Sonderling Sunday – Momo – Stories

Sonderling Sunday 0

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week (well, that occasional time) when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books – or, in this case, looking at the English translation of the classic children’s book, Momo, by Michael Ende – which was one of my very first purchases when my family moved to Germany in 1996.

Last time we looked at Momo, we finished Chapter Four. So tonight we’ll begin Chapter Five, Kapitel Fünf, which begins on Seite 49 in the German edition, and page 34 in the English edition. The chapter title in English is “Tall Stories,” but in German, it’s Geschichten für viele und Geschichten für eine, which means “Stories for many and stories for one.”

I like to start with the first sentence:
Nach und nach war Momo für Gigi Fremdenführer ganz unentbehrlich geworden.
= “As time went by, Momo became absolutely indispensable to Guido.”

unsteten leichtherzigen jungen Kerl
(“unsteady, light-hearted young fellow”)
= “footloose, fancy-free young man”

struppigen kleinen Mädchen
= “ragged little girl”

Geschichtenerzählen = “Making up stories”

Besonders dann = “Most of all”

blühte seine Phantasie auf wie eine Frühlingswiese
= “his imagination blossomed like a meadow in springtime”

Hmm. They changed the names in the story instead of just using the same made-up words.
Kaiserin Strapazia Augustina = “Empress Harmonica”
König Xaxotraxolus = “King Raucous II”

lachte sich ins Fäustchen = “laughed up his sleeve”

juwelengeschmückten Suppenterrine = “bejeweled soup tureen”

je größer, desto besser = “the bigger, the better”

Abgesandte = “envoy”

Unmengen Futter = “vast quantities of food”

Badewanne = “bathtub”

ihr ein und alles (“her one and all”) = “the apple of her eye”

Richtschnur = “motto”

And the end of that first story:
Sie sehen daraus, meine Damen und Herren, wohin die Leichtgläubigkeit führen kann!
(Google translate: “You can see from this, ladies and gentlemen, where credulity [‘light-belief’] can lead!”)
= “Which only goes to show, ladies and gentlemen, how unwise it is to believe all you’re told.”

Schirmmütze = “peaked cap”

Schleuse = “floodgate”

And I’ll finish with the wrap-up of that story:
und immer neue Erfindungen strömten und sprudelten hervor, ohne daß er überhaupt nachdenken mußte
= “releasing a torrent of new ideas that bubbled forth without his ever having to think twice”

And that’s all for tonight! I’m finishing on Seite 53, page 37. Bis nächste Zeit! Meanwhile, je größer, desto besser is not necessarily the best Richtschnur.

#Sonderbooks25 – 2002 Sonderbooks Stand-outs

Sonderbooks25, Stand-outs 0

I’m celebrating my 25th year of writing Sonderbooks with #Sonderbooks25!

Tonight I’ll be looking back at my Sonderbooks Stand-outs from 2002.

Now, I confess that when I announced my #Sonderbooks25 project, I expected to post every couple weeks, not every few months. So let me start with some excuses.

First, my original plan was to simply read the reviews of the Stand-outs for each year and choose one book to reread and reflect on that every couple of weeks. I knew the first five years, 2001-2005, would take a little longer, because I also planned to reformat the Stand-outs pages.

What I didn’t realize was that once I’d gotten started, I’d want to reread every review I’d written during the year in question. For 2002, that was before the blog when I was still producing numbered issues, and covers Sonderbooks #19 through Sonderbooks #44. You can find all the Back Issues on the Back Issues Index page. Reading all of them, I think I did a good job picking out Stand-outs, as those are indeed the books I most want to revisit. But that wasn’t even enough for me. I also reread the posts from Project 52 from the year I was 37 and the year I was 38.

So I do have reasons to take a long time between posts. And it turns out, though my 2025 Sonderbooks Stand-outs page will be my 25th list of Stand-outs, I won’t hit the actual 25th birthday of Sonderbooks until August 1st, 2026. So there’s not really a big rush. All that said, it took me an especially long time to post about the 2002 Sonderbooks Stand-outs because of two additional complications.

