Review of Somadina, by Akwaeke Emezi

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Somadina

by Akwaeke Emezi
read by Nene Nwoko

Listening Library, 2025. 9 hours, 47 minutes.
Review written September 2, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Somadina is a powerful fantasy novel about a girl with magical powers on a quest to rescue her twin. The story is completely rooted in an African cultural world, a refreshing change from the usual white medieval-based fantasy stories I read.

It’s been many years since the Split – when to protect themselves in a war, the magic-users in the community did such powerful magic, the earth split open – and everyone who survived ever since gets a magical gift when they come of age. But Somadina and her twin Jayaike are slow to get their gifts and slow to develop physically, confirming to some in the village that twins are inherently evil and should have been left to die.

But then when their gifts do manifest, they’re surprisingly powerful. When Somadina uses her gift to protect her friend being raped, the result revives the village’s fear that she is evil. Her own mother calls her an abomination. As if that weren’t enough, her twin brother is taken by a man who has appeared in Somadina’s dreams, telling her he’s going to eat their power. Her brother is like another part of her, and Somadina is compelled to find him, which brings its own adventures.

I was glad I listened to this book, because I love the narrator’s African accent that helped me feel immersed in that world. The story is full of mythic elements and comes to a wonderfully satisfying conclusion after the big showdown at the end.

A powerful fantasy tale that is definitely not the same old thing.

akwaeke.com

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Review of Firefly Song, by Colleen Paeff, illustrated by Ji-Hyuk Kim

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Firefly Song

Lynn Frierson Faust and the Great Smoky Mountain Discovery

by Colleen Paeff
illustrated by Ji-Hyuk Kim

Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2025. 40 pages.
Review written September 16, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

Firefly Song stands out among picture book biographies for several reasons, the first being that it’s got gorgeous art. I love the picture of the twilight forest dotted with fireflies and the picture of young Lynn Faust jumping into a Great Smoky Mountains swimming hole.

But it’s also wonderful because of the story it tells. Lynn Frierson Faust essentially trained herself as a scientist. As a child, she enjoyed the dazzling display of the synchronous fireflies at her family’s summer cabin.

When she tried to find out more about fireflies (because those were so wonderful), she discovered that scientists believed there were no synchronous fireflies in North America.

But how to let the scientists know they are wrong? She was met with plenty of skepticism.

It took her years of work and plenty of research to get other scientists to come and confirm what she’d realized all along – that a species of synchronous fireflies lives in the Great Smoky Mountains.

The fireflies of Elkmont and their light show are famous now. Each summer, thousands of visitors travel from clear across the world to witness the silent serenade of Photinus carolinus.

There’s nice back matter for those who are intrigued as I was and want to find out more.

colleenpaeff.com
hanuol.com

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Review of Mattie and the Machine, by Lynn Ng Quezon

Historical, Teen Fiction Review 0

Mattie and the Machine

by Lynn Ng Quezon

Santa Monica Press, 2022. 264 pages.
Review written April 23, 2023, from my own copy, sent by the publisher.

I really enjoyed Mattie and the Machine. I think part of its appeal is that as a woman studying math in college, I did feel like I had to prove myself.

This novel tells the true story of Margaret Knight, a mechanic and inventor. She starts out the book working as a mechanic at a bag-making factory. But when she learns that the male mechanic – and all the men – are making more than her, simply because they’re men, she confronts the owner.

And a challenge is born. Mattie is challenged to make a new machine that will produce the new square-bottomed bags. But her machine has to do it more quickly than the male mechanic’s machine.

The challenge takes up the first half of the book. Once Mattie has her machine, she’s urged to get a patent. But there are obstacles all along the way, and no one wants to work with a woman. And then she gets betrayed and has to go to court to get credit for her invention.

The storytelling style in this book is old-fashioned and reminds me of books I read when I was a kid, though Mattie is fifteen. It’s a little slow-moving, but I was fascinated by Mattie’s quest to prove herself.

