by Joan Holub
Breaking branch, or flaring flame,
Freya of all-seeing fame,
Welcome to my throne and hall.
Have you come to fix our . . . ?
She had failed to guess an answer then, but now one came to her: wall! He’d wanted the wall fixed, and now it was. And it was sort of due to her presence here that Mason had wound up fixing it!
Odin’s voice boomed suddenly, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Welcome, students of Asgard Academy! By now you have completed your first days at the academy. As you know, we invited you all here from many different worlds for a purpose,” he said while stroking the ravens on each of his shoulders. “It is our sincere hope that you will strive to work well together, so you may serve as a good example to others. For you have the power to inspire all nine worlds to live forever in peace and harmony!”
“Which is good for Yggdrasil!” Frey shouted out.
“Yes!” Odin cheered. He punched both fists so high and hard that the ravens on his shoulders flapped away and went to circle overhead.
“Now, I know it’s a big adjustment for you being among so many new faces here at Asgard Academy,” Odin went on. “So I have some advice.” Pausing, he got that faraway look Freya remembered from her first visit to his hall. She thought she knew what that look meant, and sure enough, he launched into a new poem:
“You didn’t ask to come to this place,
Where everything may seem strange.
But with the help of newfound friends
It could be a wonderful . . .”
“Change!” Freya yelled in unison with almost every single student at the wall. The fact that they’d all been able to supply the correct word to him right away made her realize something. That other students probably felt the same way she did about leaving their homes and their former friends and lives behind. Like Odin had said, being among new faces wasn’t easy. Given enough time, would all these students grow used to the change and begin to mingle and mix? She hoped so. Then maybe, just maybe, the academy would start to feel more like home to them all. But was she prepared to call it home herself?
As Freya considered this, Ms. Frigg spoke up. “Students, we now ask that each of you please turn to someone standing close by, someone you don’t yet know well, and introduce yourself.”
At this request the majority of the students shared quick, shy, excited, nervous glances at those standing near them.
Woo-hoo! Od was still standing next to Freya, and since she really only barely knew him, Freya stuck out her hand so they could shake. “Very nice to meet you, Freya,” Od told her, even though he already knew her name, of course. He pumped her hand up and down.
“Right back at you,” she replied, which made him laugh. He thought her funny? This made her feel like doing one of the light-elves’ happy dances. Then and there she vowed she would not wash that hand for a whole year if she could help it!
After these introductions were made, Ms. Frigg went on. “Now, students, please turn in a new direction. Shake hands and introduce yourself to someone else you don’t know well.”
When Freya turned, her smile drooped at the sight of Angerboda, who had the exact same drooping-smile reaction upon seeing her. Recovering quickly, however, Freya reached out her hand. And to her surprise, so did Angerboda. But before their palms could connect, Angerboda whipped hers up to smooth her own snow-white hair back. It had been a sneaky fake-out handshake, clearly meant to embarrass Freya.
Some friendships wouldn’t come easily, it seemed. Freya hoped Odin and Ms. Frigg knew that. She smiled big at Angerboda anyway. It was clearly not the reaction the girlgiant had expected, and she almost smiled back! But she caught herself in the nick of time and walked off with her nose in the air.
Freya’s smile just got bigger. Because she had almost gotten Angerboda to smile! It was at that very moment that Freya made a decision to embrace her changed life. Once and for all, she abandoned her secret plan to return to Vanaheim. She and her brother could do more good here. Like he was fond of saying, they would bloom where they were planted. Here at Asgard Academy!
16
Clomp!
TOOOT! A WEEK LATER FREYA, Sif, Idun, and Skade were returning from Midgard Mall via the Bifrost Bridge when they heard Heimdall’s horn calling everyone to dinner. Freya had gotten separated from her podmates when she stopped to fish a pebble from her boot. Now she ran to rejoin them.
“Let’s beat everyone else to the V!” she yelled as she caught up. The four girls took off like the wind. Clomp! Clomp! Freya was pleased to note that her podmates’ boots made almost as much noise as hers!
