Misa Sugiura

Non-stop action with magic and mythical beings and creatures will tempt even reluctant readers to fall into the story.

When twelve-year-old Momo Arashima discovers that all the stories of mythical beings and supernatural spirits that her Japanese mother had told her when she was very young were true, she is shocked and dismayed. She had drawn unwanted attention and ridicule at school early on for believing the fantastical tales and had emotionally demanded that her disappointed mother stop show more telling her those make-believe stories as if they were real. Now she hears that her mother is actually an Earth goddess from the Island of Mysteries and is responsible for keeping the evil spirits and demons from crossing into the world. But the portal between the land of the dead and this one has been breached. Hundreds of demons and worse have made their way onto the island, and the more that enter, the sicker her mother physically becomes. Finding out she is the only one able to stop the monsters, Momo joins a magical talking fox named Niko and her childhood friend, Danny, on a mission to save her mother and the world.

Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind is the first book in author Misa Sugiura’s new middle-grade fantasy series featuring the twelve-year-old heroine from the title. Hands down, this is one of the top books I’ve read this year, and I feel it is sure to be a hit with middle-grade students, including reluctant readers. As the mother of three boys who all needed coaxing to complete independent reading requirements at that age, I wish this book had been available back then! The story would be a fabulous read-aloud selection.

Momo has had a tough childhood. Not only had she lost her father, but her mother had also been swamped with grief and, eventually, illness. To top off her misery, Momo has been besieged by cool-kid bullies at school because she’s seen as "different." The bullying hurts even more when her childhood friend, Danny, is one of the group. It is extremely important at that age to feel like you belong; most readers will relate to Momo’s experience. Perhaps, even more important, Momo’s plight will strike a chord with young readers that bullying and cruel jokes hurt. Our heroine rises above her mistreatment, but she also stands up for herself.

The story is fantastic, and its fast pace moves things along like a runaway rollercoaster. It captured my attention from the start, and I didn’t want to put the book down until I was finished. With the recent popularity and interest in Asian culture, the story, with its modern take on Japanese mythology, couldn’t come at a better time. The fantastical elements are fresh, unusual, scary, and perfect for igniting young imaginations. The awesome cover art already has me hoping for this to become an animated series.

The trio travels to many magical places while on their quest for the tools to succeed in their ultimate showdown. Real cities, in addition to those of myth and legend, are visited and will please readers familiar with those locations. They may begin to imagine running into some of the magical beings or evil minions, just as Momo, Danny, and Niko did.

With its highly likable and engaging characters, fun dialogue, the inclusion of current pop cultural references, and a story with non-stop action, I recommend MOMO ARASHIMA STEALS THE SWORD OF THE WIND to older elementary or middle-grade readers who enjoy stories with fantasy, magic, and mythical creatures, fans of the Percy Jackson series, and perhaps those who enjoyed the Nickelodeon series, AVATAR: The Last Airbender. show less

Book on CD performed by Joy Osmanski
3.5***

CJ Katsuyama never seems to meet her Type-A mother’s expectations. She’s not super smart, or talented at music, art or sports. She’s not a leader at school. She does like helping her aunt Hannah at the family flower shop, though she doesn’t buy into Hannah’s “magic of flowers” theories. Still, she shows a knack for creative and distinctive arrangements. But then her mother decides to sell the shop to the descendant of the racist man show more who swindled her grandfather out of his property by taking advantage of the USA’s policy to intern Japanese Americans during WW2. Now CJ is fighting mad and determined to make a difference.

This is a charming YA novel about family, social justice, friendship and loyalty. There’s also a little romance thrown in.

CJ is a pretty mature teen. Although she frequently doubts herself, she usually follows her inner compass and makes solid decisions. Of course, this is a young adult novel, so there is bound to be some of the drama typical in teen life – prom-posals, mean girls, cliques, attractions based strictly on looks, best friends who maybe aren’t anymore. There’s also an LGBTQ relationship in the mix; I liked the way CJ handled this.

On the other hand, I was not thrilled with how the author handled CJ’s pregnancy. Not at all sure that needed to be part of the story.

Joy Osmanski does a fine job of narrating the audio version. Her diction is clear, and she sets a good pace. The only difficulty is that there are several flashbacks, and at first, I didn’t catch on and that confused me for several chapters until she went back to it. That isn’t the fault of the narrator, however. But I think I would have been less confused if I had been reading the text rather than listening. show less

the duration in which i read this is long, but honestly, it was a fast read, i just kept taking unnecessary breaks.

sabina told me she heard this was a bad book, so i had some mixed feelings coming in. although, i truly enjoyed this book. i think it would be a little “annoying” if you weren’t a person coming from the same standpoint as the author (aka ur a racist and homophobe lol), but that’s never something that should make a book perceived as bad. the author was very thorough with show more calling out racism especially. many people are past that, but some people aren’t. so, i’m thinking that may be a reason some people were calling it out.

on that subject, this book is absolutely SAVAGE! obviously, it’s a story mainly about racism against asians, but it even calls out asians too for being racist. it wasn’t entirely about evil white people, though that was demographic rightly spoken out against the most. i find this refreshing. it takes self-awareness to realize that fitting into a niche made for you unjustly can be just as racist as other things. it’s just like being uncomfortable with homo pda when you are a gay person because you were taught acts like that are disgusting and therefore, you refuse to do it. not cuz of self hate, but because that’s how it”should be.” at least, that’s how i see it.

i also felt that the main characters, and all the characters for that matter, were very organic. i said before that i felt the author was putting in lgbt characters just to make things feel “full,” but was too afraid to make the main character lgbt. i take that back. perhaps, the author was a little guilty of that in some parts. but, the main issues i had regarding that was with emily and brynn. i see now that them being lesbians and their relationship does have sway on the story and leads to important character development. proof that you should probably wait to see the big picture before speaking out. the author wasn’t pulling a gay bff trope, she was trying a method to development i didn’t see coming, and i can appreciate that.

further, i just loved cj’s character. she has the teen angst, but none of it felt without basis. her mom /was/ hard on her. her friends /were/ cutting her out. and, her reactions to these things were quite literally the same as mine, leave before they leave you. which was painful to read, but only in the way that i hate that reaction within myself. cj just felt so real to me. it was honestly so nice. i just wish i could be more like her in solving the results of her ditching people out of fear hah.

but, yes, overall, i really loved this book. only reason i gave it 4 stars is because i would probably never re-read. in order to have 5, i need to wanna revisit it. i don’t feel that desire. still was a great book tho!! which is rare for me to find!!!! :) show less

This did a spectacular job of looking at history and how it's so often white-washed and rewritten. Alas, it wasn't particularly gripping.