The book closes with a copy of Margaret Knight’s patent. I wish that there was an author’s note about what is fact and what is fiction and what she went on to do with her life. How many more patents did she get? Did she ever marry, and was it to someone who appeared in this novel? For that matter, how many of the characters in the novel were actual people. This book made me want to find a biography of her life to find out how much was true and what this amazing woman went on to do.

Wikipedia article on Margaret Knight
NgQuezon.wordpress.com
santamonicapress.com

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Review of What You Are Looking For Is in the Library, by Michiko Aoyama

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

What You Are Looking For Is in the Library

by Michiko Aoyama
read by Hanako Footman, Susan Momoko Hingley, Kenichiro Thomson, Winson Ting, and Shiro Kawai

HarlequinAudio, 2023. 7 hours, 19 minutes.
Review written September 9, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

First, a great big thank-you to my friend Suzanne LaPierre for recommending this book! I loved it in every way! She recommended it in an answer to my new email newsletter, Book Talking with Sondy, so let me encourage more of my readers to sign up for Book Talking with Sondy and recommend books back to me!

What You Are Looking For Is in the Library is a translation of a Japanese book, set in a neighborhood of Tokyo. We get five interlocking stories – a 21-year-old working in a department store and not happy about it, a 35-year-old salary man who wishes he could open an antique store, a 40-year-old who got demoted while she was on maternity leave, a 30-year-old NEET (not in employment, education or training), and a newly retired 65-year-old.

All of these people are thinking about their lives and their work and what it all means and what they want and what they’re stuck with – or are they actually stuck? All of them find their way to a small community library with a very large librarian, Sayuri Komachi.

I did love that these folks found a path to meaning in a library – my one quibble being that this librarian had time to take up a hobby and make felted objects while she waits behind a screen for customers to show up.

But this particular librarian has mystical powers – and she gives each of our featured characters the books they ask for, plus one seemingly unrelated book that makes all the difference. She also gives each one a bonus gift – a small felted object that ends up having special significance to that person and helps to change their life.

And all of our heroes find paths to new meaning after their encounter with the almost magical librarian. So that might be hard to read for someone struggling with similar issues themselves – except that the author treats all of the characters and their situations with deep respect, showing plainly that their life and their value goes much deeper than their current work situation.

Just a wonderful and uplifting book. And look! Our library has ordered another book by this author – The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park. I have already placed a hold.

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Review of Death in the Jungle, by Candace Fleming

Audiobooks, History, Starred Review, Teen Nonfiction 0

Death in the Jungle

Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown

by Candace Fleming
read by Karen Murray

Listening Library, 2025. 9 hours, 47 minutes.
Review written September 8, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

I checked out this eaudiobook, not because I was interested in Jim Jones, but because everything Candace Fleming writes is fascinating. This book was no exception. It was not pleasant listening, but once I got started, I couldn’t look away.

This book tells the whole story of Jim Jones and Jonestown – and the murders and suicides of over 900 people. (Yes, murder. Some people did not drink the poison, but were injected with it.)

Knowing basically how the story ends, it was horrible to watch it unfold, but fascinating. By necessity, the author got her information from interviews with survivors and survivor accounts, so the main folks whose perspective we got to hear from were people who survived, which made the story a little less gut-wrenching.

I was a teen when the Jonestown tragedy happened, so I didn’t know a lot of the details. I didn’t even realize that Jim Jones ordered the assassination of a congressman who was investigating the commune in Guyana – and his assassination spurred the other deaths, as the people had been told the American government wanted to destroy them.

But I also hadn’t known how the People’s Temple started – with good works and social work against poverty and racism in the 1960s. The People’s Temple had a mix of Blacks and whites when other American churches excluded minorities. It was hard to hear what good things they started with, putting other churches to shame.

But clearly, from the beginning, Jim Jones was after power and manipulation. He faked faith healings to build followers. Later, after he had people under his sway, he repudiated the Bible and Christianity – it had been all part of his show.

