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The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

(Fairyland #1)

Catherynne M. Valente (Goodreads Author)

3.93 · Rating details · 38,108 ratings · 5,500 reviews

Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle ...more

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Hardcover, 247 pages

Published May 10th 2011 by Feiwel & Friends

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Aug 21, 2014 Patrick rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-would-blurb, good-books-for-little-kids

I walked into the bookstore in a bit of a mood.

Wait, that's my Midwestern nature talking. We tend to understate. The truth is I walked into the bookstore furious at the world. I can't remember why. I am prone to dark moods, and when I'm in the middle of one, I tend to rumble through the world like an angry old-testament god.

I went directly to the Sci-Fi Fantasy section. That's where I live for the most part. That's where I go when the world gets to be too much for me.

I looked at the titles. I ...more

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May 15, 2011 Stephen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: all-time-favorites, 6-star-books, audiobook, 2011, love-those-words, ya, fantasy, ebooks, humor-and-satire

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).

However, despite all of th ...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Nataliya rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: People who like intelligent YA fantasy

Recommended to Nataliya by: Catie

Shelves: awesome-kickass-heroines, for-my-future-hypothetical-daughter, valente-whimsical-magic, lodestar-and-andre-norton-awards, 2012-reads, locus-winner, location-is-the-true-protagonist

My favorite thing about this book is, of course, Wyverary A-Through-L. What's a wyverary, you ask? Well, when a wyvern and a library love each other very very much......blush... you know the spiel.

--------------------------------------------------------------
But do I sense some skepticism, my cynical friends? Do you maybe insist on thinking there is an infinitely more prosaic explanation for the existence of Wyverary, an alphabetizing-loving fire-breathing half-library? Let him rebuke your doubt
My favorite thing about this book is, of course, Wyverary A-Through-L. What's a wyverary, you ask? Well, when a wyvern and a library love each other very very much......blush... you know the spiel.

September, really. Which do you think is more likely? That some brute bull left my mother with egg and went off to sell lonemozers, or that she mated with a Library and had many loved and loving children? I mean, let us be realistic!

This is a cute and whimsical story of a pre-teen Nebraska girl September (born in May, actually) who eagerly leaves the world where her father is fighting in a war and her mother is building airplanes, and sets out for Fairyland. Where, as she soon learns, things are not all that she had thought they'd be. There is violence, and slavery, and pain, and abandonment, and cruelty, and bureaucracy.

I believe I am sick to death of hearing what is and is not allowed. What is the purpose of a Fairyland if everything lovely is outlawed, just like in the real world?

Along the way, September meets the aforementioned Wyverary, a wish-granting Marid, the evil Marquess, spoonless witches, queenless soap golem, migrating velocipedes, and a jacket that is eager to please, among others. Along the way, she loses her heart, her shadow, her friends, and a great deal of her innocence. And finds much more than she lost - or bargained for.

Oh, September. Such lonely, lost things you find on your way. It would be easier, if you were the only one lost. But lost children always find each other, in the dark, in the cold. It is as though they are magnetized, and can only attract their like. [...] If you would only leave cages locked and turn away from unloved Wyverns, you could stay Heartless. But you are stubborn, and do not listen to your elders.

This story is marketed for children, but I think it takes an adult to fully appreciate the scope of this story as well as many more-or-less subtle adult hints scattered throughout. The book is permeated with the nostalgia for childhood and innocence, and you can truly appreciate this nostalgia only after you have left your childhood behind.

The writing and the plotting of this book reminded me of a hybrid between the creations of Lewis Carroll (with less whimsy), Terry Pratchett (but less firmly grounded in the unreal reality), and Neil Gaiman (with less of the trademark matter-of-fact coolness). At first I thought it was trying too hard to be cute and self-aware, a bit too flowery, with overly precocious allegories and endless whimsy. Example:

You’ll know it right away, it’s a big wooden spoon, streaked with marrow and wine and sugar and yogurt and yesterday and grief and passion and jealousy and tomorrow.

But the writing grew on me as I continued with the story, and I came to love the fluidity of language and the beauty and lyricism of Valente's apt descriptions. The plot moves along smoothly and in determined fashion - much like September does through the Fairyland.

.....

.....

As for our heroine September - she is pretty cool and awesome. She is kind and resourceful and brave and stubborn and spirited. But I must admit - I did not care for her as much as I did for Gaiman's Coraline or Pratchett's Tiffany Aching - but in all honesty, those characters are hard to compete with. I cared more for her quest than for her. But the supporting characters truly shine.

