58 pages • 1-hour read
Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Book of Anansi
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Chapters 19-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism, enslavement, and death.
Chapter 19 Summary: “Lady Thema’s Healing Haven”
As the feral hellhounds circle the children, the Badili swells within Nic. The animals sense her power and scatter “like frightened puppies” (275). Nic doesn’t tell Alex and JP why the hellhounds left because she worries that the boys will be afraid of her.
At Lady Thema’s Holistic Haven, the children’s disguises and aliases grant them access to the retreat, which is attended by hundreds of other Remarkables. In her opening speech, Lady Thema says that Anansi kidnapped her and forced her into servitude but that she “got the last laugh” (283). The Mmoatia appeals to the non-Manifestor Remarkables in the crowd by describing how LORE subjugates them and by promising them lives of freedom and abundance. After the speech, guests who pay a large additional fee have private meetings with Thema, but the children lack the necessary funds.
JP sees Amina’s haint (spirit) at the retreat center. Before the children can investigate, a guard orders the children to go to their guest rooms. Angered, Nic casts an electricity juju on him, but the spell is much stronger than usual, and she accidentally knocks him unconscious. More guards surround Nic and incapacitate her.
Chapter 20 Summary: “The Healer, the Haint, and the Hustle”
Nic awakens in a hospital bed. She tries to rejoin her friends, but Lady Thema stops her. The Fairy declares that the Manifestor is “[s]ick with the same three afflictions that plague all [the] Manifestors”—a belief in their own superiority, a relentless hunger for control, and forgetfulness of how Mmoatia helped their ancestors (292). Thema knows that Nic and her friends lied about their identities, but she’s called away to deal with an emergency before she can extract any information from Nic.
Amina’s haint guides JP and Alex to Nic. The spirit then leads the children out of the retreat center’s hospital towards the story box. Alex changes JP’s Illusionary Mask to look like Thema to throw off the many guards in the retreat center. Amina grows enraged at the sight of the Fairy until the children explain that it’s an illusion.
The Mermaid guides the children to Thema’s suite, where Nic discovers “a leather box with a stitched image of a spider on top” (394). Just as Nic puts the box in her bag, the real Lady Thema and her guards burst into the suite. Thema tells the children that LORE betrayed the Mmoatia by banning magic even though the Fairies guided Uhuru’s founders to the island.
Amina confronts Thema and accuses her of letting her die. The Fairy says that this was the only way to keep Anansi’s last wish from being fulfilled, and Amina retorts that she can’t stop destiny. Thema realizes that Nic has the story box and attacks her, but Nic seizes the Fairy’s magic staff and uses it to return the three children to their normal size. Nic, Alex, and JP burst through the tiny retreat center and tumble down a tree.
Chapter 21 Summary: “Stories Too Dangerous to Tell”
The Msaidizi catches the falling children and carries them to safety. Amina’s haint thanks Nic for finding the story box and steps through a glowing archway, finally at peace. The Msaidizi brings the trio to the train station, and they return to the Blake estate before Calvin awakens.
That night, Nic summons Mami Wata and reveals the truth about Amina’s death. Furious, the spirit swears to punish LORE and the Mmoatia. Mami Wata explains that the Book of Anansi contains prophecies, and Nic suspects that the Manifestor Prophecy is among them. The spirit believes that “the virtuous are always rewarded” (320), so she gives Nic the second story box and tells her that she entrusted the last box to Septimus Marigold, father of Magnus Marigold.
Nic shares what Mami Wata told her with Alex and JP. The boys worry that the Za Siri might use the Book of Anansi to force Nic to destroy the Remarkable world, and she fears that she might not have a choice but to fulfill the prophecy in that case. As a result, she decides not to obtain the last story box even if it means Roho’s Apprentice will reveal her secret.
Chapter 22 Summary: “Whispers and Warnings”
After the incident at Redwood, Nic wears her Adinkra necklace constantly. She considers sending a message to Roho’s Apprentice and telling her parents about the Za Siri, but fear prevents her from doing either.
LORE’s Guardians investigate the destruction of the retreat center and declare Lady Thema missing, but the children’s involvement remains unknown. At school on Monday, the students and teachers are shaken by news of the events at Redwood, which remind many of Roho’s attacks. Tyran releases a prism pod in which he accuses Nic of using restricted Giftech to take away Mrs. Reyes’s Gift. Many of Nic’s peers become afraid of her, and Skye and Alex quickly take her to Zoe’s classroom. Nic bursts into tears when she sees the prism pod and says that the Badili took the exam proctor’s Gift.
The twins’ parents rush them to the Blake estate. Nic sobs inconsolably because she feels that she’s a dangerous “freak” who doesn’t belong in Uhuru and “never will” (334). Calvin and Zoe slip a truth potion into Nic’s calming tea, and she tells them all about the Za Siri and the search for the Book of Anansi. Nic lashes out at her parents and accuses them of being afraid of her because she’s the Manowari.
Suddenly, explosions shake the mansion. Calvin, Zoe, and Mr. Lincoln are knocked unconscious by an onslaught of jujus. When the smoke clears, the three adults are missing, and Roho’s Apprentice and dozens of the Za Siri are standing in the wreckage of the Blakes’ home. The Apprentice reminds Nic that they warned her not to involve her family. The Apprentice has the two story boxes that she hid in her room in her mother’s condo, and they give her three days to save her parents and Mr. Lincoln by finding the third box.
