A Thousand Steps into Night
by Traci Chee
Middle School, High School    Clarion/HarperCollins    384 pp.    g
3/22    978-0-358-46998-8    $18.99
e-book ed.  978-0-358-46999-5    $9.99

Miuko is clumsy and loud, two qualities that are deemed unfeminine in the (fantastical, Japanese-coded) society she inhabits. While running an errand outside the protective village gates, she meets a demon spirit who kisses her, causing a blue spot to appear on her foot, a sign that she herself is turning into a demon. Shunned by her father, she sets out with Geiki, a magpie spirit who can shapeshift into a boy, to ask the House of ­December how to reverse the transformation. At the same time, a malevolent spirit, Tujiyazai, who has stolen the body of a prince, wants Miuko to embrace her demon nature and rule the world with him. As the action progresses, Miuko’s demon strength and fury make her unapologetic about championing other girls (as well as trans and nonbinary people) caught in restrictive gender roles. Amid the story’s abundance of spirits and gods inspired by Japanese folklore, cheerful, thieving Geiki supplies a leavening presence, providing Miuko with a solid friend to rely on. What starts out as a relatively standard quest fantasy undergoes a number of unexpected and inventive plot evolutions (time travel?!) that force Miuko to make some high-stakes choices before landing her, effortlessly, in the emotionally gratifying conclusion.

From the March/April 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.