Why we’re excited
Before she became Sumi of Confection, Onishi Sumiko was the overlooked younger child of an immigrant family. A door leads her into a candy world with rules that make no sense, and she has to decide whether to stay meek or turn gloriously illogical.
This is the twelfth Wayward Children book from Seanan McGuire, a series whose opener, Every Heart a Doorway, won the Hugo. Sumi is a reader favourite from earlier volumes, so her origin story has been a long time coming. Each novella mostly stands alone, but newcomers will get more from starting with Every Heart a Doorway.
On our most-anticipated list since 22 October 2026. See all the most anticipated books →
What to know about A Song of Sugar Sparrows
A Song of Sugar Sparrows is Book 12 in the Wayward Children series. Start with Book 1, Every Heart a Doorway. The book just before this one is Through Gates of Garnet and Gold.
Seanan McGuire is new to The Bookish Elf: none of their books has a review here yet.
At 160 pages it is shorter than most fantasy books out in January 2027, where the typical length is about 400 pages.
From the publisher
Nonsense and candy and the families we choose in the origin story of a beloved character in the latest installment of the Hugo Award-winning Wayward Children series.
Before there was Sumi, Promised Savior of Confection, there was Onishi Sumiko, a girl with no idea where she belonged.
Onishi Sumiko was born to be an invisible girl. The second child of immigrant parents, overshadowed by her brother, she seemed destined for a life of quiet obedience, never breaking free of the path that had been chosen for her.
Until a chance encounter with an impossible door sends her tumbling into a world of peppermint dreams and sugary nightmares, leaving her trapped in a candy-coated heart of darkness.
Forced to adapt to the world of Confection, where the rules are as unpredictable as they are nonsensical, Sumiko must decide whether she’s going to be a meek, logical victim of her own fate―or whether she’s going to stand up and become the illogical, impossible hero she was always meant to be.
Not all sweet dreams are safe ones, as Sumi will quickly discover for herself.
Description supplied by the publisher.
We haven’t read A Song of Sugar Sparrows yet. When our review goes up, it will replace this page.