Chapter 23 Summary: “I’m a Fugitive…Again”
Skye calls Nic and warns the twins that Guardians are on the way to the estate and that the Council of Elders called an emergency meeting to question President DuForte about Mrs. Reyes. The twins narrowly escape a group of Guardians and meet Skye at the train station. Skye, Nic, and Alex use a portal opener to go to Junior’s house in Jackson. Being back in her old home stirs up Nic’s memories of Calvin, and she deeply regrets the things she said to her parents.
Junior is upset by the children’s unexpected arrival and asks Ms. Lena to make them leave. Alex tells the Visionary about the Za Siri, and the woman demands, “Have y’all even wondered why Roho’s people want the book so bad? Or what they plan to do with it?” (357). Ms. Lena refuses to get involved, but Skye assures the twins that they’re not alone.
Chapter 24 Summary: “Giant Problems”
The narrative moves two days forward. The third story box is at Magnus Marigold’s Odyssey casino, which is located in the Giant city of La Vista. Skye gives Nic, Alex, and JP Illusionary Masks that make them look like elderly tourists and wristbands that grant them access to the exclusive area where they suspect the box is located. While the children are finalizing their plans for the heist, Guardians approach the house. Nic, Alex, and JP use a portal opener to travel to the desert outside La Vista, where they marvel at the gargantuan scale of the city.
Chapters 19-24 Analysis
In the novel’s fourth section, Nic’s quest to reassemble the Book of Anansi advances The Tensions Between Fate and Agency. Lady Thema demonstrates how prophecies can drive people to commit terrible deeds in an effort to either bring about or prevent destiny: The Fairy is so desperate to resist fate and avenge herself against Anansi that she allows Amina to die. However, she inadvertently “played right into destiny’s hands” because Nic fulfills Anansi’s last wish by claiming the story box anyway (308).
In these chapters, Nic worries that her predestined role as the Manowari means that she doesn’t have free will and that “by denying [her] prophecy, [she’s] only making things worse” (323). Specifically, she fears that she will have to destroy the Remarkable world if the Za Siri obtain the Book of Anansi, further reinforcing the motif’s thematic significance and illustrating the protagonist’s continued negative attitude towards her destiny and her power. However, the protagonist’s ill-fated attempt to abandon the quest quickly ends when her parents’ abduction forces her to resume her search. In addition to escalating the story’s suspense, this development underlines Nic’s growing awareness of how she is not in full control of all of her circumstances, no matter how much she might wish to be.
The Importance of Honesty and Responsibility appears through the characters’ choices and the ensuing consequences in this section. Even though Nic knows that Mami Wata has a vengeful reputation, she follows her conscience and tells the water spirit the truth about what happened to Amina. This decision demonstrates Nic’s maturation and growing understanding of the need for accountability, especially at the government level: “LORE lied when they said that Amina was attacked by wild hellhounds. They never mentioned Lady Thema. And I know they had reasons for making that choice. But maybe it’s like what Dad said about choices. You gotta live with them, sooner or later” (317).
Nic also tries to do the responsible thing and place the world’s safety over her own interests by calling off the search for the Book: “The virtuous are always rewarded. I think that means that it’s worth it to do the right thing, even when it’s scary. Even when it may ruin your life” (323). The effects of Nic and her grandmother’s dishonesty also catch up to them. Nic spends much of the novel hiding her pain and anger from her parents, so she lashes out and hurts them when the truth potion makes her pour out her emotions in Chapter 22. On the societal level, President DuForte’s lies about Mrs. Reyes cause the public to lose faith in her and LORE as a whole. The events of these chapters illustrate how honesty and responsibility are foundational to healthy family dynamics and to a healthy society.
Nic’s necklace and the phrase “for the greater good” illustrate the main character’s ongoing experience with The Struggle for Power and Control. In these chapters, the Badili offers Nic protection, but it also feeds her self-doubt. She worries that her abilities will make her a threat in the eyes of her brother and best friend after she frightens away the hellhounds: “This may be one time I’m actually grateful for the Badili. But I don’t want Alex’s and JP’s pitying looks. Or, more likely, their terrified ones” (276). Nic continues to rely on the Adinkra necklace to limit her power rather than learning to control the Badili herself, as evidenced by her anxiety when she realizes that she left the necklace at her family estate and the way she clings to it after the destruction of Redwood. Her fear of the Badili is a key factor in her decision-making in this section, particularly her attempt to call off the search for the final story box.
Nic’s stance towards her power in these chapters largely follows her grandmother’s plans, which seek to minimize the risk the Badili poses rather than empower Nic to master her abilities. However, Nic consciously rejects her grandmother’s beliefs when she decides to seek the third story box for her parents’ sake even if that ultimately means making the Za Siri a bigger threat to the Remarkable world: “[I]f we’re okay with letting people get hurt—or worse—for the sake of ‘the greater good,’ what does that make us? Nah, no way. I’ll choose my parents every single time. The greater good can wait” (354). By acting on her own moral code, Nic reasserts her control over her life as the novel approaches its climax.
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