1) I was writing a weekly blog series over on Sonderjourneys called “Laments for Lent.” It turns out that doing significant blogging more than once a week is tricky, especially because:

2) I broke my left pinky finger seven weeks ago, and it hurt to use my left hand at all for a few weeks, and that seriously slowed down my typing. (I finally see the doctor next Monday and hope to stop buddy-taping it. But I predict it will still be a while before my typing’s back up to speed.)

Okay, that’s probably enough excuses! Tonight I updated the links and my new version of my 2002 Sonderbooks Stand-outs is live.

Let me talk about the books in the order they appear on the original page.

From Young Adult and Children’s Fantasy, the stand-out of the Stand-outs is This Star Shall Abide, by Sylvia Louise Engdahl. Another that stands out is Heir Apparent, by Vivian Vande Velde, which I bought for my kids and both of them (or at least the younger?) enjoyed. The rest were all very good, but don’t make me quite as nostalgic. Though I’d reread them all if I could find the time (and if I weren’t trying to move on to books reviewed in 2003).

Among the Young Adult and Children’s Fantasy Rereads, The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley, is still quite possibly my all-time favorite book (though it’s so hard to narrow it down to one!). I have reread it many times, though, so I didn’t feel as compelled to make it my one Reread for 2002 – though, Ha! I checked just now and my library has it in eaudiobook form, so I just placed a hold.

The Harry Potter books are Alas! tainted by the fact that their author has revealed herself to be a transphobic bigot. But the other in that category, Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine, is completely delightful, and – Oh look! We’ve got that in eaudiobook form, too.

For Young Adult Historical Fiction, I don’t remember any of the three titles distinctly, except to be sure I’d enjoy rereading them. And as for the “Rereads” – The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, by Avi, is among my all-time favorites, and I’ve reread it many times. (Oh look! That one’s on eaudio, too!) As for Treasure Island – we read it aloud to our kids, as an elementary school teacher once did for me, I’m quite sure (but don’t remember which one).

My Young Adult Contemporary Novel choices were solid choices, but The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is the one I’d most like to reread. (And its eaudio version is available without a wait.)

As for the Young Adult and Children’s Classic Rereads, well, I did a project (unfinished) to reread all of L. M. Montgomery’s books in 2019 before an incredible visit to her home in Prince Edward Island.

Probably my favorite review I’ve written – at least my favorite of the ones I’ve revisited – is my “Reflections on Winnie-the-Pooh,” about how that book has been an important part of my life for decades.

In Children’s Nonfiction, which you’ll notice isn’t my favorite category, I still believe that Greg Tang’s The Best of Times is a vital resource for teaching kids to think about how multiplication works, beyond just memorizing facts. It’s still in print, and I recently ordered fresh copies for our library system.

In Fiction for Grown-ups, the top two are two of my favorite authors. I read The Sand-Reckoner, by Gillian Bradshaw, for my 2001 Revisit, so I’m going to hold off on rereading Cleopatra’s Heir. And Quentins, by Maeve Binchy, is another one I’m now wanting to revisit.
To this day, the title Five Quarters of the Orange, by Joanne Harris, makes me think of driving through the French countryside to Paris (when I was reading it) and the amazing chocolate shop we found there. Okay, the review says I read Chocolat on that particular trip. But anyway, Joanne Harris transports me to France.

All the Fiction Rereads are All-Time Favorites, and it was Caravan that I chose as the one book to revisit from 2002 – with a bit of disappointment I’m afraid. The other three are, you guessed it, available as eaudiobooks, and I’ve already started in on Watership Down.

For Biographical Nonfiction, again it’s the top two that I would dearly love to reread (I own both) – Angles of Reflection, by Joan Richards, and In Code, by Sarah Flannery. The rest were good, but the one I’d be most interested in rereading from those is #7, Bringing Down the House, by Ben Mezrich.