That’s the way I’m made. I have to keep going, always, and even when I get where I’m going I’ll have to keep on.

The strange and somewhat broken Fairyland has won me over. I recommend this book to everyone who loves to exercise their imagination with a bot of whimsy. Plus, you will get to meet my favorite Wyverary! 4.5 stars, and it is placed on my "For-my-future-hypothetical-daughter" shelf.

Stories have a way of changing faces. They are unruly things, undisciplined, given to delinquency and the throwing of erasers. This is why we must close them up into thick, solid books, so they cannot get out and cause trouble.

........................
My review for the second September book, The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, is over here, by the way. ...more

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Jun 15, 2011 carol. rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: fans of wardrobes, YA fans

Shelves: awards, fantasy, my-library, young-adult, favorites, my-library-hardcover

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 sit through a very tedious tea service with sever 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 sit through a very tedious tea service with several spinster hamadryads." The heroine is a bit unconventional but not exactly drowning in misery: "she washed the same pink-and-yellow teacups and matching gravy boats every day, slept on the same embroidered pillow" and had a mother "bending over a stubborn airplane engine in her work overalls, her arm muscles bulging." Right there, you know it won't be traditional, but nor will it be grim modern, with boys locked under staircases, mothers with drug problems, or orphaned children scavenging food. Yet it still explores the core emotional issues of independence, identity, fear, and love, while acknowledging the place children come from is not all kindness and cookies. "One ought not to judge her: All children are heartless. They have not grown a heart yet, which is why they can climb tall trees and say shocking things and leap so very high that grown-up hearts flutter in terror. Hearts weigh quite a lot. That is why it takes so long to grow one."

Swooning continued as I read. Valente tells beautiful word-smithy tales. A Wyvern named "A-Through-L" (his father is the Library) deserves the award for Best Fantasy Sidekick of the Year. There's even a list of reasons why: "Thirdly, being French in origin, they have highly refined tastes and are unlikely to seek out unsavory things to eat, such as knights' gallbladders or maidens' bones. They much prefer a vat or two of truffles, a flock of geese, and a lake of wine, and they will certainly share." Of course, since they are French.

After finishing, I was mentally working out my review as I swam, and discovered I had trouble analyzing why I enjoyed this book so much. I went home, picked up the book again, opened to a page and found myself saying, "oh, I loved this part," only to follow it with, "and this phrasing!" and exclamations of "and look how she characterizes ___!"

That's the kind of book it is: something you remember loving and enjoying, even when you can't quite identify why, and then when you are immersed in it again, it all becomes crystal clear.

Like a fantasy world.

"When you are born... your courage is new and clean. You are brave enough for anything: crawling off of staircases, saying your first words without fearing that someone will think you are foolish, putting strange things in your mouth. But as you get older, your courage attracts gunk and crusty things and dirt and fear and knowing how bad things can get and what pain feels like. By the time you're half-grown, your courage barely moves at all, it's so grunged up with living."

Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2012/1... ...more

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May 17, 2018 Caz (littlebookowl) rated it liked it

Shelves: owned

Rating: 3.5 stars

This was so imaginative and whimsical, it is certainly a fun read with wonderful characters. I found it to lag a little in the middle, so it a slower read despite the length of the book.

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Dec 08, 2012 Richard Derus rated it it was amazing

This 5* review has been moved to Shelf Inflicted.

It's superb, jaw-dropping writing. I'll be very surprised if this isn't a lot of people's favorite childhood read in the year 2040. (Which I hope to be around to see.) ...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Krystle rated it it was ok

Shelves: did-not-finish

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 sorts of fabulo ...more

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Aug 13, 2011 Catie rated it really liked it

Recommended to Catie by: Crowinator

Shelves: fantasy, ya, read-in-2011, audio

I am generally one for simple, blunt truth. My brain doesn’t like to decipher complex and ornate metaphors and I hate reading through layer upon layer of language. I’m usually just waiting for the author to get to the point. But then, something like this comes along and just makes me question everything that I thought I knew about myself. The writing here is highly imaginative and odd and funny and a bit absurd. It’s descriptive and clever and maybe occasionally just a bit fussy. But, all this s ...more

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Aug 21, 2014 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it really liked it

Shelves: library-has, fairy-tale, portal-fantasy, fantasy

This is a portal fantasy in the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz/The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe tradition, where a young girl goes to a magical land and tries to Right What's Wrong.