And things got worse and worse as Jim Jones gained power over people. He was also addicted to various drugs and not at all healthy, mentally or physically. Once he got his followers to Guyana, where he could keep them from escaping, he could control their lives in every way. Perhaps that’s why the congressman’s visit – and the fact that some people tried to leave with him – was so threatening.

The book is sobering, because yes, the good works the church did at the beginning would have gained my admiration. I also began to understand how hard it was to leave once you were plugged in. And Jim Jones’ power to gain a devoted following? People who are willing to lie and manipulate can gain all kinds of power that’s hard to shake. Dare I say that this reminded me of our current president?

So it’s not like this book is pleasant reading. But it tells the full story of a dark incident in our history. And maybe it will help teens think twice about promises from a charismatic leader. Pair it with the book Cultish for insights on how to tell if a tight-knit community is good for you or is destructive.

candacefleming.com

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Review of Chickenpox, by Remy Lai

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Graphic Novel, Starred Review 0

Chickenpox

by Remy Lai

Henry Holt and Company, 2025. 235 pages.
Review written July 15, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

You’d think stories about chickenpox would lose their popularity now that today’s kids are almost all vaccinated. But this graphic novel is hugely popular at the library – a fictionalized version of the author’s family when all five of them came down with chickenpox.

We’ve got the perspective of Abby, the oldest – who is horrified at the thought of ten days with her siblings when they all come down with chickenpox. When the younger ones squabble, Abby as the big sister is generally the one who’s told she should calm things down.

And while Abby’s out of the action, there’s some friend drama at school – which of course her younger siblings only make worse if they get the slightest whiff of what’s going on.

But most of my fondness for this graphic novel came from nostalgia. Because when I was in second grade, my older sister brought home chickenpox, and the other four of us all caught it and stayed home from school together for two weeks. I was third, not oldest like the protagonist – and my parents went on to have eight more kids. But when we had chickenpox, there were five kids, just like in this book – and yes, the chaos seems accurate.

I still say there’s nothing like a graphic novel for conveying the chaos and intense emotions of middle school. Turns out, it’s also great for showing the chaos of a big family of kids all home with chickenpox.

remylai.com

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Review of Lies We Sing to the Sea, by Sarah Underwood

Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Lies We Sing to the Sea

by Sarah Underwood

HarperTeen, 2023. 420 pages.
Review written March 12, 2023, from a library book
Starred Review

Ah! This is the sort of book I was hoping to read by being on the Morris committee! (It came after two in a row that I didn’t finish.)

I’m not sure if Lies We Sing to the Sea is based on an actual Greek myth or embellished as a history of Ithaca after the story of Odysseus. But the premise is that Ithaca was cursed and every year has to offer twelve maidens to Poseidon, or the sea will ravage the island and kill many others.

As the book begins, Leto, the daughter of the last oracle, has received the mark of Poseidon – scales around her neck – so she’s sentenced to be hung with eleven other maidens. She almost escapes at one point, and of course we think that’s going to happen, because it’s the start of the book. We get the perspective of the prince as well, who hates to oversea the deaths of twelve girls every year.

But it actually happens. Yes, she meets eyes with the prince – but then Leto actually dies by the noose and her body is swept into the sea.

The next chapter, though, introduces us to Melantho. She lives alone on an island. She has become Poseidon’s creature. And she takes twelve bodies out of the water.

But then one of the dead girls opens her eyes – as one has done many times before, but decades ago. Leto is the twelfth girl to wash up alive on Melantho’s island. And it will be up to her to break the curse – by killing the prince.

We know it won’t be easy. After all, the prince is a viewpoint character, not some nameless evil guy. He doesn’t even want to order the killings.

And then Leto manages to bring Melantho with her as she leaves the island, something that’s never happened before. Together, they go back to Ithaca, posing Leto as the prince’s betrothed from Athens, and equipped with the power of Poseidon over the waters of the sea. Leto needs to kill the prince, and she needs to do it in the sea.

The story from there is woven expertly with twists and turns. Each character has secrets and back story that come out only gradually. They all want to break the curse, but will they be able to do it?