But the Biographical Reread? Oh, I need to pick up Life Among the Savages, by Shirley Jackson, (which I own) to give myself some good hard laughs and a renewed outlook.

In Other Nonfiction, Barbara Kingsolver is always good, but I’d probably rather reread her fiction. If I still had kids in my home, A Mind at a Time, by Mel Levine, feels vital. And this project reminded me to pull out my copy of Storybook Travels and now look for sites in America instead of in Europe.

The Other Nonfiction Rereads are all beloved Christian books I’ve read multiple times since writing these reviews. You may have noticed there are a lot of Rereads included? Back when I was doing ezine issues of Sonderbooks, in 2002, I started including an “Old Favorite” with every issue – so I was rereading a beloved book every couple weeks, something I don’t have the luxury to do now that I’m working full-time and reading for award committees. As I was starting Sonderbooks, I wanted to include my all-time favorites, so that gave my reviews a nice foundation.

And that brings us to New Picture Books. I chose these before I was a children’s librarian, and honestly probably the only one today that would still make my list is Hungry Hen – I’m a sucker for picture books where someone bad gets eaten. Or, well, where anyone gets eaten. I was able to find all the books in Fairfax County Public Library (and enjoyed them) except for Elephant elephant, which was a very quirky French import.

So there you have it – My thoughts on revisiting my 2002 Sonderbooks Stand-outs. I hope you’ve found or been reminded of a book to enjoy. They are all well-worth your time.

I’ve already decided on the book to revisit from my 2003 Sonderbooks Stand-outs – Beyond the Limit, by Joan Spicci. But I’ve also put a few of the others in my eaudiobook holds queue. I hope you’ll hear about them in only a few weeks this time, rather than a few months. Until then, Happy Reading!

Review of Free Kid to Good Home, by Hiroshi Ito

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Free Kid to Good Home

by Hiroshi Ito
translated by Cathy Hirano

Gecko Press, 2022. First published in Japan in 1995. 109 pages.
Review written March 1, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

This is a fun book for beginning but confident readers. I’m putting it with beginning chapter books, because it’s about that reading level, but it doesn’t actually have chapters. And there are black, white, and red drawings on every page.

The book begins as a little girl gets a new brother.

He looks just like a potato.

After her mother pays attention only to the potato-face baby, the girl decides to run away and find a new home.

She does this by finding a box and writing “Free Kid” on the box. She sits in the box out where people pass by and tries to look cute.

Adults are busy and don’t pay a lot of attention, but one by one a dog, a cat, and a turtle join her, also looking for a new home. They discuss together what their new home will be like and do have some envy when others are chosen first.

You can guess how the story ends, but the whole thing is a lot of fun.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/free_kid_to_good_home.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of How We Share Cake, by Kim Hyo-eun

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

How We Share Cake

by Kim Hyo-eun

Scribble, 2024. First published in Korea in 2022. 52 pages.
Review written April 15, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

This picture book is about a family of five siblings and how they have to share everything – including their uncle, breeze from a fan, and hand-me-down shiny yellow rain boots.

Much is made of the different kinds of things they share. It’s harder to share cotton candy than broccoli, for example, and there’s constant negotiation about who goes first when they have to share by taking turns.

Why did I relate so much to this book? I’m third of thirteen siblings – and when I was the age of the protagonist, there were five of us, in a family much like the one in this book.

Let’s just say I wasn’t surprised that the way the second child got one-on-one time with her parents was to break her arm when it was her turn on the scooter. And everyone else got a little more time!

To this day, it’s hard for me to pass treats that someone has left out to share – because I fundamentally don’t expect treat availability to last long.

This book shows the reader how a person can get tired of sharing – but also the joy of having people close by to share with.

hyoeunkim.com
scribblekidsbooks.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/how_we_share_cake.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of Himawari House, by Harmony Becker

Award Winners, Contemporary, Cross Cultural, Graphic Novel, Teen Fiction Review 0

Himawari House

by Harmony Becker

First Second, 2021. 380 pages.
Review written February 26, 2023, from a library book
2023 Asian/Pacific American Youth Literature Award Winner

This graphic novel was creator by the illustrator of George Takei’s graphic memoir, They Called Us Enemy. It’s about three Asian girls in Japan from other countries, staying in a home called Himawari House.