“So you’re what all the racket is!” boomed Heimdall as the foursome clattered to a stop at the top of the bridge. “I thought a storm was coming! You girls sound like thunder in those boots.”
“We’re hungry!” Freya exclaimed.
“You did call us to dinner,” Skade added.
“So I did,” chuckled Heimdall. Stepping aside, he gestured toward the golden doors. “Power on, thunder-girls!”
That’s it! thought Freya as they tumbled through the portal.
“Hey! Remember how we wanted a strong pod name?” she said to the others the second they landed on the fernway that would take them to the Valhallateria.
They all nodded. “Well, what says girl power more than thunder?” she hinted, waiting for them to catch on.
Light dawned in the other three girls’ eyes. “You mean . . . THUNDER GIRLS?” they shouted in unison. Jumping around happily, they yelled out things like “Yeah!” “Perfect!” “Love it!”
“Woo-hoo!” Freya shouted. “We are the mighty Thunder Girls!”
“Blunder Girls?” echoed a squirrelly voice from somewhere up in Yggdrasil’s branches. “That’s what you named your pod? Weird, but whatever. I must go tell everyone!”
“Look—Ratatosk!” said Idun, pointing.
“Ymir’s ears! He heard us wrong. And now he’s off to tell the worlds the wrong pod name for us,” said Sif.
“No! We’re the Thunder Girls!” Skade called after him. The girls started clomping and waving, causing Ratatosk to look back.
“Yeah, I heard you! Lumber Girls it is!” Ratatosk assured them, still rushing away atop a wide branch. The girls groaned at the squirrel’s botched attempts to get their name right. But then they all started to laugh.
“Hey! Let’s show that squirrelly Ratatosk some of our power right now,” Freya said to her friends. “Our pod name on three. All together, okay?”
“One! Two! Three!” they counted aloud. Then they all four punched fists into the air like Odin had done a week earlier on the wall. Their yell, when it came, shook the leaves on the branches around them and caused Ratatosk to almost topple off the branch he was traveling on. No way he’d missed that. For they’d yelled their new name loud and proud, and with all their might:
“THUNDER GIRLS!”
Authors’ Note
TO WRITE EACH BOOK IN the Thunder Girls series, we choose one or more Norse myths and then give them an updated middle-grade twist. After deciding on what elements we’ll include from various retellings of the myths, we freely add interesting and funny details in order to create meaningful and entertaining stories we hope you’ll enjoy.
We also write the Goddess Girls middle-grade series, which features Greek mythology. So why write another kind of mythology now too? Good question! Our enthusiasm for Norse mythology strengthened after Suzanne began frequent visits to her daughter and granddaughter, who live in Oslo, Norway. There, representations of the Norse gods and goddesses and their myths are found in many museums. Along the walls in the courtyard of the Oslo City Hall, there are painted wooden friezes (by painter and sculptor Dagfin Werenskiold) that illustrate motifs from various Norse myths. These friezes are the inspiration for the Valhallateria friezes that come alive at the end of meals in Thunder Girls!
We hope our series will motivate you to seek out actual retellings of Norse myths, which will al
so give you more understanding of and “inside information” about characters, myths, and details we’ve woven into Thunder Girls. Below are some of the sources we consult to create our stories.
• D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire (for young readers)
• The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland
• The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson
• The Poetic Edda translated and edited by Jackson Crawford
• Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs by John Lindow
• Norse Mythology A to Z by Kathleen N. Daly
For more about the art and friezes at Oslo City Hall, visit theoslobook.no/2016/09/03/oslo-city-hall.
Happy reading!
Joan and Suzanne
Acknowledgments
MANY THANKS TO OUR PUBLISHER, Aladdin/Simon & Schuster, and our editor, Alyson Heller, who gave an immediate and supportive yes to our idea to write a Norse mythology–based middle-grade series. Alyson edits both Goddess Girls and Heroes in Training, our ongoing Greek mythology–based series for children. We have worked with her for many years and feel very lucky to be doing another new series with her and the other fine folk at Aladdin. They help make our words shine, design fabulous art to make our books stand out, and make every effort to see that our books reach as many readers as possible.
