How to Ditch Your Fairy [Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged] [MP3 CD]

Justine Larbalestier (Author), Kate Atkinson (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2009

Grade Level: 7-9 Age Level: 12-14 Listening Level: Grades 7-9 If you lived in a world where everyone had a personal fairy, what kind would you want? * A clothes-shopping fairy (The perfect outfit will always be on sale!) * A loose-change fairy (Pretty self-explanatory.) * A never-getting-caught fairy (You can get away with anything. . . .) Unfortunately for Charlie, she’s stuck with a parking fairy — if she’s in the car, the driver will find the perfect parking spot. Tired of being treated like a personal parking pass, Charlie devises a plan to ditch her fairy for a more useful model. At first, teaming up with her archenemy (who has an all-the-boys-like-you fairy) seems like a good idea. But Charlie soon learns there are consequences for messing with fairies — and she will have to resort to extraordinary measures to set things right again. “Welcome to your new obsession! Not only will you believe in fairies after reading this book, you will know what kind you have.” — Maureen Johnson, author of 13 Little Blue Envelopes

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–10—Fourteen-year-old Charlie, a fair-to-middling student at the "all sports, all the time" New Avalon high school, is cursed with a parking fairy (the driver finds the perfect parking spot if she's in the car) and determined to do whatever it takes to swap fairies with her archenemy, Fiorenze, who's been "blessed" with an every-boy-will-like-you fairy. But what Charlie doesn't know is that the grass really isn't greener on the other side, as proven by the many complications that ensue when she successfully ditches her parking fairy and finds herself saddled with slavish and unwelcome attention from every boy in sight. Kate Atkinson narrates Justine Larbalesier's novel (Bloomsbury, 2008), and her Aussie accent perfectly captures Charlie's sarcastic and smart character along with her struggle to figure out what she really wants and what price she's willing to pay for it. Filled with casual conversational slang, the story benefits from a glossary at the end of the book. The author's fans will find that this latest offering "doos" to the max—Cindy Lombardo, Cleveland Public Library, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

JUSTINE LARBALESTIER is the author of the award-winning Magic or Madness trilogy. She wishes she had a clothes shopping fairy instead of the procrastination fairy she battles with almost every day. She is married to author Scott Westerfeld and divides her time between Sydney and New York City.

Product Details

• MP3 CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on MP3-CD; MP3 Una edition (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1441801960
• ISBN-13: 978-1441801968
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)

More About the Author

I live in in Sydney, Australia with my husband, Scott Westerfeld. We're both writers. Many of our books are written far from home, because it's even more fun writing in places where you don't know anyone...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Read, But Missing A Few Things.., February 25, 2009

By 

Moonal Shams "Book Addict Supreme" (Toronto, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Ditch Your Fairy (Hardcover)

Charlie is a 14 year old girl who lives in New Avalon, a city that seems to be a mix of USA and Australia. Almost everyone has a personal fairy that allows them to be better at certain things - for example, her best friend has a "clothes shopping" fairy that helps her find the best deals. Unfortunately for Charlie, who is too young to drive and obviously doesn't own a car, she has a parking fairy! The book revolves around her attempts to lose her fairy, snag the new boy in town, and oh yes, stop getting into trouble at school.

This makes for a very quick read - I think I finished the book in 1.5 - 2 hours? I found the concept of a personal fairy really neat - in fact, I'd loved to have an "Impersonates You Perfectly at Work so You Can Loll About in Bed and Read All Day" fairy. Seriously, how wicked would that be? However, in all likelihood I would have a fairy much worse than Charlie's - mine would probably be a procrastination/lazybones fairy that would only make life more difficult! Then again, now that I've read about all the problems poor Charlie goes through over the course of this story, I wouldn't want a parking fairy either.

Charlie herself comes off as a sweet and smart girl, with the same desires as any other teenager. She wants to do well in school, would like her friendship with the new boy Stefan to develop further, and doesn't want any more demerits than she already has because who wants to get in trouble with teachers? Let's also not forget the main premise behind the tale, which is to get rid of her lame parking fairy and find a better replacement. As she tries a wide assortment of techniques, [some with more disastrous results than others], she makes the unlikeliest ally, and gains better understanding of society and herself.

Although the basic plot is pretty straightforward, there are quite a few interesting components that make this book stand out. The first one I noticed was the barrage of new lingo like "doos" for cool, "pulchritudinous" for hot/sexy, and "pox" for crap. Made me think of A Clockwork Orange, heh. Another interesting aspect was the fact that all the kids attend athletics-specific or arts-specific schools with very strict rules and tough regimens [unless they're so untalented they have to go to a "mixed" school]. Famous people originating from New Avalon are addressed as "Our ---", and any prospective Ours are given a lot of preferential treatment.

It was neat to read about a female protagonist who was not only extremely into sports, but just as good [or better] than her male counterparts. The coolest thing is that she's not the only one like that - all her friends are great at what they do as well [without coming off as a horde of "Mary Sue"s] and no one bats an eye over men's vs. women's teams - something that definitely isn't true in our world. She also mentions same sex couples with nary a thought because it's nothing outside of the norm. Seriously, no gender or sexual biases in this world - if that's not downright awesome, i dunno what is! :D

Stefan, her crush, points out how New Avaloners take their obsession with their own nation to extreme levels, how they don't exhibit any curiosity about other people and how they think that everything that comes from their country has to be the best. The steepest street in their town must be the steepest in the world, the most famous celebrity from New Avalon the most famous in the universe, and so on and so forth. This totally reminded me of my first few months in North America, where the level of ignorance about the rest of the world displayed by my peers and even teachers was nothing short of astounding. I think it's a wonderful point to be made in a YA book.