As the book opens, we follow Nao, who was born in Japan, but grew up in the United States. She doesn’t remember much about Japan, especially not the language, but it’s the background for her dreams, and she decided to spend a year in Japan after high school, before going to college.

She learns that her housemates are from Korea and Singapore. As the book goes on, we learn what things in their past made them decide to come to Japan. At the start, Nao is simply overjoyed that they both speak English. And there are also two boys living in Himawari House. One of them seems rude, but maybe he’s just shy because he doesn’t speak English very well?

This story has a lot of depth to it. I liked the way the author put in Japanese characters along with English in the speech bubbles when they were speaking in Japanese — or didn’t put the English where Nao didn’t understand the Japanese.

Taken all together, the book gives the feeling of the challenges of living where you don’t speak the language, as well as bonds that form and deep moments of connection. I thought the graphic novel format with speech bubbles in different languages was extra effective for this story.

harmonybecker.com
firstsecondbooks.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/himawari_house.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Max in the Land of Lies, by Adam Gidwitz

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

Max in the Land of Lies

by Adam Gidwitz
read by Euan Morton

Listening Library, 2025. 9 hours, 6 minutes.
Review written April 16, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Max in the Land of Lies is the second half of the duology begun in Max in the House of Spies – and, yes, together they make one story, so you will want to read both parts in order.

In my review, I said that Max in the House of Spies is a whole lot of fun. This one? I wouldn’t use the word “fun” to describe it. Max is still super clever and outsmarts many of the people he’s up against – but now he’s in Nazi Germany. I do have to mention that Adam Gidwitz is still narrowly walking the line of believability – that the British would send a 12-year-old Jewish boy into Nazi Germany and that he could possibly get away with it. (This is a kids’ book – that’s not really a spoiler.)

There’s a huge amount of tension in this book. Max is a genius with radios, and he infiltrates the Funkhaus – the radio station in Berlin, getting a job there. And during the course of the book he meets Herr Fritscher (the “Voice of Germany”), Goebbels {the minister of propaganda), and has lunch with Adolf Hitler.

So along the way in Max’s journey, it’s not so much about fun pranks he pulls, as the first book, as about the changes happening in Germany. We see that there are as many reasons to be a Nazi as there are people in Germany, and we hear some of the people tell their reasons. We hear about how Germany was humiliated after World War I and folks’ life savings were worthless and they simply hoped that Hitler could make Germany great again. And how people were willing to turn in their neighbors, but others look the other way.

We also learn about how people are more apt to believe the Big Lie than small lies – because everyone tells small lies, so they know to watch for those, but they don’t believe that someone would tell a truly Big Lie. Even if they don’t believe it at first, they will start getting used to the Big Lie if it’s repeated often enough. The author’s note says that Hitler never admitted to doing this – but this strategy is what he said Jews were doing, and Fascists then and now accuse others of the things they are doing themselves. In the radio station, Max learns about the invented “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and how this was used to blame the Jews for everyone’s troubles. He learns about the “science” of phrenology and how the shapes of Jews’ skulls show they are inferior – but funny thing, it doesn’t give him away. Another interesting propaganda thread that I hadn’t heard about before was about all the countries Britain had already invaded and colonized – so clearly Germany needed to defend themselves against Britain. (Never mind that Hitler started this war – how was he any worse than the British?)

Max is also looking for his parents – and let’s just say that the book doesn’t flinch from telling the reader about the cruelty of concentration camps. So yes, this book is sobering.

The author’s note at the back is fascinating. Max is fictional, but most of the characters he encounters are actual historical figures. Of course this book was written long before Trump was reelected, but there are plenty of things about Nazi Germany that resonate with America today. As the author says, history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.