We are also indebted to our literary agent, Liza Voges. She has championed us in all our joint series ventures and worked hard on our behalf and on behalf of our books. Thank you, Liza!
We are grateful to Danish artist Pernille Ørum for her striking jacket for this first book in our Thunder Girls series, and we look forward to more of her jackets for other books in the series.
Finally, we thank our husbands, George Hallowell and Mark Williams, for offering advice when asked, troubleshooting computer problems, and just making our lives richer and easier. During hectic times in our writing schedules they’re always good sports, taking up the slack of daily chores without complaint.
About the Authors
JOAN HOLUB is the New York Times bestselling author of over 150 books for young readers, including Little Red Writing, Zero the Hero, Mighty Dads, This Little Trailblazer: A Girl Power Primer, and What Is the Statue of Liberty? She also coauthors the Goddess Girls series with the amazing Suzanne. Joan loves her home, friends, and cats, like Freya; enjoys apples, like Idun; can ski, though maybe not as well as Skade; and has amazing golden hair, like Sif. (Okay, so maybe she only wishes this last one were true!) Visit her at joanholub.com.
SUZANNE WILLIAMS is a former elementary school librarian and the author of over seventy books for children, including the award-winning picture books Library Lil (illustrated by Steven Kellogg) and My Dog Never Says Please (illustrated by Tedd Arnold) and several chapter book and middle-grade series. She coauthors the Goddess Girls series with the fantastic Joan. Suzanne is excited to be cowriting a Norse mythology–based series, since she frequently travels from her home near Seattle to the Nordic country of Norway. She loves reading, being with family and friends, walking, and yoga. She isn’t a skier, but she likes snow. And she wishes she could take classes at a school as magical as Asgard Academy. Visit her at suzanne-williams.com.
Aladdin
Simon & Schuster, New York
VISIT US AT SIMONANDSCHUSTER.COM/KIDS
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Joan-Holub
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Suzanne-Williams
Glossary
NOTE: PARENTHESES INCLUDE INFORMATION specific to the Thunder Girls series.
Aesir: Norse goddesses and gods who live in Asgard
Alfheim: World on the first (top) ring where light-elves live
Alfrigg: One of the dwarf blacksmiths who help craft Freya’s necklace
Amma: Means “grandmother” (nickname for Gullveig)
Angerboda: Loki’s giantess wife whose name means “distress-bringer” (angry Asgard Academy student and girlgiant)
Asgard: World on the first (top) ring where Aesir goddesses and gods live
Berling: One of the dwarf blacksmiths who help craft Freya’s necklace
Bifrost Bridge: Red, blue, and green rainbow bridge built by the Aesir from fire, air, and water
Bragi: God of poetry (student at Asgard Academy and boygod)
Breidablik Hall: Hall of the Norse god Balder (boys’ dorm at Asgard Academy)
Brising: Freya’s necklace, shortened from Brísingamen (Freya’s magic jewel)
Brokk: Dwarf blacksmith who works with his brother, Sindri, in Darkalfheim
Darkalfheim: World on the second (middle) ring where dwarfs live
Dvalin: One of the dwarf blacksmiths who help craft Freya’s necklace
Dwarfs: Short blacksmiths in Darkalfheim (some of whom attend Asgard Academy)
Frey: Vanir god of agriculture and fertility whose name is sometimes spelled Freyr, brother of Freya (Freya’s twin brother and Asgard Academy student and boygod)
Freya: Vanir goddess of love and fertility (Vanir girlgoddess of love and beauty who is an Asgard Academy student)
Frigg: Goddess of marriage, who is Odin’s wife (coprincipal of Asgard Academy with Odin)
Fire giants: Terrifying giants that live in Muspelheim
Frost giants: Descendants of Ymir from Jotunheim
Gladsheim Hall: Sanctuary where twelve Norse gods hold meetings (Asgard Academy’s assembly hall)
Grerr: One of the dwarf blacksmiths who help craft Freya’s necklace
