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

Catherynne M. Valente (Author), Ana Juan (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: May 10, 2011 | Age Range: 10 and up | Lexile Measure: 870L (What's this?)

welve-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, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn’t . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.

 

With exquisite illustrations by acclaimed artist Ana Juan, Fairyland lives up to the sensation it created when the author first posted it online. For readers of all ages who love the charm of Alice in Wonderland and the soul of The Golden Compass, here is a reading experience unto itself: unforgettable, and so very beautiful.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, May 2011: Bibliophilic wyverns, enchanted woods, an evil Marquess, a magical talisman, dwarven customs agents, djinns, velocipedes--and that doesn't even take into account what's in the title of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. A fantastical tale that's somewhere between Lewis Carroll and Terry Pratchett, Cathrynne Valente's book follows twelve-year-old September, a girl from Omaha, Nebraska, who finds herself whisked away by a fast-talking gentleman called the Green Wind to the world of Fairyland where she has to retrieve a witch's spoon from the fickle Marquess. Still, Cathrynne Valente's imaginative cast of characters and spirited prose turn what could be a standard heroine-on-a-quest story into something on par with the best (and weirdest) classics. --Darryl Campbell

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A Look at Ana Juan's Illustrations for The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

Exeunt on a Leopard	The Wyverary
Thy Mother's Sword	One Hundred Years Old

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Amazon Exclusive: Cory Doctorow Reviews The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

Cory Doctorow is a co-editor of the popular weblog BoingBoing and the author of Little Brother, Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse, and several other books.

Valente's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making: sweet fairytale, shot through with salty tears -- magic!

Feiwel & Friends has done the world an enormous service by putting The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente's extraordinary, award-winning, free web-novel, between covers. What's more, they've augmented it with Ana Juan's wonderful illustrations, one for every chapter.

Fairyland is a book that is both deeply in love with fairy tales and sharply critical of them: the story of September, a girl who flies from her dreary and sad life in Nebraska to Fairyland on the Green Wind. In Fairyland, she meets every sort of wonderful mythical beast (including a wyvern that's half library), eats the most wonderful and strange things, and has the most wonderful and extraordinary adventures and quests. And it really is wonderful: whimsical and lyrical and shot through with an imagination that simultaneously renders the traditional furniture of fairy tales fresh, and manages to make the author's own inventions seem as mythic as the first story told in the first cave in front of the first fire.

But Valente's fairytale broods and seethes, and it is not always such a nice place. For every velocipede herd thundering across the plain, ridden by a marvelous fairy in aviator's leathers and jodhpurs, there's a whipped blue water-djinn who bears the emotional scars of slavery. For every autumn kingdom filled with fiery sylvan alchemists, there is a political exile in the winter country, banished and sorrowing. For every brave sacrifice from September's companions, there's an abandoned soap golem that wishes the good queen would restore Fairyland to its glory.

And that's what makes Valente's work so truly fairytale fantastic: the sense that the magic sweetness is alloyed with a pinch of salty tears that makes it all so flavorful and complex, a wonder streaked with anxiety. So as September embarks on her quest to topple the evil Marquess who is bent on remaking Fairyland so that it is as dull and regimented as Omaha, Nebraska, we cheer her on, fear for her, and wonder, a little, if she might not be on the wrong side of the war.

Valente's lyrical fairytale is billed as a young adult novel, but like all the very best young adult novels, this is a book that can (and should be!) enjoyed by grown ups too.

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Review

“A glorious balancing act between modernism and the Victorian Fairy Tale, done with heart and wisdom."  -- Neil Gaiman, Newbery Award-winning author of The Graveyard Book

“September is a clever, fun, stronghearted addition to the ranks of bold, adventurous girls.  Valente's subversive storytelling is sheer magic." -- Tamora Pierce, author of The Immortals series

“A mad, toothsome romp of a fairy tale -- full of oddments, whimsy, and joy." -- Holly Black, author of Zombies vs. Unicorns and the Spiderwick Chronicles

“When I saw that this book reminds me simultaneously of E. Nesbit, James Thurber, and the late Eva Ibbotson, I don't mean to take anything awy from its astonishing originality.  It's a charmer from the first page, managing the remarkable parlay of being at once ridiculously funny and surprisingly suspenseful.  Catherynne Valente is a find, at any age!" -- Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn

 

"This is a kind of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by way of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland -- it's the sort of book one doesn't want to end." -- Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review

 