Twelve year old September, bored with her life and washing pink-and-yellow teacups and dealing with mostly-absent parents, gets talked into a trip to Fairyland by the Green Wind, who settles her into the saddle of his flying leopard and whisks her away to new adventures. Because--like most children--September is mor ...more

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Dec 18, 2011 mark monday rated it really liked it

Shelves: legendarium, fantasy-modern, inbetweenworld

growing up, i loved the Oz books (the Baum ones, at least). i read all of them multiple times - i think there are 14 or so - and have enjoyed rereading them here and there as an adult. i love how the fancifulness and frequent absurdity of Baum's creations are anchored down by prosaic reality. i love their no-nonsense child heroines (and occasional heroes) - precocious but never precious, cute but never cutesy-poo. i love the transparency of Baum's prose, the layering of meaning and metaphor, the growing up, i loved the Oz books (the Baum ones, at least). i read all of them multiple times - i think there are 14 or so - and have enjoyed rereading them here and there as an adult. i love how the fancifulness and frequent absurdity of Baum's creations are anchored down by prosaic reality. i love their no-nonsense child heroines (and occasional heroes) - precocious but never precious, cute but never cutesy-poo. i love the transparency of Baum's prose, the layering of meaning and metaphor, the use of genuine tragedy, the light touch, the wisdom of it all. so it is a happy thing and one of the highest compliments that i can imagine giving when i say that reading Girl Who Circumnavigated brought me right back to that enchanting feeling of reading a classic Oz book.

Valente is a marvel with language. i knew she could write like a mad poet after reading the amazing In the Night Garden; less expected was her ability to smooth down and simplify her lush style so that it is perfectly tailored for a children's novel. it loses no lustre in the transition. reading Valente's prose reminds me of looking through my window at a light rain falling on an otherwise bright day, the sun and water making a painting of the world, images seen through the droplets of rain rolling down glass. lovely!

the character of The Girl Who Circumnavigates is instantly familiar from any number of Oz books - her sensible and at times irritable nature, the depth of her feelings, her forthright way of navigating the places through which she wanders. she is a classic type, but never a tiresome one. her attachment to her new friends is adorable, but never corny or mawkish. i love the brave moments when she considers returning home but almost instantaneously rejects that cowardly path. and when she finally builds that Ship of Her Own Making... my gosh, that was wonderful! much internal cheering ensued.

Valente makes the adventure a pleasure from beginning to end. her use of irony is constant - and sweetly good-humored, never heavy-handed, suitable for kids but thoroughly adult as well. equally sophisticated is her use of symbol and metaphor, her smooth incorporation of various mythologies and mythological creatures, and especially her entirely original conception of the novel's arch-villain - so appalling, so tragic, so understandable. poor child!

and any children's fantasy that features the parallel saga of a brave & loyal Key, a strikingly sinister Shadow of a Little Girl about to run off on its own strange journey, a helpful & industrious Smoking Jacket, two Witches married to an elegant little male Witch/ Wair-Wolf, and most of all a genuinely touching & loveable Wyvern... well, i am that novel's true friend. ...more

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May 03, 2011 Betsy rated it it was amazing

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 girls have ...more

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Feb 07, 2015 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy-all, childrens, own

I'm so freaking mad, I just knew I would love this book to death. I only liked it but it seemed like it was right there waiting for me to love it. I'm definitely going to re-read this one before going on to the other ones that I own because I usually love this kind of book!

And the pictures were so cute. I loved A-Through-L, the Wyvern. Well, the Wyverary since his father was a library. Don't ask!

I love that so many of my friends loved this book and like I said, I'm going to read it again maybe ...more

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Aug 09, 2011 The Library Lady rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: Dolores Umbridge

Shelves: skimmed-which-was-more-than-enough, why-did-i-buy-this

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 for the child actually s ...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Mark rated it did not like it

Recommended to Mark by: Malorie

I didn't properly finish the book because I couldn't bring myself to care about what happened to the main character. Or, rather, I feel like I already know: September is going to keep encountering a string of creatures, except [creature] is totally different from any other rendition of [creature] in literature, and will spend some time pedantically explaining itself and its neuroses, there'll be a lot of forced wackiness, and she'll pick up clues and bits of string and solve whatever at the end ...more

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Sep 22, 2015 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, ya, 2016-shelf, worldbuilding-sf

This is easily one of the most delightful and magical YA titles I've ever read.

