I'm so excited about this book as I don't think I've ever seen so much of myself represented in middle grade fantasy book! Thank you very much to NetGalley and Random House Children's Books for the opportunity to read this ARC ahead of publication day.

If I was to describe this book to the general public, I would say that it's Percy Jackson but set in Japanese mythology instead of Greek mythology. Momo is a 12 year old social outcast. The middle school she's at captures 7th grade social dynamics perfectly (according to my 11 year old daughter). There is a popular group of mean kids, including her former best friend Danny, who is also Japanese but was adopted by white parents. They ostracize Momo who has a reputation of being a bit odd due to her conversing with mythical creatures.

Well the joke is on them as it turns out the reason why Momo sees mythical creatures is because she is a demigod! Her mother is a Shinto goddess who has been banished from the mythical realm as she dared to fall in love with a mortal (I like this trope, as common as it is), and now the portal to the land of the dead is open! It's up to Momo with the help of a couple of sidekicks to save the world and her mom from peril danger.

Things I liked:
- The book was funny. Very appealing to the middle grade crowd.
- Great world building. Clearly setting up a sequel or a series as there were a lot of possibilities and I'm excited to see where it goes next.
- The mythology. Lots of different gods and goddesses and demons and spirit animals. I loved it! Nice shout out to the rabbit in the moon.
- Bay Area based.
- Very realistic kids. I see some reviews saying that the kids weren't that likeable, and well, middle school kids are not likeable. I say this as parent to one who has hoards of middle schoolers hanging out at my house. They are kind of unbearable at times.

Things that were meh:
- Danny. I didn't like Danny. I didn't think he was a good friend at all and I was sad about the foreshadowing that he would go back to his former popular/mean kid ways.
- Momo's mom! She annoyed me. Get your act together, lady! Your kid needs you! I was irked that Momo had to do so much of the caretaking of her mom.
- The plot got a little confusing at times. Especially some of the reveals towards the end.

All in all, a very enjoyable middle grade fantasy. Kids who love Rick Riordan presents books will love this one too. I can't wait for my 8 year old, who just so happens to be nicknamed Momo, gets her hands on it.

I thought this was a fun, adventurous tale. I very much enjoyed the concept and learning more about a mythology that I am not as familiar with. At times, the pacing was a bit difficult for me. It was slow to start, but then picked up in the middle and slowed down again towards the end. I really liked the characters and how they developed and changed throughout the story. I think readers that enjoy the Rick Riordan Presents books would likely enjoy this one as well.

All Momo wants for her twelfth birthday is an ordinary life—like everyone else’s. At home, she has to take care of her absentminded widowed mother. At school, kids ridicule her for mixing up reality with the magical stories her mother used to tell her.

But then Momo’s mother falls gravely ill, and a death hag straight out of those childhood stories attacks Momo at the mall, where she’s rescued by a talking fox . . . and “ordinary” goes out the window. It turns out that Momo’s mother is a banished Shinto goddess who used to protect a long-forgotten passageway to Yomi—a.k.a. the land of the dead. That passageway is now under attack, and countless evil spirits threaten to escape and wreak havoc across the earth.

Joined by Niko the fox and Danny—her former best friend turned popular jerk, whom she never planned to speak to again, much less save the world with—Momo must embrace her (definitely not “ordinary”) identity as half human, half goddess to unlock her divine powers, save her mother’s life, and force the demons back to Yomi.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was around 3 stars for me, but bumping it up to 4 since I'm not the demographic for middle grade stories and most of my issues are things I see as an adult and the actual children this book is fore won't mind.

Overall I like the concept of this story - Momo is on a journey of self discovery and danger to save her mother. After finding out that her mother is a Goddess and the world is filling with evil spirits that only Momo can help stop, she sets out to do just that. Facing her own past and the past of her parents we follow Momo on her journey. As an adult reader it's predictable and hard to feel the connection between the characters (besides Momo and her mother), but I can see how young readers would enjoy this story.

I think this is another case of “It’s not you, it’s me.” If YA bothers me more often than not, I suppose I’ve far outgrown MG. I’ve read Misa before. Gave Love & Other Natural Disasters three stars. This just read like a very juvenile Japanese esque The Lightning Thief, which, to be fair, if I reread today, I probably wouldn’t enjoy. We’ll see. Or we won’t see.

Momo is a rather young and impressionable girl that learns her mother is a goddess. Everyone keeps on insisting that her father is human, but I’m not so sure. Obviously, I’m not going to stick around to find out. She is unpopular, but isn’t everyone in these little stories? A friend that’s not a friend that becomes a friend again joins her on her quest. I know, so confusing. And annoying. So does a fox, because Japanese mythology.

Remember that time when MKA starred as Chloe and Riley and so many millennials named their babies that? Well, there’s a kid named Ryleigh here. I vomited over the spelling.

I cannot wait to purchase this book when it releases. In a book extremely reminiscent of Rick Riordan as well as other books published under his imprint which this book is not (and done much better than a lot of those even than some of Riordan's own books), Sugiura explores so much of the characters as well as the relationships between them and creates an absolutely amazing book. I loved the incorporation of Japanese mythology and cannot wait to read more. I will also pick up Sugiura's backlist as well.

This was another fun world mythology based book. I enjoyed Momo and look forward to her further adventures.

This book is so much fun, and you don’t have to know about Japanese folklore and mythology to enjoy it. What appears to be a socially outcast twelve-year-old, turns out to be the one who is going to save the world. And her companions? A fox with a secret, and a boy, Danny, that used to be her friend, but is now one of the cool kids.

I love middle grade fiction, because it can go anywhere, and usually does. This story is so much fun, with great descriptions, and funny bits, and things that aren’t as they seem, such as gods that like to perform rock guitar, and have the dad bods.

