messenger, New York Times best-selling author of the Keeper of Lost Cities series and Sky Fall series

Praise for Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek:

“Jax Freeman is my new best friend. I loved everything about this book—the characters, the humor, the page-turning adventure. I’m glad Kwame Mbalia is such a prolific writer because I will be bugging him for the sequel immediately.” —Rick Riordan, New York Times #1 best-selling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series

“Funny, fast-paced, and full of heart and adventure. You’ll be laughing and cheering and racing through the pages—and guessing right up to the end.” —Shannon Messenger, New York Times best-selling author of the Keeper of Lost Cities series and Sky Fall series

*“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)



Praise for Jax Freeman and the Tournament of Spirits

“Fast-paced with an infectiously humorous POV, this is a thrill ride young
readers won’t want to miss.” —Booklist

“[Kwame] Mbalia expands the universe of summoners to a global one . . . but Jax’s African American culture provides the novel’s texture. Jax’s endearingly rambling, frequently comedic narration will keep kids engaged. Propulsive fun.” —Kirkus Reviews