So besides an intricate and well-written spy novel, in this book you’ll also get a history lesson and a timely warning.

adamgidwitz.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/max_in_the_land_of_lies.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Frizzy, written by Claribel A. Ortega, art by Rose Bousamra

Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Graphic Novel 0

Frizzy

written by Claribel A. Ortega
art by Rose Bousamra

First Second, 2022. 218 pages.
Review written February 26, 2023, from a library book
Starred Review
2023 Pura Belpré Winner – Children’s Author
2023 Capitol Choices Selection

This graphic novel is about the weight of expectations a middle school girl’s Dominican family puts on her about her hair.

At the start, Marlene is grumpily suffering through a visit to the salon beyond the weekly one her mother makes her endure. They’re headed to her cousin’s quince. Her hair looks beautiful at the start of the party, but what with dancing and joking around with another cousin and getting hot and sweaty, her hair gets frizzy and poofs out in time for the pictures. All her family commiserates with her mother about Marlene’s “bad hair.”

Later, she tries some things on her own, which backfire. Kids at school put tape in her bushy hair, and she doesn’t notice. When she lashes out at the bullies, she’s the one who gets in trouble.

But yes, there’s a moment of truth with a young aunt. She shows Marlene that beautiful hair doesn’t have to be straight and shows her how to care for her curls. And backs her up when her mother finds out.

This book is lovely at pointing out the hypocrisy of adults who try to tell kids to be themselves — but then make them go through agony to change their appearance to be more acceptable. The message is lovely and affirming, and the story is fun, with wonderful visuals giving it all the more punch.

claribelortega.com
firstsecondbooks.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of How We Learn to Be Brave, by Mariann Edgar Budde

Christian, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

How We Learn to Be Brave

Decisive Moments in Life and Faith

by Mariann Edgar Budde

Avery (Penguin Random House), 2023. 201 pages.
Review written April 7, 2025, from my own copy, ordered via Amazon.com.
Starred Review

Mariann Edgar Budde is the Episcopal Bishop of Washington who asked Trump to his face in an inaugural service to have mercy on people. When I was commenting on that, one of my friends asked if I’d read her book – written after she spoke out about Trump’s photo op in front of her church during the Black Lives Matter protests. So I ordered a copy right away.

In the Introduction, she talks about a moment during the BLM protests when she was inspired by the words of Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II, cochair of the Poor People’s Campaign.

As he spoke, the weight I had been carrying all week fell off my shoulders, and in that moment, I knew my place in the larger struggle for justice. I heard myself say to God and to the universe, “I want to be among the coalition of the faithful. I want to be among those working for the change we need now.” That’s the decision with which I need to align my life every day. It wasn’t a new thought for me, but I felt it in a new way. It won’t always burn in my heart the way it did that week, but I don’t want to forget it. Like everyone else, I need grace, courage, and perseverance to be true to my decisive moment after the passion fades.

The theme of the book is decisive moments, and how we can make brave choices during decisive moments.

The chapters take us through “Deciding to Go,” “Deciding to Stay,” Deciding to Start,” “Accepting What You Do Not Choose,” “Stepping Up to the Plate,” “The Inevitable Letdown,” and “The Hidden Virtue of Perseverance.” So you see, we get all aspects of bravery beyond any big public decisions, and I like the way it builds to day-to-day work of keeping on. She illustrates the book with her own journey that eventually took her to Washington, D. C.

Some of our decisive moments require action; others, acceptance. Some are dramatic and there for all the world to see; others are internal, known only to the self and to God. Ultimately, what I want to communicate in these pages is that heroic possibilities lie within each of us; that the inexplicable, unmerited experience of God’s power working through us is real; and that we matter in the realization of all that is good and noble and true. We can learn to be brave.

And of course this book is all the more applicable during a second Trump term. May we as Christians rise to the moment.

