58 pages • 1 hour read
B. B. AlstonAmari and the Night Brothers
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 11-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 11 Summary
Agent Magnus warns Amari that because she’s a magician, people will form preconceived notions about her no matter what she says or does. Amari feels certain that she can handle this; it’s no different than Jefferson Academy, when she was the only Black, low-income student. Each trainee must submit their preferred career track; Amari selects the Junior Agent track in the Department of Supernatural Investigations.
Chapter 12 Summary
Amari and Elsie attend the trainees’ Welcome Social. Lara Van Helsing initially behaves like Amari’s friend, but then she humiliates Amari in front of the other trainees by highlighting the fact that Amari is the only one there who doesn’t come from a wealthy Bureau family. When Amari accidentally performs magic, the other kids at the table call her “disgusting magician” and other names.
When she has a moment alone with Dylan, Amari asks him about Maria and Quinton’s case. Dylan tells Amari that VanQuish was kidnapped by someone calling themselves “Moreau’s loyal apprentice,” and that this person demanded a ransom for VanQuish’s release, which the Bureau refused. The apprentice warned that refusing the deal would have disastrous consequences. When Amari suggests that Dylan team up with her and Elsie to investigate further, Dylan is ambivalent. Director Van Helsing admonishes Amari for her display of magic and discourages her from pursuing Junior Agent. After Elsie helps Amari set up a social media profile on the othernet, the supernatural world’s internet, Amari receives a message from “magiciangirl18” encouraging Amari and telling her she isn’t alone.
Chapter 13 Summary
Amari attends her first day of Junior Agent training. Amidst all Amari’s self-doubts and the contempt of her classmates, Agent Fiona helps Amari find her courage and gumption to stick to her goals. Amari learns that Moreau is being held within the Bureau itself, in Blackstone Prison; however, he refuses to talk and considers the Bureau an enemy to all magicians. Amari proposes that she speak with Moreau herself and appeal to their connection as fellow magicians. Agent Fiona initially rejects this proposal, but after Moreau’s hybrids launch a devastating attack on one of the Bureau’s outposts, she concedes. Amari receives another message from magiciangirl18, who proposes a face-to-face meeting to tell Amari the truth about magicians and about Moreau.
Chapter 14 Summary
As a condition of her agreement to talk to Moreau, Amari wants information on the ransom Moreau’s apprentice demanded for VanQuish, and why the Bureau rejected the trade. Agents Fiona and Magnus explain that Moreau’s apprentice asked for both Moreau’s release and a destructive item that would have catastrophic consequences for the world if it were released into the wrong person’s hands.
Chapter 15 Summary
Amari learns from her interrogation with Moreau that she is a born magician. Ordinarily, magicians are created when one magician chooses to pass some of their magic onto another person. It is very rare for someone to be born with magic, like Amari was. Moreau claims that Quinton was pursuing something that the Bureau wouldn’t have approved of at the time of his disappearance—something that is perhaps related to Moreau’s plans to dominate the supernatural world. He feels quite certain that nothing, not even his imprisonment, will stop it from happening. Moreau invites Amari to join him, and although she is tempted by the thought of having the power to punish those who have wronged her, she quickly affirms that she is on the Bureau and Quinton’s side. Moreau warns her that everyone is bound by their choices.
Chapters 11-15 Analysis
In Chapters 11-15, Amari encounters her first trials in the supernatural world. Amari discovers that Lara and her clique are no different than her peers back at Jefferson Academy; they ostracize Amari based on her economic status. This is, once again, a blatant parallel that references the ostracization that real-life lower-income students, especially students of color, often encounter. This is balanced by magiciangirl18, who appears in Chapter 12 and bolsters Amari’s support network, helping her develop Hope in the Face of Prejudice. Amari’s conversations with magiciangirl18 also deal with the conflict of “good” and “bad” magicians, as the mysterious messenger hints that there is more to learn about Moreau. Magiciangirl18 is ultimately revealed to be Dylan, and the relationship Amari has to magiciangirl18 is the precursor to her relationship with Dylan himself.
Chapter 13 builds on the themes of privilege and prejudice as well through Amari’s interactions with her prejudiced classmates. It also more firmly establishes the theme of Amari’s arc, Self-Confidence and Discovering Identity. Amari is introduced to the Junior Agent trainee world, and Agent Fiona challenges her in order to help Amari find her confidence: She tells Amari in no uncertain terms that everyone doubts her capability, driving Amari to declare her intentions to become an agent. Although Amari hasn’t quite made her way to self-acceptance yet, her determination reflects the potential her self-confidence can reach. Though this chapter also introduces the idea of Amari defining herself in other ways—becoming an agent for other reasons, not just to rescue Quinton—Amari never forgets that her true purpose in entering the supernatural world is to locate her brother. This both reflects the strength of her family bonds and reveals the perseverance that serves her well at the climactic moment of the novel.
Chapter 14 develops the plot around Quinton’s disappearance and the Moreau threat facing the supernatural world. It introduces the Black Book (although not by name), foreshadowing its significance later in the novel. Chapter 15 depicts Amari’s encounter with Moreau and establishes a link between them. Their conversation reveals several things about the nature of magic in Alston’s universe, such as that Amari is a rare born magician, further distinguishing her from others and marking her as special. Moreau’s warning that everyone is bound by their choices reflects Amari’s struggle to choose good over bad magic, and it foreshadows the impact that prejudice and privilege will have, particularly the way they influence characters and thus drives the plot forward.
