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Jul 03, 2011

Stephen rated it:

WINNER: BESTest, BRILLIANTest, most EXCELLENTest, YA Novel in HistorYA!!!

I know, I know, that comes as a bit of a shocker, what with Potter, Percy and those Hunger Gamers running from all those Sparkly Emos and bumping into Bartimaeus hiding inside His Dark Materials waiting for some Giver of an Abhorsen to find their Wrinkle in Time to send them all back to Wonderland. Not to mention that AMAZO Genesis I read earlier this year (sorry I couldn't work it in above).

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25 comments like (81 people liked it)

Feb 19, 2012

The Holy Terror rated it:

It's hard to express in words just how lovely this book is, well, in my words that is; Valente's words are beyond magical.

She certainly did not see Death stand on her tip-toes and blow a kiss after her, a kiss that rushed through all the frosted leaves of the autumnal forest but could not quite catch a child running as fast as she could. As all mothers know, children travel faster than kisses. The speed of kisses is, in fact, what Doctor Fallow would call a cosmic constant. The speed of children

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6 comments like (20 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2012

Carol rated it:

The first two pages and I'm in love.

It's going on the "must buy" list, as well as the "must give" list.

The Girl sets all fairy tale conventions on their heads while managing to retain the spirit and charm of the best. In the tradition of the door-in-the-hedge fantasy, the trip through the closet into Fairyland is inventive and whimsical. Valente perhaps pokes fun at times, but always gently: "you will either perish most painfully or be forced to More...

4 comments like (13 people liked it)

Oct 16, 2011

Isabel marked it as to-read

I received this book as an elementary school graduation gift from the head teacher of the class, who gives each student a book and gives a speech on why she chose it.

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2012

Krystle rated it:

This book just wasn't for me. The writing style is so different, so whimsical, so fancy, that I can tell the author had a lot of fun stretching her vocabulary to the utmost and rolling around and playing in it till it came out in wonderfully wrapped paragraphs and pages. But I just didn't like it. There are so much things I had to remember, keep track of, and all that stuff that I just got so lost and became disinterested.

Don't get me wrong, the world building is creative and all sor More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

May 06, 2010

Sbuchler rated it:

Genre: Children's/Young Adult Fantasy

This has very much an Oz-like quality, including the early 20th century elaborate sentences - which I quite enjoyed, but it required a certain mood to read. The story follows the adventures of a young girl, September, though Fairyland as she meets various interesting individuals (which is strongly reminiscent of various interludes in Oz) and has conflicts with the nefarious Marquess. September comes from a world that seems somewhat World War 1 or More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 15, 2012

The Library Lady rated it:

There is an audience for this sort of thing among the sort of fully grown women who grew up reading George MacDonald, Frank Baum, James Barrie and all the other sentimental, precious fiction of an earlier era. And perhaps some of today's 21st century girls will grow up to be part of that audience.

Sorry fans, this is too derivative and too damn "twee" for me, and once more I am pissed off at librarians and other reviewers who review for the child in themselves rather than fo More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 12, 2011

Maree ♫ Light's Shadow ♪ rated it:

I think that I kinda liked this book. It was different, and I liked it for that, and it was great at pointing out story thoughts and plot ideas and the sort of things that happen in most stories, which I enjoy. It's called hanging a lantern in visual media, where they point out something because it's a little coincidental or whatnot, and it's done a lot here as we're reminded that it is a story and not real life. I liked it for that, but that also kept me away from the story in some ways beca More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 01, 2011

Elizabeth rated it:

Well devil if I know what to do with it.

Never complain that you are bored, ladies and gentlemen. Say such a thing and you might find that the universe has a couple tricks up its sleeve. Let's say, for example, that a certain children's librarian was getting bored with the state of fantasy today. Maybe she read too many Narnia rip-offs where a group of siblings is plunged into an alternate world to defeat a big bad blah blah blah. Maybe she read too many quest novels where plucky young More...

11 comments like (28 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2012

Ace rated it:

She certainly did not see Death stand on her tiptoes and blow a kiss after her, a kiss that rushed through all the frosted leaves of the autumnal forest, but could not quite catch a child running as fast as she could. As all mothers know, children travel faster than kisses. The speed of kisses is, in fact, what Doctor Fallow would call a cosmic constant. The speed of children has no limits.