Gullveig: Vanir sorceress whose gold-hunting in Asgard causes the Aesir-Vanir war (Freya and Frey’s nanny and assistant librarian at the Heartwood Library)
Hangerock: Sleeveless apronlike dress, with shoulder straps that are fastened in front by clasps, that is worn over a long-sleeved linen shift
Heimdall: Watchman of the gods (security guard at Asgard Academy)
Helheim: World on the third (bottom) ring inhabited by the evil dead and ruled by a female monster named Hel
Hlidskjalf: Odin’s throne
Hugin: One of Odin’s two ravens whose name means “thought”
Idun: Aesir goddess who is the keeper of the golden apples of youth (Asgard Academy student and girlgoddess)
Ivaldi’s Sons: Four dwarf blacksmiths that craft Freya’s necklace—Alfrigg, Berling, Dvalin, and Grerr
Jotun: Norse word for “giant”
Jotunheim: World on the second (middle) ring where frost giants live
Kvasir: Vanir god sent to Asgard at the end of the Aesir-Vanir war who offered helpful information (Asgard Academy student and boygod from Vanaheim)
Light-elves: Happy Asgard Academy students from Alfheim
Loki: Troublemaking, shape-shifting god of fire (Asgard Academy student and boygod)
Midgard: World on the second (middle) ring where humans live
Mimir: Wise Aesir god who was beheaded and revived by Odin (“head” librarian at Asgard Academy)
Mimir’s Well: Well of wisdom at the end of Yggdrasil’s second root in Jotunheim
Munin: One of Odin’s two ravens whose name means “memory”
Muspelheim: World on the third (bottom) ring where fire giants live
Nerthus: Freya and Frey’s mother, a peace-bringing earth goddess who drives a cart pulled by cows
Nidhogg: Dragon that lives in Niflheim
Niflheim: World on the third (bottom) ring where the good dead are sent
Njord: Vanir god of the sea sent to Asgard after the Aesir-Vanir war (Asgard Academy student and boygod from Vanaheim)
Norse: Related to the ancient people of Scandinavia, a region in Northern Europe that includes Denmark, Norway, and Sweden and sometimes Finland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands
Od: Norse god who is Freya’s lost husband (Asgard Academy student and boygod who tends to get lost)
Odin: Powerful Norse god of war, wisdom, and poetry who watches over all nine worlds (coprincipal of Asgard Academy with his wife, Ms. Frigg)
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p; Ragnarok: Prophesied doomsday when goddesses and gods will fight a fiery battle against evil that could destroy all nine Norse worlds
Ratatosk: Squirrel that runs up and down Yggdrasil spreading gossip and insults
Rudl: Norse folk dance
Runes: Ancient, magical Norse symbols carved in wood, stone, or metal and used like alphabet letters to form words
Sif: Golden-haired goddess of the harvest (Asgard Academy student and girlgoddess)
Sindri: Dwarf blacksmith who works with his brother, Brokk, in Darkalfheim
Skade: Goddess of skiing, sometimes spelled Skadi (Asgard Academy student and half-giant girl)
Thor: Superstrong Norse god of thunder and storms (Asgard Academy student and boygod)
Trolls: Subgroup of giants who live in Ironwood Forest near Midgard (barefoot troublemakers at Bifrost Bridge)
Valhalla: Huge room in Asgard where dead warriors feast and fight (Valhallateria, Asgard Academy’s cafeteria)
Valkyries: Warrior maidens in winged helmets who choose which warriors will die in battle and then bring them to Valhalla (cafeteria ladies and workers in Asgard Academy’s Valhallateria)
Vanaheim: World on the first (top) ring where Vanir goddesses and gods live
Vanir: Norse goddesses and gods that live in Vanaheim
Vingolf Hall: Goddesses’ meeting hall at Asgard (girls’ dorm at Asgard Academy)
Yggdrasil: Enormous ash tree that links all nine ancient Norse worlds, also called the World Tree (location of Asgard Academy)
Ymir: Very first frost giant whose body parts grew into the world of Midgard
ALSO BY JOAN HOLUB & SUZANNE WILLIAMS
The Goddess Girls series
The Heroes in Training series
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.