“[Fairyland creates] a world as bizarre and enchanting as any Wonderland or Oz and a heroine as curious, resourceful and brave as any Alice or Dorothy. Complex, rich and memorable.” -- Kirkus, Starred Review

"This book is quite simply a gold mine." -- Booklist, Starred Review

"Amusing, wrenching, and thought-provoking." --  The Horn Book

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (May 10, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780312649616
• ISBN-13: 978-0312649616
• ASIN: 0312649614
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (160 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Catherynne M. Valente is an author, poet, and sometime critic who has been known to write as many as six impossible things before breakfast. She is to blame for over a dozen works of fiction and poetry, including The Orphan's Tales, Palimpsest, Deathless, and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. She has won the Tiptree Award, the Andre Norton Award, the Mythopoeic Award, the Lambda Award, the Rhysling Award, and the Million Writers Award for best web fiction. She lives on an island off the coast of Maine with her partner, two dogs, an enormous cat, and a slightly less enormous accordion.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

230 of 254 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it or hate it. Preferably, love. May 31, 2011

By E. R. Bird HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

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 get 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 to save their brothers/friends/housepets. So what does the universe do? Does it say, "Maybe you should try something other than fantasy for a change"? It does not. Instead it hands the children's librarian a book with a title like "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making" and (if she hasn't hyperventilated after reading the title) says to her, "Here you go, smart guy. Try this on for size." That's what being cocky will get you. It'll have you reading a book that walks up to the usual middle grade chapter book fantasy tropes and slaps 'em right smack dab in the face. I have never, in all my livelong days, read a book quite like Catherynne Valente's. My job now is to figure out whether that is a good thing, or very very bad.

When September is asked by The Green Wind whether or not she'd be inclined to take a trip to Fairyland with him, she's so excited to get going that she manages to lose a shoe in the process. Like many a good reader September is inclined to think that she knows the rules of alternate worlds. Yet it doesn't take much time before she realizes that not all things are well in the realm of magic.... A strange Marquess has taken over, having defeated the previous good ruler, and before she knows it September is sent to try to retrieve a spoon from the all powerful villain. Along the way she befriends a Wyvern who is certain that his father was a library, and a strange blue Marid boy named Saturday who can grant you a wish, but only if you defeat him in a fight. With their help, Saturday realizes what it means to lose your heart within the process of becoming less heartless.

Divisive. Each year you'll encounter one big children's book that can be labeled as such. Certain books and certain writers can have violent affects on their readers, unsuspected until the official reviews start pouring in. Then suddenly folks with opinions start pouring out of the woodwork. The books are as varied as "Mockingbird", "The Underneath", "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" or "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas". One thing's for certain, though. Everyone has an opinion. This year I've only identified two potentially divisive books and one of them is the title you see before you today. I know I've been a little cagey about what I thought of it until now so here's the 411: I like it. A lot. Far more than I thought that I would, particularly after that first chapter. As far as I can determine, enjoying this book means getting through Chapter One. If you read the first chapter and find yourself throwing the book against the wall without restraint, this may not be the story for you. If, however, you feel a vague queasiness that manifests resolves into reluctant curiosity, you may wish to continue. And if you do, you will find a title that really outdoes itself in being . . . well . . . it's own very one-of-a-kind self.

But why is it divisive? It all comes down to Valente's language. Look, here's the first sentence as an example: "Once upon a time, a girl named September grew very tired indeed of her parents' house, where she washed the same pink-and-yellow teacups and matching gravy boats every day, slept on the same embroidered pillow, and played with the same small and amiable dog." About ten words into that sentence you had to make a decision on whether or not to continue reading. Here's some advice on going through this book. Step One: Get a grasp on its internal logic.
The "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" comparison is inevitable. Generally speaking, a person is able to identify a poor debut children's book when the author attempts to make an Alice-in-Wonderland-but-with-a-twist book. The problem with this plan is that just as no band sounds quite like The Beatles, no children's novel ever sounds quite like "Alice". They try, oh Lord they try, but no go. More often than not such books are instead tedious and very poorly done. Most of them think that the lure of "Alice" is strange talking creatures in a world with no rules. This is somewhat true, but it's only a piece of the puzzle. And in all my days as a children's librarian, reading fantasy after fantasy, I have NEVER encountered a book that came as close to "Alice" as this. Not because Valente also throws a girl into a fairyland with kooky characters, but because it is so infinitely clear that she loves to play with language. Logic isn't as twisted up as it is in Carroll's universe, but that's all right. Valente is comfortable weaving her own unique vision, and like Carroll she's not afraid to throw in a little joke for adults once in a while. Would a kid get anything out of reading that the Green Wind possesses a "golden ring of diplomatic immunity"? Probably not and they probably won't care when Saturday enters a delicious looking town that, "was as though the witch who built the gingerbread house in the story had a great number of friends and decided to start up a collective." But it won't hurt the reading experience either.