Why I Read This

I’ve heard such good things about this and at less than two hundred and More...

11 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 02, 2011

Becky rated it:

This book is rather enchanting. They say it's in the tradition of Alice in Wonderland and the other greats, which it certainly is: magical creature arrives at a little girl's window to whisk her off to a magical kingdom (Peter Pan) from her dreary existence in a Great Plains State (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz). While in the magical kingdom, where there are plenty of large cats (The Golden Compass), the girl runs into a number of extraordinary characters and asks rather a lot of irritating questio More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 21, 2011

Teena rated it:

OK, I did say I was at page 34 and loving every minute of the book days ago, right? I'm now saying I love absolutely every letters of the book. Catherine M. Valente, you are on the verge of being my new favourite author.

The book started out as a traditional fantasy adventure story, with a young girl swept away to a fantastic world. Then as we met the characters, we knew all is not well in the Fairyland and the human world as well. September, our heroine, learnt these facts little by More...

8 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Shorty rated it:

Ok, so one thing I love about this book is the way the author plays with her prose. In fact, I wouldn't even call it prose, I would call it a theme park of words. But it's not too dense or whimsical. It's very readable. And the meaning and depth isn't cheapened by frilly nonsense.

Another reason to love this book is the characters. The main character and her band of merry men are all very touching in their own way. They each have their struggle, which is reminiscent of The Wiz More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2011

Laura rated it:

The Girl Who... combines the best of fairy tales and The Phantom Tollbooth, starting a series that I think middle grade readers will truly enjoy. There's wit, adventure, and just enough "ooh, that reminds me of ___" to keep readers from feeling as though this is something they've already read (a problem I'm finding in many newer books).

September (that's The Girl's name) is, like Milo, bored. Instead of finding a game, she finds a Wind who whisks her off of the back of a L More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 09, 2011

Crowinator rated it:

I am not sure how to rate this one, but my heart wants to give it five stars, so I will. This will not be a book for everyone -- a lot of it depends on being able to find delight in the idiosyncratic narrative (which is very keen on wordplay and intricate, layered sentences) even when it grows a bit tiresome -- but it really grew on me by the early-middle of the book. The omniscient narrator tells the story directly to you, the reader, and has such an intimate, confidential tone that eventually, More...

4 comments like (14 people liked it)

Jan 16, 2012

Anna-louise rated it:

This book took a while for me to get into mainly because the writing was so different to what i have been reading at the moment it just seemed so odd. I also felt naughty reading it, like a comprehensive student had stumbled about and came upon a private school book with the words so long and new in places and so eloquent. Once i got passed all that silliness and remembered that i actually like odd and different and love learning new words, i started to like the book the further i got into it. T More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 22, 2011

Leilani rated it:

I loved the main character September. She's a deeply thoughtful girl who craves adventure and is bored by convention, and who turns out to be much kinder and braver than she thought. She's quietly determined, loyal, and intelligent, and her adventures through Fairyland are marvelous.

The wyvern is adorable, and all the characters she meets along the way are vivid and interesting. As always, Valente's prose is luscious and colorful. The end is both dramatic and satisfying, and I'm More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2012

Heather rated it:

It would be impossible to review this book without comparing it to “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” “The Phantom Tollbooth,” and, to some extent, the Roald Dahl canon. For one thing, it is densely whimsical. And for another thing, Catherynne M. Valente is a word magician, bending phrases and flipping sayings and just generally making All The Words line up and do her bidding. In that respect, “The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making” is a wonder to behold.

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Jan 30, 2012

Jackie "the Librarian" rated it:

I used to check the backs of wardrobes for snowy woods, just in case.
I loved the language in this book. It was full of delicious descriptions of magical places and creatures, of beaches strewn with fairy gold, handsomely dressed witches, golems made of scraps of soap and named Lye. Who wouldn't want to be ravished off by by the Green Wind on a flying leopard to have adventures in such a place?
Our adventuress, a young girl named September, is described as being slightly heartless, a More...

4 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Melanie rated it:

I love reading fairy tales and fantasy novels. I especially love children’s fantasies because there is an innocence about them that you cannot find in the adult versions. I especially love it when a novel has a witty narrator to help move things along, pick on the protagonist, and clarify anything we might need to know. In this respect, the Girl Who Circumnavigated… does not disappoint.