I know people do like to compare it to Alice in Wonderland, but in a lot of ways, it's better. There's more than a basketful of clever, more than a truckload of beautiful language, and a whole ocean of delight.

The darkness doesn't overwhelm and there's no overt or subtle religious messages. A lot happens, but it's friendship that carries the final day.

I'm going to be reading this to my daughter when she is a little o ...more

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Jan 02, 2016 Trish rated it it was amazing

I found this picture some time ago but had no idea how fitting it would be for this review (the text as well as the little girl pictured)! :D

In fact, I only decided to buy and read this book because of Brad's raving review and the fact that I was able to get it for my Kindle for just 99 Cents! Sometimes it really does seem as if some books were meant to be with me and are willing to do anything to make that happen!

Anyway, this is the story of a girl called September who lives in Omaha and wishes ...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Shannon rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Wendy Darling, fans of Liesl & Po and children's books with deeper meanings

Shelves: borrowed, young-adult, 2011, cover-love, favorite-books, color-red, fantasy, fairies, fairy-tales

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

...more

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Nov 19, 2016 Maxwell rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is surely a whimsical and wonderful take on a classic fairytale. Valente also writes beautifully and challenges the reader (particularly young readers, the intended audience) with big words and big themes. I appreciated the grittiness of this story too. September, our heroine, faces some difficulties that you don't often find in children's literature. However, the middle of the story really lagged for me. There were a few chapters that didn't seem to contribute much to the plot other than t ...more

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Oct 14, 2019 Heidi The Reader rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, the-numinous-book-club, fantasy-and-sci-fi, young-adult

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is a modern take on more traditional fairy tales wherein a child finds a way to another world and comes back changed.

I first read the title of this book in Catherynne Valente's much more adult novel Palimpsest. I think it was mentioned as sitting on someone's book shelf. I remember thinking how I wish I could read that book too. Imagine my surprise to discover it was actually a book in the real world. Of course, I had to pick it ...more

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Apr 23, 2012 Jim rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Those who can think young

Recommended to Jim by: Catie and Nataliya

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, kids-miscellaneous

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking.”
― Albert Einstein

In the normal scheme of things, I would have read this “children’s book”* first, as my introduction to the amazing writing of Catherynne Valente. But because this physical book ...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Algernon (Darth Anyan) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, 2012

Consider this fair warning: I'm writing a squee review ,
wheeee!

as I think Catherynne Valente is the "bee's knees" when it comes to funny, modern, beautifully written fairytales that can appeal to children and adults in equal measure. Compared to The Orphan Tales , the adventures of the girl September in Fairyland are straightforward and easier to follow, without the frequent jumps from one storyteller to another, while maintaining the emotional intensity and the lyrical prose that first attracted m ...more

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Mar 03, 2016 Mari rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites-of-all-time, my-future-kids-will-read-these, 2016, 2019, 2018, owls-2019, fantasy

For full feelings on The Fairyland Series, check out my video review.

This book is my favorite book in my favorite series. I'll front load this review with reasons it might not be for you: Valente is known for her dense, flowery writing. It is very descriptive and a lot of the charm is in just-because places, magic and creatures that rely heavily on tropes created by other fairytales. It is also earnest and dispenses little nuggets of wisdom for people who appreciate a good quotable line. It might be cheesy to others who prefer a little more aloofness or vagueness in their messaging. It is also plot light and detail heavy. If you need a little more purpose in your plot, and struggle with things that amble, this will be tricky for you.

If you are like me, however, and how well something is written plays heavily into your enjoyment of the book, this will be an absolute treat. This book is steeped in imagination and overflowing with imagery. It is sharp and witty-- a love letter to language, turns of phrase, stories, little girls who save worlds, and magic.

I am also a big fan of coming of age stories and stories that explore grief; this does both wonderfully. It is a little sad, in the way that fairytales can sometimes be and in the way that growing up can often be. When you think about it, fairy lands can be savage, and the idea of popping in and out of a place is brutal, and this story doesn't shy away from that. That said, this story is also hopeful. The plot is simple, I think, and padded out with lots of places and creatures and sometimes silly details, but it's a journey book, so that was okay with me. It's just so thoughtful in all of its pieces and what they say for September's growing-up, from the scrubbing of her courage, to the break from a home that's bleak and gray with the absence of her father, to the growing of her heart, to the losing it again. It takes fairytale tropes and looks them in the eye and then uses those pieces to seemingly explore a place when it is really exploring a person.