Of course September is far more active than Alice when seeking out her adventure. In fact, if I were to compare her to any famous children's literary character, she probably bears more in common with Milo from "The Phantom Tollbooth" than anyone else. That was my first thought. Then after a while I decided that September begins as Alice (after all, she lies right at the start about wanting to go home), morphs into Dorothy (girl + faithful companions to defeat the big bad villain), and comes to us by way of Milo (boredom as a storytelling impetus). That's a pretty pedigree. On top of that, this is a thoroughly American fantasy. One where you won't encounter random characters with cockney accents (a current pet peeve of mine). September hails from Omaha, Nebraska and the story seems to take place during WWII. Her father is stationed in Europe while her mother works in the factories at home. Many fantasies for kids eschew placing their stories in such distinctive time periods, but if it worked for Narnia it should work here too.

And Valente gets personalities down rather well too. I heard one complaint that the Marid named Saturday is hardly a fleshed out character. I might contest this, though, since I found him capable of many small touches that rang clear and true to me. For example, at one point he makes a point that is followed up with the notation, "He was still too shy to suggest anything without wrapping it up tight to keep it safe." Likewise the villain of this book is delicious. It takes a while to get a good grasp on the Marquess, but once you get her full backstory then there's a lot to admire here. A mere two-dimensional villain she is not, and for that I was grateful.

Ana Juan, brilliant Ana Juan, could not have been a better person to draw the interstitial illustrations that appear at the beginnings of each and every chapter. This Spanish illustrator specializes in dreamlike worlds on her own time ("The Night Eater" is a perfect example) so it is interesting to see what she does with a book like Valente's. To my surprise, she hones in her talents a bit. The pictures here are most definitely her own, but there's a tendency here to make them a little younger and clearer than I'm used to seeing. There's a darkness to Valente's story that does not replicate itself in the pictures, which is probably a good thing. After all, Quentin Blake's illustrations have always served to make Roald Dahl less frightening at times. Maybe Juan's are doing the same thing here.

In the end, it's all about the language and the inevitable question of whether or not kids will dig the book. It's a worthy question. When a character is sent to a fairyland, even one in dire straits, it is up to the author to make it clear that this is a place you would want to visit. Some fantasies go a shade too dark and because of this inclination do not become beloved by children. Valente, however, mixes some wonderful elements with some horrific ones well enough that I think this book could be fondly remembered by a child years and years later. And when they return to it as adults, how surprised they will be by the wordplay. I won't lie. Some folks do NOT like this book, and I can understand why that is. For me, though, this is just one of the smarter juxtapositions of the fantastical with the tongue-twisted. Here you have an author who clearly enjoys writing. And if that enjoyment seeps through the page and into the reader's perceptions, then here is a book that they'll clearly enjoy reading. A true original and like nothing you've really ever seen before.

For ages 9-12. Read more ›

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful! May 12, 2011

By Lauren "365 Days of Reading"

Format:Hardcover

SUMMARY: One day, a bored girl named September is whisked off to Fairyland by the Green Wind and finds herself confronting the Marquess, an irritable, jaded young woman who is in need of something only September can retrieve. As September journeys through Fairyland, she finds that things are not all sunshine and lollipops, and she ends up making sacrifices, stumbling into life-threatening situations, and meeting many odd creatures.

MY THOUGHTS: Wow. If there's ever a word to describe Catherynne Valente's writing, it's luscious. It flows so gracefully, and has little nuances that make the reader smile, or giggle to herself, and it's probably of the best quality I've ever read in a young adult or middle grade novel. It's simply gorgeous. (I was so enthralled with the writing that I actually wanted to seek out someone to whom I could read--the book just begs to be read aloud.)

Fairyland reads just like a fairytale of old--it's understandable and enjoyable for children, but adolescents and adults will most appreciate its subtle complexity. Almost every chapter brings a new adventure or acquaintance for September, but the story still manages to remain continuous. September's travels are never boring, and neither are the odd characters she meets (my favorite of which is A-Through-L, a Wyvern-Library crossbreed).