However, despite all the positive features of this story, I feel like a lot is left unfinished. We're told fairies haven't been around forever, but we don't find out anything about how they came into being. Most people have fairies but some don't, and a few don't even believe in fairies to begin with - but we don't find out if the non-believers or non-fairied folk are better/worse off than the rest of society. Some reference is made to the historical background of New Avalon, its settlers, ethnicity and the way characters look, but these points aren't fully clarified. One particular character is up to no good and uses Charlie, but we don't find out why her assistance was required. In the same vein, we're even shown how some fairies give you the ability to get away with really nefarious acts, but that's just mentioned in passing. Most importantly, the consequences of having a bad fairy or successfully ditching the one you have are never explored.

If Justine Larbalestier had further elaborated on all those points, i think we would've ended up with a really stellar story. The way it stands now, I'd say it's a book you should get from the library instead of actually purchasing.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From Reading Keeps You Sane, January 18, 2009

By 

Kelsey Boeckermann (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Ditch Your Fairy (Hardcover)

Title: How To Ditch Your Fairy
Author: Justine Larbalestier
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: September 2008
Pages: 320

Rating: B+
Plot - 18/20
Characters - 17/20
Writing - 17/20
Originality - 20/20
Entertainment - 9/10
Recommendation - 8/10
Total: 89/100

Summary:
Welcome to New Avalon, where everyone has a personal fairy. Though invisible to the naked eye, a personal fairy, like a specialized good luck charm, is vital to success. And in the case of the students at New Avalon Sports High, it might just determine whether you make the team, pass a class, or find that perfect outfit. But for 14-year-old Charlie, having a Parking Fairy is worse than having nothing at all--especially when the school bully carts her around like his own personal parking pass. Enter: The Plan. At first, teaming up with arch-enemy Fiorenza (who has an All-The-Boys-Like-You Fairy) seems like a great idea. But when Charlie unexpectedly gets her heart's desire, it isn't at all what she thought it would be like, and she'll have resort to extraordinary measures to ditch her fairy. The question is: will Charlie herself survive the fairy ditching experiment?

Review:
Okay, so I think this is generally one of the coolest novels I have read. There was a meaning behind it: be thankful for what you have, and I think this novel was just so . . . neat and interesting. I literally fell in love with Charlie's world. I loved the thought of fairies, and separate schools for arts and sports and just every thing about the novel was so original and creative and addictive.

I think the only thing that really I didn't like was the fact that Charlie was SO determined to get rid of her fairy. But I only didn't like a little bit though, because it was the whole point of the novel. I just wish there was a little bit more to it. But still, I really enjoyed the creativity and originality of the novel.

Larbalestier wrote an incredibly airy and light read that will keep a smile on one's face. Her writing really just is very entertaining and light and just has a fresh touch to it, that is enjoyable. The characters weren't strong characters, but they were fun. So, you know, as you can guess. I just really enjoyed this novel.

So, I recommend this novel for anybody who wants a light read for a snowy or rainy day.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fairy Good, September 16, 2008

By 

Little Willow (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Ditch Your Fairy (Hardcover)

In a fun world where many people have fairies that grant them unusual bits of luck, Charlotte (Charlie) feels cursed by her gift: the ability to always get a good parking spot. She's not even old enough to drive yet, so others - such as her mum and a dim bully at her school - drag her into their cars to play passenger. Fed up, Charlie teams up with Fiorenze, a popular girl who has an all-the-boys-like-you fairy, and the two attempt to switch their fairies. Comedic chaos ensues.

As a lifelong fan of fairies, I was drawn to this book by its premise. I love a good dystopic novel, and this one's great. In a story that's part fantasy, part comedy, Justine Larbalestier has created a world that's part America, part Australia, mixing jargon and social aspects from both nations. High school woes such as the eternal desire to fit in and the utter need for a cute outfit are mixed in with unseen fairies, unique abilities (Charlie's best friend has a clothes shopping fairy, so she always finds brilliant clothes at amazing prices), and games galore. The characters are healthy and athletic, and their sporty school, New Avalon Sports High, is very cool.

I was also drawn to this book because of its byline. Larbalestier's Magic or Madness books were more serious, traditional fantasy novels, so I was interested to see how she'd handle comedy. She handled it quite well. In fact, this book earns one of my favorite adjectives: quirky. Charlie's antics truly cracked me up. Even the intros to the chapters, with tallies of Charlie's demerits, conversations with her crush Steffi, and number of public service hours, made me giggle.

I would love to read more books set in this world, especially if they revolve around the irrepressible Charlie. She was so completely fourteen, alternately anxious and paranoid, overly aware of herself and others around her, and totally likable.

How to Ditch Your Fairy by is utterly delightful. You won't ditch this funny fantasy -- you'll stay up to finish reading it!