Mirka is objectively fantastic, yes, but she is only a small part of what made me race through Hereville the way I did.Īs I mentioned before, there aren’t nearly enough fantasy books out there about eleven-year-old Orthodox Jewish girls. (And I promise, that sentence will make sense when you read the book.)īut, as with so many of the other books I review for this site, the protagonist is not the only thing I love. When a pig begins disrupting her life, she doesn’t run to someone for help she fights. Mirka fits solidly with these other heroines (and hero), but the difference is that she actively seeks out her destiny. Snow White ignores the dwarfs’ warnings and accepts gifts from a mysterious old lady who appears at her door, Cinderella doesn’t keep as close an eye on the clock as she should, and Hansel and Gretel decide eating a house made of bread is a good plan. Of course, no fairy tale would exist if the protagonists did everything that they were supposed to do. She also walks up to a witch’s house and picks a grape, despite this going against every rule of fairy tales that we know. She goes to school, keeps up with her homework, and tries to learn how to knit, even though she lacks the patience for it. She squabbles with her siblings but is willing to get into fights with older boys to protect them, chafes against her not-so-wicked stepmother, and dreams of someday fighting a dragon. She is right in the middle of a group of several siblings and step-siblings, and she is the perfect protagonist. Mirka is exactly what the book cover describes, but there’s so much more to her than that. When I actually began to read it, I fell even more in love. I came to all of these conclusions just from looking at the cover of the book. What she can do, just about anyone else can do. She is not radically different from other young girls.

Not only does she fight trolls, but she is yet another eleven-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl who fights trolls. Not only is she an eleven-year-old girl in a fantasy book (and there are not nearly enough fantasy books starring eleven-year-old girls, in my opinion), but she comes from a culture that is very underrepresented in modern fantasy, whether it’s aimed at adults or younger readers.

Everything about that title fits with what I believe should exist in books, especially fantasy books. Yet Another Troll-Fighting 11-Year-Old Orthodox Jewish Girl. The full title is Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, but it was the little description at the top of the book that really drew me in. If someone checks out a book that looks interesting, everyone reads it.

I did the same for Welcome to Night Vale and The Lunar Chronicles, and it’s a generally accepted practice by everyone. My mom has borrowed the copy of Girl Waits with Gun that I checked out last week, and I’ve been hovering over my sibling’s shoulder for Ms. Library book swapping is almost a habit among my family.

Hereville how mirka got her sword