
Bree is then taken to an unknown building where a strange man attempts to erase her mind, but fails without knowing so. While Bree is walking with her peer mentor Nick, a 'shadowborn' monster appears, and Nick slays it with a sword. They get caught and are given peer mentors to watch over them due to breaking the law.

On the first night, they sneak out of campus with a group of people. Three months after her mother's death, Bree attends the University of North Carolina with her friend Alice. The novel's main character is 16-year-old Bree Matthews, a college student who attempts to infiltrate a historically white magical society at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when she finds out that some members may have been involved in her mother's recent death. Legendborn received the Coretta Scott King Award/John Steptoe Award for New Talent as well as a nomination for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. It was released on September 15, 2020, and it was published under Simon & Schuster/McElderry. The book is the first in the Legendborn series. Called "a modern day twist on Arthurian legend", it follows a black teenage girl who discovers a secret and historically white magic society. Legendborn is a 2020 debut young adult fantasy novel by Tracy Deonn.

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent (2021)
