Needing some feel-good happy energies, I've been checking the middle grade school level books Goddess Girls and Thunder Girls by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams. Yes, even at 40-years-old I still enjoy reading children, teen, and young adult books. It's good for my Inner Child and I don't care what others think I should be reading at my age! I read plenty of scholar-level books. My brain and soul needs a break from time-to-time. Plus I have kids in elementary and middle school--I like to check out what they're reading or may want to read.
* Just a heads up, I'm fairly new to writing my own book reviews. I am far from a professional. This post derails few times. I enjoyed these books and felt like talking about them, and maybe others will want to check them out, too.
I also have dyslexia and I don't have an editor. *
The Goddess Girls deal with Greek Mythology and the Thunder Girls with Norse Mythology. Although neither are true to those ancient stories–the series are more of Modern Retelling for middle school kids. Basically, it's about these 12-year-old god kids who attend school to learn how to be gods and goddesses. I've read Hestia the Invisible, Hecate the Witch, and Freya and the Magic Jewel. I loved Hestia and Hecate, but only liked the Freya version. The authors changed a lot of the Norse myths to fit into their story, which is fine, but not my cuppa. Ditto with the Greek ones, but for some reason that doesn't bother me that much. Perhaps because I grew up with the Greek stories and am used to the creative changes and many modern retellings? Whereas with the Norse stories, I've only been seriously studying them since 2019-2020, so my brain still goes and annoyingly corrects these teenager level books. "That's not right...but that's okay! It's modern mythology!" Although I really didn't like that the authors made Snorri Sturluson the history teacher.
I actually really enjoyed Hecate the Witch and devoured it within an hour! I also love how the artwork depicts Hecate as non-white. Hecate isn't Greek--She's older than those stories, adopted from another culture. I really appreciate the little bit of diversity there!
Honestly, before Loki Fox entered my life around 2017, I wasn't even interested in any of the Norse Pantheon. I had interactions with Skadi, Baldur, and Odin before Loki, but I only thought They were present because my husband is a Norse Pagan, and as a Hearth Keeper, I was sure to keep up on the offerings to all of our families entities. And before 2017, the first Norse story that I had read years before was when Loki tied his testicles to a goat to make Skadi laugh. That story was my first introduction to Norse Mythology! And I still love it.
Again, I don't know why Joan and Suzanne's middle school retelling of the Norse myths bothers me so, but I'll get over it eventually. That being said, I'm still planning on reading Skade, Idun, and Sif's stories, too, as well as many of the other Goddess Girls. I liked how the authors not only included Norse terminology, but they also explained what those words meant, and have a glossary in the back of their book (now I'm not sure if the glossary is true to the myths or to the series, I'd only skimmed it). Maybe that's also true of the first Goddess Girls book, I dunno, I haven't read that one. I saw that they had written about Hestia--who hardly has anything, let alone retellings--written about Her, and I snatched it up first!
I loved reading mythology since I was a kid, and it was interesting to read what really happens in those stories when you're older. Plus it opens up discussions between us and our kids. They read the watered down children's version, and we can discuss--while also keeping it age appropriate--the different versions of the stories, be these tellings ancient or modern.
I love modern mythology and retellings. I am not one of those people who believe that the ancient surviving stories are the end-all, be-all of the Gods. Why are those ancient authors more correct about these entities than us? We only have what survived, and before it was written, it was part of a long line of oral tradition. Stories that have changed many many many many times before they were written down. Even then what's survived is according to whomever wrote it, and whomever translated it. My gods are living now, not stuck in the past. Myths can tell you about the times that they were written in, so it make sense to me that myths should change with the times. Enough my soapbox!
I do approve of these books for my kids, too, which is a big reason why I started reading them, to make sure they were okay for my pagan kids and didn't have any obvious Christian overtones. Like in Hecate the Witch, the word Daemon wasn't bastardized to mean demon or evil (also witches may have been a little gross, but they weren't inherently evil--often we witches automatically get a bad rap especially in children's stories). Daimon means Spirit, and was once used for all Greek Deities. Also Loki wasn't turned into some Devil; he's just a mischievous kid, who did mean and nice things, like in the myths.
I actually really enjoyed Hecate the Witch and devoured it within an hour! I also love how the artwork depicts Hecate as non-white. Hecate isn't Greek--She's older than those stories, adopted from another culture. I really appreciate the little bit of diversity there!
I also love how these 12-year-old Goddess Girls and God Boys have problems with confidence, anxiety, shyness, and worries just like regular mortal kids, while also pulling in some of their personality from the old stories. It was relatable, even for this witch. Even more for my kids, to help take away the awesome barrier of these beings, and to help establish and strengthen a connection between mortal and immortal. Sometimes Deities can come across as untouchable and quite scary. Their energy can certainly be overwhelming, especially if you're new to these kinds of experiences. If you come from a religion like Christianity, some sects teach that a regular person can't communicate back-and-forth with God or Jesus--that you need a Middle Man--clergy. Well, a lot of Paganism is different. A good chunk of us know that anyone can communicate with the Gods and Spirits, if you have the ability to hear Them. As a Priestess, I'm telling you that a Middle Man Clergy isn't always necessary. I try to help people realize this. Like I always tell my kids, "Just talk to Them and learn how to listen. Watch out for signs, or random thoughts in your head, or use tools, such as a super easy to make, pendulum!" My middle kid loves talking to Hekate and his spirit guides with his pendulum. I think by making these entities more human--I guess--it can help kids form real connections, without the fear and lies that they need someone else to talk to Them or that they'll die or offend these beings. In my experience, the Gods aren't as easily offended as They are in the stories. There's often quite a difference between Myth God Character and the Real Gods. Sometimes I see mythology as deity fanfiction--not all of it, of course. I have many of my own modern mythologies from my personal experiences and trance journeys.
Kids often have psychic abilities that life makes dormant, so that as adults they either don't have them anymore, they're too dormant, or like me, they may have to go on quite the healing journey to wake them up. (I believe that humans are naturally born with psychic abilities.)
Now was any of these the intentions of the authors? I highly doubt it. These books are just another--well researched--book series for kids to help them be strong, kind, and confident. I honestly don't know if the authors are Pagans, Spiritual, or just big fans of mythology! Obviously one doesn't need to be pagan/spiritual to write a good book about the Gods and Spirits with such love and care.
If you have a Goodreads, I have a shelf dedicated to Pagan and Non-Pagan/Pagan-friendly books for kids. I haven't read all of these books, but have found many of them from recommendations from others. Many books put witches in a good light. Again not all are specifically pagan or spiritual, such as the nature books. I figure it's just good ole education that pagan kids need. Nothing more annoying than someone who claims to love nature, yet knows nothing about real scientific nature. My kids learn the spiritual and the scientific, just as I did growing up.
Thank yall for the support!
- Priestess Oracle Foxlyn Wren
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