Here’s how she ends the book:

My prayer is that, by grace, we all will be emboldened to lean into the wisdom, strength, power, and grace that come to us, whenever we find ourselves at a decisive moment. May you and I dare to believe that we are where we are meant to be when that moment comes, doing the work that is ours to do, fully present to our lives. For it is in this work that we learn to be brave.

mariannbudde.com
penguinrandomhouse.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Iveliz Explains It All, by Andrea Beatriz Arango

Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

Iveliz Explains It All

by Andrea Beatriz Arango

Random House, 2022. 268 pages.
Review written February 15, 2023, from a library book
Starred Review
2023 Newbery Honor Book

Iveliz is a seventh-grader who was hoping that everything would be better now that she’s in seventh grade. But that didn’t happen. We get to listen in on her thoughts and her struggles as we read her journal, written in poetry.

We learn pretty early that Iveliz had something awful happen a couple years ago, but we don’t learn right away what it is. Now, her grandma from Puerto Rico is moving into their home because she’s getting worse with Alzheimer’s.

And even though Mimi loves her, she doesn’t think Iveliz should take pills or go to therapy. One more person who thinks she’s not enough. At school, she gets so mad at the bullies and fights back — which disappoints her Mami. Why is Iveliz never good enough for her? And surely Iveliz can make some rules that will set things right again.

I read this book because it’s a Newbery Honor book, and I appreciate the Newbery committee bringing it to my attention. It’s a compassionate look at a kid for whom life is just getting too overwhelming, spotlighting mental health and finding people who care.

andreabeatrizarango.com
rhcbooks.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/iveliz_explains_it_all.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Holy Terrors, by Margaret Owen, read by Saskia Maarleveld

Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Holy Terrors

by Margaret Owen
read by Saskia Maarleveld

Macmillan Audio, 2025. 16 hours, 15 minutes.
Review written April 11, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

I’ve said how much I like the recent trend of duologies – but this trilogy conclusion to the story begun in Little Thieves reminds me just how grand and wonderful a trilogy can be. Yes, you definitely need to read these books in order. If you haven’t started yet, do it! You are in for a treat! I want to reread them to freshly appreciate all the nuances built into the story, and if I read the print version (I’ve purchased my own copies.), I know I’ll hear Saskia Maarleveld’s voice in my head – she’s become the voice of these characters I love.

This book opens more than a year after what I thought was a terrible choice Vanya made at the end of the last book. But something fun about this book is that each section begins with a story of what would have happened if Vanya had made a different choice – and the first story told is about that one. Things don’t exactly turn out better.

But in her actual life, Vanya has been living as the Pfennigeist – robbing the rich to help the poor, or at least helping people get justice who are otherwise overlooked and oppressed. She’s dated some men, but is single right now.

And then someone starts murdering powerful people – and leaving Vanya’s calling card behind – a red penny. So of course the prefects come after her. And wouldn’t you know it, Emeric Conrad is the prefect in charge of the investigation – and he’s engaged to be married, to someone Vanya can’t help but like, much to her chagrin.

That’s the beginning. When more deaths happen, it’s obvious Vanya didn’t do them, but she’s starting to gain powers because of what the people believe about the Pfennigeist. And when the actual assassin begins stopping time to carry out their murders, it doesn’t work on Vanya because of her time as a child with her godmothers, Fortune and Death. So Vanya becomes an important part of the investigation as Electors gather to choose a new Emperor – but more and more keep dying.

The book continues to explore past choices Vanya has made – so you really do need to have read the earlier books (You’ll be glad you did!). And those books also laid the groundwork for how low gods gain power from what people believe about them.

The final crisis is a bit confusing, because besides magic, gods, and time manipulation, alternate universes are involved (and the different lives Vanya would have had with different choices). I’ll be honest – Normally that would have been a dealbreaker for me, but I’m too crazy about this series to let that stop me here – I just want to read it again. And it turns out, that all helped to explore questions about identity and how that’s affected by our choices, and what it takes to make a great relationship, too.

I was also delighted with characters coming back that I loved, and not as delighted about several coming back whom I’d hated – but that history added all the more power to the story.

And it all reminds me how truly great a trilogy can be.

margaret-owen.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/holy_terrors.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?