The action is happening in the 2020s, at some point, and everyone, even the gods speak in the vernacular. And Danny, when told how Momo’s mother had a binding spell to keep the demons out, said “Bruh. That’s badass.”

And then there are descriptions that make me wish I had written them. When describing how the language of the gods and spirits sounded: We’d been speaking something that sounded like water curling over smooth rocks in a stream.

The whole story kept me on my toes, as I tried to figure out the fox’s secret, why Danny was the way he was, and what was going on. Surprised me the whole way.

And the author has already planned out the next books in the series. (Not a spoiler that she doesn't die at the end of this one.)

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

Absolutely loved this story. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a fun story. I adored the characters so much.

This was an amazing book! I love the ties to mythology and how Momo and her friends worked together to defeat their enemy. The plot was done really well and I really enjoyed how it played out. This is a great book!

Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind is a perfect fit among other mythological YA stories! Fans of Rick Riordan, Roshani Chokshi, and Kwame Mbalia will love reading about Momo's adventures in a Shinto-inspired fantasy. Misa Sigiura does an excellent job pairing Japanese Shinto stories and histories with Momo and Danny's own strengths and insecurities.

For an MG book, this was kinda slow at first. Still, it resembles a lot of those Rick Riordan Presents books (I'd gotten used to all mythology-based books belonging to that, so I'm surprised this wasn't a part of it...) - just more slow. Still, it covered important themes that I love like A girl who's more responsible and nervous (with a lot of anger! - sounds like middle school me)! Toxic Masculinity! And the importance of family bonds! and Differences! So yeah, I think I might be interested in the next book even if it wasn't really right for me.

Also, I have a sneaking suspicion about her dad, so... I wanna know about that lol

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest review. This book was absolutely delightful. Fans of Percy Jackson will love this one as it has very similar vibes. Momo is an amazingly relatable middle school character that just wants to fit it, but an incredible journey is thrust upon her in order to save her mother’s life. The story covers a lot of Japanese mythology and does a really good job explaining it, so even if you go in not knowing the mythology, it’s easy to follow. It also really leans in to overcoming anxieties and fears while navigating fitting in with peers. It’s a great read that I’d recommend for any age, but am looking forward to sharing with my kids.

Action packed, well written adventure story perfect for fans of Rick Riordan and Percy Jackson. I loved the characters and that Momo battled for her mom and stood up to bullies at school. A strong female central character with an awesome cover is a plus! Thank you NetGalley for the early read!

This is an Amazing book, I really enjoyed reading it and would love to see more books like this. This would be a kid's dream book. The adventures, the thrill, and the determination of Momo make her seem strong.

I really enjoyed reading this and this was my first book by Misa Sugiura, I really became a fan after this. It had what I was hoping for and was glad I was able to read this. The story was really well done and it really worked beautifully with the mythology. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and the universe they live in. I really appreciate getting to read this and am glad I got to go on this journey. I hope there is more in this universe.

“They’re beautiful,” I breathed. Mom used to talk about dragons with a special sort of awe and wonder in her voice, and I wished I could tell her that I understood now, that I’d seen for myself what she had tried to tell me. I thought of her doing her best to share the magic and beauty of the world she knew, and how she must have felt when I told her it was all a bunch of baloney."

I found this book to be an honor to read. This is the kind of book that will spark young minds towards reading. The world build was great even before the paranormal occurrences begin. The characters were vividly portrayed and then the storyline takes off. Momo discovers that the stories he mother told her are true and with her fox hero the story engrossed me in it and it was a wonderful journey. I would highly recommend this book to all young readers and the young at heart. They will truly enjoy it.

Thank you, Random House Children's, Labyrinth Road, for allowing me to read Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind early!

Misa Sigura's debut middle-grade captivated me from the very first pages with its prose, and all the adventures and fun made for an incredible reading experience.

tl;dr
A fast-paced adventure for fans of preteen demi-gods featuring a relatable protagonist.

About
Momo Arashima is just trying to be a normal kid. But between seeing magical spirits who definitely aren't there, and her own general awkwardness, she's pretty sure she's stuck being the outcast forever. But when a magical fox shows up saying she's the only one who can stop the world from ending, she's going to have to learn to be anything but normal.

Thoughts
Wow! I wish I had this book when I was a kid, for a myriad of reasons, but most prominently, because it's a great adventure. It's fast-paced, fun, informative, and deeply relatable. The adventure moves very quickly, and with a bit of irreverence with an energy that will appeal to readers of the "pre teen demi-gods" genre. I also have a serious soft spot for stories about heroines with swords. Momo's struggles to fit in will resonate with any reader, but I appreciated the extra time spent on the difficulties of living in the diaspora. My heart really felt for Momo and Danny (and their parents) as they all did their best to figure out how and who to be. I also appreciated getting to peek into Momo's internal struggles with her own anger, and her attempts to learn how to channel it into healthy energy, rather than simply ignore it. While this book doesn't dedicate much time to that, the ending certainly implies we'll be getting more of it in the future, and I'm looking forward to it!

A fuller review will be posted on my blog two weeks before publishing! Here's the link in advance: https://mziniganmshiiken.wordpress.com/?p=189

This book was A LOT of fun! I was really excited when I saw the cover on NetGalley (who provided me a copy in exchange for an honest review) - I haven't read a lot of middle grade fiction featuring Japanese stories, so this was really exciting! Momo is a character who is loveable and so easy to root for, and her adventures in trying to save her Mom and also the world were thrilling. Sugiura tells the story flawlessly, weaving hints about what's to come throughout that make a re-read extremely fun. It also sounds like this will be a series - I'm definitely looking forward to the next one! Momo's adventures will be at the top of my recommendations when it's published. I'm so excited to share her story with my patrons!