September is a spunky, lovable protagonist who portrays characteristics that any young girl could look up to--she's brave but not egocentric, intelligent but not without naiveté, and very logical. September grows significantly throughout the novel, and it's a joy reading about her adventures.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making will enchant all readers, be they young or old.... It has a timeless quality to it, and could easily be read over and over again. Highly recommended! Read more ›

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A modern Alice, a modern queen, and a Tollbooth Faryland November 23, 2011

By Rover

Format:Hardcover

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 close to an Alice in Wonderland presentation of Fairyland as seen through The Phantom Tollbooth. The heroes are loveable, the villains wicked, and the adventures easily broken into chapters for bedtime reading. The two plot devices handed to the heroine at the beginning do contribute cheerfully to the very satisfying ending. On the other hand, you absolutely HAVE to embrace the absurd and illogical in complete acceptance or this book will be nothing but frustrating at every single plot turn. So would I recommend it? Absolutely yes, and definitely not. Your mileage WILL vary.

47 of 56 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars I really wanted to love it but... February 9, 2012

By Artemis

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I really wanted to love this book but I just found the story line to be lackluster in its objective and the language a bit pretentious for "young readers" until...maybe the last 50 pages. Because I run book fairs at our local elementary school, I preview a lot of elementary school level children's books. I am always looking for books to give as gifts for the kids in my life. Since I am limited to the variety of books at the book fairs, I get many books from Amazon. I was immediately intrigued by the reviews of The Girl Who... as I was looking for a great fantasy fiction depicting a strong female character for my preteen nieces. From the reviews, it looked like this was the book to get. In addition, the title of the book peaked my curiousity and the wonderful illustrations were also quite capitvating. Unfortunately, after finally getting through this book, I must say that I was somewhat disappointed and thought I should write a review for those adults who might mistakenly get this book for a young reader based on the high accolades of the other reviewers.

This book is listed for readers aged 10+, I find it difficult to recommend this book for a young reader less than 14 or 15 years old. While exuberantly written (and often way overdone), the prose is based on concepts that are, I believe, far beyond the life experiences or understanding of young girls to even grasp the ideas that the author is trying to convey. Even above average 12 year old would find it difficult to envision someone wearing a smoking jacket, carriage-driver's cloak and jodhpurs. In addition, it might be unlikely that an average young reader understand the concepts of "diplomatic immunity" and "These laws are sacrosanct, except for visiting dignitaries..." or know what the word "exeunt" might mean.... These notions complicated with the ambitious descriptive writing style that convolutes nouns into verbs and verbs into adjectives and so on makes for very slow and confusing reading. To top it off, the aforementioned was packed in the very first chapter of only 10 pages! I would bet that most preteen readers would not venture any further past the first chapter or two of this book for fear that it would feel like homework or a chore because you have to research the meaning of at least 15 words or concepts in every chapter!

Yes, this fairytale is very Alice in Wonderland-ish or Wizard of Oz-ish and there is even a Narnia-ish other-world-connecting wardrobe closet mentioned, but the story doesn't mesmerize the reader like the other original fairytales do. In fact, the story plods along with its overly embellished descriptives to the point of lulling you to sleep. Often the adventures of the main character were non-conclusive to the importance of the plot which made it a bit annoying. Comments by other reviewers said this was a "modern" fairytale--uh, no, not really as the language is old fashioned and the timeline is during World War II. I don't even think most young kids know what a black and white news reel is as mentioned when the main character goes to a movie theatre. The storyline (if you call it that) just rambled on in a chaotic fashion where no goal seemed to unfold until, as mentioned, the last 50 pages or so. The book is only 247 pages! If it wasn't for the fact that I was giving this as a gift to my nieces, I would have stopped reading it long before. I kept going back online to reread the reviews thinking I missed something and just couldn't believe that my opinion was so far off on the other end of the spectrum of opinions about this book. So, I kept reading because, as I mentioned, I really wanted to love this book as others did...

After going back and forth with wanting to love it and didn't, in the end, I gave this book a 2 star rating because I couldn't give it 2 and a half. Three stars seemed to be too generous for me even though I thought the last part of the book was somewhat enjoyable. If you are looking for a style of writing to study in a high school language arts/literature class, then this book might be interesting to analyze. The story line is not very inventive as Valente` manages to use almost every kind of character type and concept models invented by previous authors/storytellers. Finally, I must reiterate that "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairland..." is definitely not geared towards young readers. Read more ›