Relatedly, these characters are now some of my favorite ever. They've earned place in my heart through rereading and because of the incredible growth they experience through their journey in the series. This story led by the brave and wonderful September, flanked by some of the best secondary characters in A-Through-L and Saturday and a freaking 112 year old lantern, who may or may not make me cry every single time. (May.) Even the narrator becomes a character as she interjects into September's story, forewarning us and leading us through this story with care.

I love this story. Have I mentioned that? Just making sure.

Below are some quick thoughts from my rereads:

[April 30, 2019] Marking for reread. I wanted something easy and familiar to read in the middle of a month long readathon and this fit the bill. Forever favorite. I was especially taken by Lye's heartbreaking story this time, perhaps especially because I deeply long for a way to wash off my courage and reset my dreams these days.

[May 2, 2018] Marking for reread. I lost my original review of this, as I mention below, but this is probably the 4th time I read this book and I still love it as much as ever. It was just what I needed to read, too-- something homey and comfortable during a really stressful time.

[March 3, 2016] Something happened and I lost my previous reviews of this book. Just know that I loved this every bit as much on third read. It's wordy and whimsical and flowery and a bit silly and a lot heartbreaking and I love it. ...more

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Mar 25, 2015 Maureen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book definitely took me a LONG WHILE to get into. It was a 3 star book up until the last few chapters. I loved the imagination and the emphasis on important things like engineering, problem solving, and bravery!
At first I didn't love it because 1) overhyped and 2) the writing. It felt really pretentious at first but once I got used to it and kind of accepted it in an Alice in Wonderland sort of way it was more enjoyable! I was meh on the book as a whole until those last few chapters and th ...more

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Jul 05, 2018 ~Bookishly rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, i-believe-in-magic, strong-female-protagonist

I'm actually kind of mad with myself here, as I cannot praise this book as much as I was hoping to. This was a good read, but it wasn't as fantastic as I wanted it to be. The story was sweet, and was comparable to a stick of rock. It hit the right buttons with me in the fairy tale sense, the characters were imaginative, the setting was creative, but that is it. That is where it ends with me. I had no thoughts about it once I'd finished it, and the story hasn't stayed with me, either.
I sound as i ...more

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Apr 11, 2014 Phrynne rated it liked it · review of another edition

I am a bit sad that I cannot rave about this book as so many others are doing (including two of my heroes, Patrick Rothfuss and Neil Gaiman). I just liked it a normal amount. The story was sweet, the writing was good, it had charm but it never grabbed me totally and it did not stay with me after I put it down. So a good book but not a brilliant one for me. ...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Ian "Marvin" Graye rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviews, read-2015, reviews-4-stars, my-sci-fanta-side, valente

To Embrace or Turn Away?

“It would have been so much easier to stay in that unhappiness. But like September, I had to say yes to a more extraordinary world, no matter how frightening it was…

“I wanted to create a book about saying yes to magic, about seeing a new way of living and embracing it instead of turning away…

“When I was quite little, maybe four or five, my mom woke me up in the middle of the night and told me to put my bathing suit on. We went outside, and laid in lawn chairs under the fu ...more

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Dec 03, 2011 Danielle The Book Huntress (Back to the Books) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of mythopoeic fantasy

Shelves: audiobook, dragon, ww2, favorites, metafiction, early-to-mid-twentieth-century, folklore, faerie, library-checkout, alternate-dimension-or-world

Reading Catherynne M. Valente is a unique experience. Her writing is full of magic and imagination. It doesn't always make 'sense', but it feels right. The child in me who never grew up, who loves fairy tales, lands of magic, mythical creatures, and folklore, ate up this story like the most scrumptious dessert. I listened to this on audio, and at first, I wasn't sure how well it would work. There are a lot of concepts, and they don't tie together in a straightforward fashion at first glance. If Reading Catherynne M. Valente is a unique experience. Her writing is full of magic and imagination. It doesn't always make 'sense', but it feels right. The child in me who never grew up, who loves fairy tales, lands of magic, mythical creatures, and folklore, ate up this story like the most scrumptious dessert. I listened to this on audio, and at first, I wasn't sure how well it would work. There are a lot of concepts, and they don't tie together in a straightforward fashion at first glance. If other readers are like me, I'd encourage you not to give up on it if it doesn't catch you right away on first listen. Initially, I felt that Ms. Valente didn't quite feel comfortable reading her story. However, that changed, and she seemed to get into the flow of it, using different voices, timbres, and cadences for the various characters. I could feel how much she loved this story she had written, and the characters within.

