Moko Magic: Museum Mayhem

Ages 8 to 12, Grades 3 to 7

From the best-selling author of the Jumbies series comes

another Afro-Caribbean–inspired story, about three cousins who are called on to use their moko (protector) magic when stolen art goes on the rampage.

Twelve-year-old Misty and her two cousins, Aidan and Brooke, are mokos—protector spirits—who recently combined their magic to save Brooklyn's carnival celebration. Now they're excited about Uncle Andrew's upcoming art exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. He has chosen to create a piece centered around a Benin Bronze, one of several artworks that were looted from Nigeria in 1897, and the cousins are treated to a private tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to help him choose it.

When Misty views the bronzes for the first time, she is transported into a long-ago memory of an oba (king) who was stern and angry. And that's just the beginning of the trouble. Once the selected bronze is delivered from the Met, the Brooklyn Museum is overrun with dust bunnies that attack people. A mysterious force controlling the dust begins to pull innocent victims into artworks and trap them inside. The cousins are going to need a lot of help—BIG help—to defeat this fearsome foe.

Tracey Baptiste, the author of the popular Jumbies series, has once again used her special brand of magic to concoct a wildly imaginative adventure as thought-provoking as it is thrilling.

Story Locale:Brooklyn, NY during the West Indian Day Parade in Crown Heights

Series Overview: Freedom Fire is a children’s imprint of Disney Books devoted to publishing titles that celebrate beauty and resilience within Black storytelling and embrace Blackness in all forms. 

Led by best-selling and award-winning author Kwame Mbalia, Freedom Fire aims to help young readers discover joy-filled books that highlight the rich voices and experiences of Black people across the African diaspora.

About the Author

Tracey Baptiste (she/her) is a New York Times bestselling author of twenty-six books for children including the popular JUMBIES series including The Jumbies, Rise of the Jumbies, and The Jumbie God's Revenge as well as the picture book Looking for a Jumbie. She writes picture books, middle grade, and young adult, fiction and nonfiction, and has contributed to several anthologies. Her 2025 books are the middle grade novel Moko Magic: Museum Mayhem, the sequel to Carnival Chaos and the picture book Super Goat Girl. Tracey’s site www.traceybaptiste.com has educator materials, activities for kids, and classes for writers. Connect on Instagram @traceybaptistewrites.

Author Residence: Englewood, New Jersey