Fair warning, there’s some sex in this book, but not very closely described. Something that struck me as interesting was that this was the second young adult book I’ve read recently where a main character loves two people – but it’s not presented as a love triangle or even a choice she has to make – she simply loves both of them. I’m not quite sure how I feel about that, but in this particular book it worked out believably.

And the writing in this book is lyrical and beautifully woven – appropriate for a mythological tale.

I’m writing this review at the start of my Morris reading, but now I know that whatever we pick, they’re sure to be excellent – because this is one of the choices. It’s always wonderful in committee reading to find that first book you would be proud to include as your winner – and know that our choices are only going to expand.

sarahunderwood.uk
EpicReads.com

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Review of Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, by Mark Vroegop

Christian, Nonfiction Review 0

Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy

Discovering the Grace of Lament

by Mark Vroegop

Crossway, 2019. 223 pages.
Review written July 25, 2025, from my own copy, picked up at ALA Annual Conference 2025.

Note: I’ve decided to post this review only on the blog, not on the main Sonderbooks site. Because although I love that he’s talking about laments, because of the caveats below, I don’t want to be seen as endorsing this book.

First, I love with all my heart what this book sets out to do – encouraging Christians to pray laments. But before I talk about that, I do have some strong caveats. Fair warning: one of the early examples in this book is about a young man with a “lifelong struggle with same-sex attraction.” A later chapter talks about same-sex marriage being legal showing the wickedness of the culture. Fair warning to LGBTQ Christians – this is probably not the book for you.

Another small quibble: The author says, “There’s something uniquely Christian about lament…” This wording feels unfortunate, completely ignoring that the Psalms of lament were literally written by Jews. I would have accepted “fundamentally Christian” or “profoundly Christian” – but “uniquely Christian” ignores that we share this way of praying with Judaism. I appreciate the point that it’s okay – and indeed deeply faithful – to pray laments, though!

I have written a book, Praying with the Psalmists, that I’m trying to find a publisher for, and the chapter on laments is one of my favorites. I’m also planning a follow-up book, Laments for Lent, that will look more deeply into laments. To be fair, I have a transgender daughter I’m proud of and mention her in Praying with the Psalmists – so those who share a viewpoint with this author will probably have their own caveats about my book.

But given the author’s non-affirming viewpoint, one that plenty of Christians share – I’m glad there’s a book for those Christians about Lament. I grew up in evangelical churches, and all too often got the impression that I was supposed to put on a happy face to come before God. This author talks looks at many Psalms of Lament and the book of Lamentations. My favorite point he makes – besides simply showing people how to pray their own laments – is pointing out that the church needs to make room for lament. If we can’t bring our negative emotions to God honestly, then we’re hiding ourselves from God.

Instead of the six-part form of a lament I present in my book, this author pulls out four elements and doesn’t worry about the order. It’s essentially the same idea – I still say you can’t pray incorrectly – though I still have a preference for my approach, again, I love that there’s another book about praying Biblical Laments.

I appreciate that this author also points out how expressing your pain in a lament leads you to praise.

You might think lament is the opposite of praise. It isn’t. Instead, lament is a path to praise as we are led through our brokenness and disappointment. The space between brokenness and God’s mercy is where this song is sung. Think of lament as the transition between pain and promise.

So I have mixed emotions about this book. On the one hand, I wouldn’t normally review a book that assumes that LGBTQ people are sinning. But the main message – that God can handle our pain, that turning to God through the dark clouds will lead us to deep mercy – that is one that all Christians can benefit from.

You don’t have to put on a happy face to come before God.

When dark clouds roll in, lament is the path to find mercy – even as the clouds linger. Lament is the bridge between dark clouds and deep mercy.

markvroegop.com
crossway.org

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Review of A Language of Dragons, by S. F. Williamson

Fantasy, Teen Fiction Review 0

A Language of Dragons

by S. F. Williamson
read by Henrietta Meire

HarperCollins, 2025. 12 hours, 47 minutes.
Review written February 3, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.

