We actually know very little about the goddess. Her main feature is that she's married to Thor. It's not even known exactly what she was the goddess of, but fertility and the earth both make sense. There is a myth about Loki cutting off Sif's beautiful golden hair and Thor making him get her a replacement, as well as numerous other gifts. Loki has the dwarves craft golden hair for Sif. (The Marvel character has black hair, because they changed the story. Loki couldn't pay the dwarves for gold hair and instead she got hair made from "the blackness of night.")
Thunder Girls' version of Sif is the goddess of the harvest, which grows successfully as long as her hair remains healthy. She is capable of shapeshifting into two things: a swan and a rowan tree. She's also a seer, but differently than Freya. She gets feelings from rune tiles and also has prophetic dreams. Not sure why they gave her the prophecy powers when the actual goddess has none, because they already have a seer in Freya, but it works for Sif, too.
The book opens in Runes class with Sif struggling to read hers. She's dyslexic, though it's never named that. Loki and Thor are also in the class and butt heads. Sif's word is mjollnir while Loki's is klippa (to cut).
After class, Sif returns to her pod and finds Freya there reading. Freya wants to give Sif a new hairstyle. While she's doing this, the girls talk about Sif's day. Freya thinks Sif and Thor are crushing on each other, and that Loki may like her, too, which is why he both teases her and has conflict with Thor. Idun returns home and tells about an eagle that stole one of her apples. Both Freya and Sif think this was Loki. Sif goes in search of Loki to tell him off, but runs into Skade, who bought a new pair of boots at the mall. Skade's got a definite boot obsession! Then Sif hears Thor coming, so she takes her rowan form. He's driving his goat-drawn chariot wildly, because the goats were spooked. Likely by Loki, Sif thinks. Loki soon appears and outs Sif, as he thinks a random rowan growing on Yggdrasil is weird. There are a couple rules of shapeshifting. If someone is touching your shifted form and commands you return to human form, you're forced to. Likewise, if someone is touching you, you cannot shift forms. Loki and Sif face off with Thor helping her out a bit, then Loki flees and Sif and Thor are left to slight awkwardness.
At dinner, Idun says giants have been stealing wheat from Midgard (the human realm). Skade, Idun and Freya decide to try to get the giant students to say whether or not there's a plot or not during Freya's latest party, while Sif goes to the library to research Ragnarok and prophesying. There's a long scene in the library, but the most important part is that she falls asleep reading and when she wakes up, her hair has been cut off. Like down to an inch of stubble cut off. Sif is very upset, not only because she loved her hair, but because its health is connected to the wheat on Midgard and without that wheat, humans may starve and the gods themselves won't have enough wheat either.
After telling Thor and the other Thunder Girls about what Loki did, Sif has a prophetic dream in which she sees that she has to get Loki to go to the dwarves to get gifts, including new hair for her. Thor and the Thunder Girls work together to make Loki promise to get Sif some new hair, plus five other gifts.
Not trusting Loki, Sif and Freya fly off behind him in Freya's kittycart. They watch as he gets Sif's hair, plus a boat and spear from one set of dwarves, then trick another pair into making three more gifts. Only Odin has to judge which set of gifts is the best with the price being Loki's head if Odin picks the second set of dwarf gifts. The second set, which contains a self-reproducing bracelet, a golden boar...and Mjollnir. Upon returning, the gifts are handed out. Odin receives the spear and replicating bracelet. Sif, of course, gets her hair. Freya's brother Frey gets both boat and boar. And naturally, Mjollnir goes to Thor, the only person who can lift it. Odin judges Mjollnir the best gift, thus making Loki's head up for grabs, except Loki counters that he never said the dwarves could have his eyes, throat, mouth, etc. In retaliation, they make him unable to open his mouth for a day.
So Sif's powers are restored, she comes to terms with being a seer, and she makes up with her childhood friend Lofn at the end of the book.
I enjoyed this one, but felt it could have improved in a few places. I don't like how handsy Loki is. I'm not sure that's the best message in a modern kids' book. He grabs Sif's arm when she's in tree form and he cuts her hair, yet his only comeuppance is...to not open his mouth for a day. I also thought Freya was in it a bit too much. She just had her own book, but she's the Thunder Girl with the secondmost screentime in this one, too. I want to spend more time with Idun and especially Skade. I guess Freya made sense to go off with Sif to spy on Loki, since she has transportation, but still. I'm definitely looking forward to starting Idun's book soon. I do like Sif as a character. She's the down to earth, no frills, practical one, which contrasts heavily to Freya's love and beauty and jewelry and hairstyles. Idun is the shy, quiet one and Skade is the loud, athletic, bold one. I was glad to see more screentime with the four girls bonding, too. All in all, another good entry into the series and I'll be tackling Idun's book next.
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