The story is quite clever and follows a young, somewhat snobby little girl into the magical world More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 31, 2011

Charlyn rated it:

Ingredients:

Characters: a curious, brave child named September; a Green Wind; a helpful Leopard; an evil Marquess; a gentle Wyverary (half-wyvern, half-library, but only A-L literate); a Marid; and so many other magical beasts and objects.

Plot: an imaginative remix of other fantasy plot elements formed into a rather extraordinary new creation: bored child is spirited away to become a heroine. (Also, it is a cautionary tale for parents: had September been reading a good More...

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Dec 29, 2011

Deb rated it:

“The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making”
by Catherynne M. Valente

When I picked up Valente’s “The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making,” I thought my good friend Holly might like it. We first met in a Children’s Literature class, and later taught at the same college. We have traveled together, both at home and abroad and with my two daughters, and she has rescued me from certain peril on more than one occasion. We both love More...

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Dec 02, 2011

Juushika rated it:

When the Green Wind comes to Setember's window, she takes his hand and is swept away to Fairyland—there to pit herself against a Marquess with quite a remarkable hat, and to lose her heart. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is the sort of book to say thanks for. Its style is whimsical and affected, imitating Victorian children's literature but maintaining enough self-awareness to stay on the enduring side of twee and provide commentary on the traditions it borrow More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 30, 2011

Bmankiewicz rated it:

This book has a high quality of writing not seen often in today's children's literature. Many passages are poetic, and most characters speak succinct, profound wisdom. I have to agree with the comparisons of it to Oz. It also reminded me strongly of Water Babies, which had great characters like Mrs. Do-as-you-would-be-done-by, but this book does not have the racism of that old book by Kingsley. However, there is a definite sharp edge to it I am not sure children will warm to or necessarily unde More...

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Nov 29, 2011

Barbara rated it:

Even with a nod to books such as the Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland, classics that surely must have influenced the author, this title contains much that is original and fresh as it introduces September, a plucky 12-year-old girl who longs for adventure. When the Green Wind beckons her from the window in her Omaha, Nebraska home, she hardly has to think twice before embarking on a grand adventure. Along the way, September meets a cast of unusual characters, some kind-hearted and some not, a More...

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Nov 21, 2011

Colleen rated it:

The success of this reexploration of childhood - cleverly disguised as a simple book - in your personal library will completely depend on the mood that you embrace as you embark upon this literary journey into a Fairyland that we have never seen but edgewise on a windy Thursday morning in April.

And if the previous sentence annoyed you, this book is a total loss.

I promise you that your mood and reasoning will make or break the experience. The characters are fun, but very c More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 08, 2011

Chris rated it:

In September’s world, many things began with pan. Pandemic, Pangaea, Panacea, Panoply. Those were all big words, to be sure, but as has been said, September read often, and liked it best when words did not pretend to be simple, but put on their full armor and rode out with colors flying.

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The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is a delight of whimsy, imagination, intellect, and bibliophilia. Valente starts with a Victorian feel and style, t More...

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Nov 03, 2011

Amanda rated it:

I really don't love the book Alice in Wonderland. So I was a bit biased against this book at first because Fairyland is a lot like Wonderland, with some Oz, Narnia, and Neverland mixed in.
That being said, I really didn't like this book at first. I thought a lot of the political commentary was too heavy-handed. For example,

"Where..." September cleared her throat. Her hands shook. "Where I come from, if a person has a Spoon, no one can come and take it just because th More...

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Oct 24, 2011

Sandy rated it:

I wanted to love this book. I really did. The premise is one that would normally suck me in, and I love that it doesn't seem to be a Narnia / Harry Potter rip-off. No, this is a book that clearly stands on its own two feet.

But I just couldn't get into it. The language - while lovely and enticing when taken one sentance at a time - was just a bit too much. Much like The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, the style of writing will either make of break this book for readers. More...

5 comments like

Oct 09, 2011

Pamelabyoung rated it:

I am having an awful time trying to rate this book because, as I read it, I found myself entranced, yet intermittently irritated. I almost gave it up before I finished the second chapter, but was determined to get into the story. I'm not sure if it was the language, which was beautiful and descriptive, filled with seldom used words and made up terminology that frustrated me (and I apologize for that), or if it was the fact that everything in the story was strange and unusual and I found myself l More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

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