Here’s a historical fantasy novel set in an alternate reality 1923 in a London where sentient dragons live among humans, and the prime minister is a woman, having negotiated a peace agreement with the Dragon Queen after the dragons of Bulgaria rose up and killed all the humans there. However, written into the peace agreement is a strict class system. And staying in Second Class, with its privileges of being able to go to University, is conditional on passing exams at seventeen.

Vivian Featherswallow passed her exams and hopes to become a dragon linguist. She already knows six dragon languages. But when her parents are arrested as being part of the rebellion, and her cousin taken as well, Viv will do anything to save them – even set free an imprisoned criminal dragon to burn the prime minister’s office where they’ve got the evidence against her parents.

Well, that doesn’t work so well, and let’s just say that the rebellion heats up. Viv has a chance to redeem herself if she’ll work on solving a dragon code – at a place called Bletchley.

I laughed when Bletchley was mentioned, because it’s the current favorite topic in children’s books. Last year, off the top of my head, there was Max in the House of Spies, The Bletchley Riddle, and The Enigma Girls. This time, the top secret folks at Bletchley were trying to figure out what the dragons were saying with their high-pitched squeaks and clicks (like bats or whales) above the pitch that human ears can hear, but able to be modified by a clever machine.

Okay, up to this point I was all in. I loved the nuances of the dragon languages Viv knows (because yes! It makes sense that dragons would develop their own languages). But I had a little trouble with the whole Bletchley code-breaking apparatus applied to it. They were trying to figure out what the dragons meant with “Trill #4” or “Tone #11” – and I never did understand how the codebreakers even learned which pitch was which, let alone what they meant.

Beyond that, though, there are bullies guarding them and more and more reasons to join the rebel side, but Viv has been promised her whole family (including her baby sister, now in an orphanage) will go free if she gives the prime minister the key to the “dragon code.” And it gets somewhat convoluted from there – who to trust, what’s going on. Mind you, this could be a case of I didn’t listen closely at a crucial point and lost the thread, but there was also a bit more Angst on the part of the main character about every decision than I care for in a novel, and her decisions did go back and forth, so it was hard to keep track of what she was trying to do. It was also a little bit hard to believe anyone would have accepted the dystopian society they were living in. And there was some awful violence portrayed. I mean, they’re fighting with dragons, so what did I expect?

All that said, I loved the idea of sentient dragons who are not exactly tame dragons, living together with humans in a fragile peace. The story did not end with this book, and things are very likely about to get much worse, but it did end at a satisfying pausing point. Despite those quibbles, I’m fascinated enough by this book, I’m sure I’ll want to hear more.

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Review of Jim! Six True Stories about One Great Artist: James Marshall, by Jerrold Connors

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Jim!

Six True Stories about One Great Artist: James Marshall

by Jerrold Connors

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2025. 72 pages.
Review written September 3, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

The perfect picture book biography exists, and I have just read it!

Jerrold Connors takes six stories that give us the essence of James Marshall’s life, and he relates them with words and art that perfectly mimic James Marshall’s style. The stories even have the punch of a George and Martha story!

I adore the George and Martha books, and this book borrows their format in a brilliant homage to their creator. The stories are numbered, as in George and Martha. They are: “The Book,” about creating Miss Nelson Is Missing with his friend Harry; “How Cute!” about how annoying it was to have his work called cute and his history as a classical musician; “Friendly Competition,” about his friends Maurice (Maurice wears a “Wild Thing” shirt.) and Arnold, who were also writers; “The Award” about how he would have liked to win an award but how his partner Billy reminded him that great art is about putting yourself in your work; “The School Visit” about his second-grade teacher who told him he’d never be an artist and served as the inspiration for Viola Swamp; and “The Hospital,” about how kids will remember him, because kids are really smart.

An Author’s Note ties it all together with more details about James Marshall’s life, but please be aware that my summary doesn’t begin to convey the charm of this book. Anyone who loves George and Martha (and who could possibly not?) will be absolutely delighted with this book.

jerroldconnors.com

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