This novel is one that both kids and grown-ups with a love of fantasy and make-believe tales would love. It's a story of a young girl who is very, very brave, strong-minded, determined, but with a very big heart for a kid (who are considered to be mostly heartless, according to the narrator). She goes to Fairyland on a romp, to escape the reality of a mother who works all the time and a father who was shipped off to war. Feeling alone and too different from the other kids she went to school with, she longs for adventure and a place where normal isn't the ideal. That's when she gets swept off to Fairyland and becomes a champion for this place of magic. And we are along for the journey.

At times, I got a bit confused with the narrative, because it's not exactly a linear story. Fairyland isn't a place that always makes sense, and that could make for strange listening when I was focused on driving or getting where I was going. If the reader embraces that this isn't that kind of novel, it makes for a very satisfying reading experience. Just immersing oneself in this marvelous world where anything is possible is gratifying.

This book is suitable for a young audience, but there are elements that feel pretty sophisticated, if one is older and catches the subtext. Some younger readers might not get all those references, but that's okay. I think it's fine for them to grasp an understanding of the story at their own level. There is some violence and dark subject matter, but the message of self-sacrifice, determination, friendship, and love are very good elements for kids to experience.

At one point, I thought I'd have to take off half a star because of getting lost and things slowing down a bit, but the overall beauty and power of this story requires a five star rating for me. I definitely recommend this book to readers who enjoy mythopoeic/folklore-rich fantasy novels, young and older. ...more

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Dec 29, 2011 Megan Baxter rated it it was amazing

I just purely loved this, from start to finish. Valente plays with and creates her own Fairyland that is magical, delightful, a little ominous, whimsical and so much fun to be in, even if only for the length of the book. (Does that make me a Stumbler?)

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook ...more

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Jul 21, 2019 Calista rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2011, series-will-not-finish, award-goodreads-choice, genre-fantasy, bage-middle-grade, myth-folktale-fable, series, sub-fairies, award-various, women

Hovering over the 2 stars rating it says 'it was ok'. I really did want to love this book. I really did. This is my kind of story. It's a Middle grade story about fairies and there is lots of good word play and it's a fantasy. I mean this is all my jam. This is what I come back to over and over. I really had to force myself to finish this. I never got into it. I was never pulled in.

I think part of the problem was I was listening to this in my car and the author, Catherynne was reading this on t ...more

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May 03, 2011 Lisa Vegan rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: everybody ages 8 and all the way up

Shelves: childrens, readbooks-female-author-or-illust, z2011, fiction, novel, 1-also-at-librarything, young-adult, groups-buddies, goodreads-author, books-about-books

Nothing less than 5 stars for this gem.

It’s really really hard for me to write a review because I was inundated with so much to say about every page, every line.

This is a wonderful and completely ingenious new fairy tale.

I was chortling from page 1 and 2 and... It’s wickedly funny, and unusually smart. There is something brilliant, funny, touching, quotable on nearly every page.

I appreciated the lack of sentimentality and yet the ability to keep me emotionally engaged.

I’d been a tad worried as I ...more

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
YA Buddy Readers'...: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Fairyland #1) by Catherynne M. Valente -->Starting February 20 2019	15	21	Mar 05, 2019 02:02PM
Into the Forest: Girl Who Circumnavigated - Spoilers Allowed	18	32	Sep 17, 2018 04:07AM
Similar to Fairyland Series??	5	23	Jul 20, 2018 08:45AM

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About Catherynne M. Valente

Catherynne M. Valente

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Catherynne M. Valente was born on Cinco de Mayo, 1979 in Seattle, WA, but grew up in in the wheatgrass paradise of Northern California. She graduated from high school at age 15, going on to UC San Diego and Edinburgh University, receiving her B.A. in Classics with an emphasis in Ancient Greek Linguistics. She then drifted away from her M.A. program and into a long residence in the concrete and cam ...more