The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Fairyland, #1) in Beyond Reality

May 15, 2011 Stephen rated it it was amazing

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

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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Dec 18, 2011 mark monday rated it really liked it

Shelves: inbetweenworld, fantasy-modern, legendarium

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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Jul 28, 2010 Sarah rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fairy-tale-myth-fable

This is an absolutely lovely fairy tale, full of whimsical beasts and clever wordplay, and also possibly clever beasts and whimsical wordplay. The protagonist is a spitfire of a little girl, making and breaking the rules of Fairyland according to her own logic. It was particularly interesting to read this on the heels of The Book of Lost Things. Both are new stories for adults familiar with the old ones (old stories, not Cthulu). Both feature youthful protagonists with parents who are being spre ...more

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Feb 15, 2010 Wealhtheow rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: pocmaincharacters, fantasy, mannerpunk

Valente is extraordinarily good at tales. She can play with them like a cats-cradle, so that a girl may be Peter Pan and an engineer and a tree all at once, and her adversary may be a princess and a wicked witch and several ages all at the same time. This is mostly the story of September, a little girl who travels to Fairyland and has extraordinary adventures there. Valente's language is beautifully baroque, with lots of word play, yet never loses its clarity. I loved this story, and can't wait ...more

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Jan 29, 2012 Jen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland was a beautiful read. The writing was so brilliant and so imaginative. I absolutely loved it.

There was a lot of this:

One ought not to judge her: all children are Heartless. They have not grown a heart yet, which is why they can climb high trees and say shocking things and leap so very high grown-up hearts flutter in terror. Hearts weigh quite a lot. That is why it takes so long to grow one. But, as in their reading and arithmetic and drawing, different chil

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland was a beautiful read. The writing was so brilliant and so imaginative. I absolutely loved it.

There was a lot of this:

One ought not to judge her: all children are Heartless. They have not grown a heart yet, which is why they can climb high trees and say shocking things and leap so very high grown-up hearts flutter in terror. Hearts weigh quite a lot. That is why it takes so long to grow one. But, as in their reading and arithmetic and drawing, different children proceed at different speeds. (It is well known that reading quickens the growth of a heart like nothing else.) Some small ones are terrible and fey, Utterly Heartless. Some are dear and sweet and Hardly Heartless At All. September stood very generally in the middle on the day the Green Wind took her, Somewhat Heartless, and Somewhat Grown.

And it made me feel just like this:

There is a place, September, oh, very far from Pandemonium. A place where it is always autumn, where there is always cider and pumpkin pie, where leaves are always orange and fresh-cut wood is always burning and it is always, just always Halloween.

That's one of the best feelings in the world right there, and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland was simply a joy to read.

There was a whole host of imaginative characters in The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland, and I loved every single one of them. Even the evil Marquess. September was an awesome little girl to follow on an adventure. I totally fell in love with her, and I cannot wait to start another adventure with her in the second book.

I have to say, the ending to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland is exactly how I wish all books in a series would end. There was enough closure to feel like I was given the entire story, but also a spark of excitement for what's to come.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is an imaginative coming-of-age fairy tale that I highly recommend to anyone who is young at heart. It is one I am certain to revisit again and again. ...more

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Dec 03, 2014 Lisa rated it really liked it

Shelves: from-the-public-library

A charming and heartfelt fairytale for the rather literate.

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Apr 05, 2011 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-fiction, children-ya

Maybe more like 3.5. But an excellent book. I feel like the audio version is superior to the print version - though the latter was useful for double checking the occasional word. Incorporates a lot of interesting real world myths and folk beliefs, in addition to the homage to Dorothy and the author's original creations. ...more

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Nov 17, 2011 christine. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-2013, favorites

Breathtakingly magical. I could go on and on, but one thing I adored about this title: the way it uses obscure fairytale creatures and creations.

Amazing.

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