• Who's Reading What on Wednesdays?

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making | November 27, 2013

by Catherynne M. Valente (Square Fish/ Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, May 2011)

Stop whatever mundane task you are doing, take the hand of the Green Wind, and dive into a fairyland of Catherynne Valente’s own making.

Naming a novel The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making is similar to naming a child Genevieve Rose Delaney Beatrice Smith: it is quite a lot of name to live up to. And this book does in every way, fulfilling the promises of adventure, excitement, and the use of big and wonderful words, which the title so eloquently introduces. September is an “ill-tempered and irascible enough child” who lives in Omaha, Nebraska. The Green Wind takes pity on her and invites her on an adventure into fairyland. So away she goes, without one backwards glance, into a fairyland like no other. One of the joys of this book is Valente’s stunningly original and fully realized Fairyland; a summary of its wonders would not do it justice.

September loses a shoe, meets two witches and a wairwulf, befriends a Wyverary (his mother was a Wyvern and his father was a library), rescues a Marid, saves a spoon, and almost turns into a tree. And that isn’t even the half of it. This novel can and should be devoured in one sitting, but do not despair. Once you are done there are two more novels in the series waiting to be loved!

 

Learn more about this title