The Oracle's Door, by Zetta Elliott

The Oracle's Door, by Zetta Elliott (September 14, 2024), is a prequel to her Dragons in a Bag series, and though it stands on its own, it will bring most joy to readers already familiar with the magical world of Palmara!

In Dragons in a Bag, we meet Ma, the most powerful witch in Brooklyn, through the eyes of her grandson Jaxon.  Now we get to meet her when she was Vinny Robinson, living in the South Side of Chicago in 1919, pushing back against her mother's efforts to keep her spunkiness and curiosity in check.  And we journey with her and her best friend L. Roy Jenkins through magical portals into the beautiful land of Palmara, where they meet Sis, its draconic guardian, and try to save a newly hatched (and adorable) dragon.  

Though this is all wonderful, the baby dragon is failing to thrive, and Vinny and L. Roy grow increasingly frustrated that they can't do more to help.  And back in Chicago, tension grows between Vinny and her mother, and racial tensions are growing in the city as well.  When Vinny meets the mysterious Oracle of Palmara, she receives a frightening prophecy of fire...and when a bloody riot engulfs the city, putting Vinny and her mother in terrible danger, Vinny makes a choice that she will second guess for the rest of her life....

It is of course lovely to revisit Palmara, and lovely as well to see what Ma was like as a young girl (and to get reflections from her as an old woman, looking back at events in sections sprinkled in the main story).  But though this works beautifully as a portal fantasy and a look at a slice of the past that will be new to many readers (me included), I did have one little bit of let down.  I felt that more could have been done with some of the emotional beats within the magical world, especially one key event, which instead of being deeply powerful was quickly lost in what was happening in the real world (slight spoiler of explanation--the baby dragon and Vinny were linked together, with the well-being of one affecting that of the other, but this bit of the story didn't get developed quite enough to satisfy me....)

That being said, this is an engrossing story of black girl magic that will delight fans of the series.

disclaimer: review copy received from the author