Craig Kofi Farmer has a debut book set for publication in spring 2024. Categorized under children’s middle-grade fiction, the book is titled Kwame Powell: The Great Escape from Asamando and will be published by Roaring Brook Press.

Farmer signed a whopping six-figure deal to clinch the publication of his new work. The rights were sold by Farmer’s agent Emily Forney at BookEnds to Emilia Sowersby and Emily Feinberg at Roaring Brook Press, at auction, in a two-book deal. The sequel to Kwame Powell is slated for spring 2025 from Roaring Brook Press.

According to Publisher’s Marketplace, Farmer’s new book is about “a 12-year-old who never fully identified with his Ghanian roots.” After the death of his grandmother, the main character soon finds himself dropped into the Ghanian underworld, where he “embarks on a journey of self-discovery and uncovers his connection to the dead mother Earth, and needs to outsmart trickster gods to find his way back to the living.”

Farmer was born and grew up in Maryland, United States. He holds two bachelor’s degrees from Towson University in Baltimore County, and a master’s degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. Farmer recently became a client at BookEnds Literary Agency in 2021. Farmer loves to write bold, imaginative stories and is an avid superhero enthusiast. Besides writing children’s middle-grade fiction, Farmer works in higher education and student affairs as Outreach & Retention Coordinator at University of California Irvine.

Farmer showed a great deal of excitement while announcing his upcoming publication in the tweet below. We love when children’s fantasy fiction shows Black kids how they can be the heroes in their stories!

With an absolutely scintillating plot, Kwame Powell is bound to be a success with young readers since the book teaches kids about big issues such as grief and personal growth through the form of an adventure narrative. If you have or know children between the ages of 8-12 that would benefit from learning about these key life lessons, make sure to check out Farmer’s new book which will be out in 2024!

Congrats to Craig Kofi Farmer on his upcoming publication!