From the Bookshelf of 2025 Reading Challenge…

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

Catherynne M. Valente

Start date: January 1, 2012

Finish date: January 31, 2012

Discussion: Group Reads

Discussion leader: Lori Phinney

Why we're reading this: Voted on by everyone
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Group Reads

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* Group Read Rules and Timelines
By Winter , Group Reads · 1 post · 2554 views

last updated Jan 23, 2016 02:35AM

November Group Read Nominations
By Winter , Group Reads · 13 posts · 56 views

last updated Sep 14, 2025 08:24PM

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What Members Thought

Jul 30, 2012 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was amazing

Shelves: dragons, fairies, fantasy-and-sci-fi, mythopoeic

from the NPR poll of best young adult fiction

Autumn has a hungry heart—September is the beginning of death ...

How shiveringly beautiful is that quote, I ask you?? Because everyone knows that winter isn't really death, but really just a long cold sleep.

I loved this book! It's a bit like Alice, but more modern. And it's a bit like Neverwhere, but not as dark. Mostly it's just like itself, I suppose.

There is endless wordplay, such as a girl named Lye, who is made of soap, whose true name is T ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Apr 04, 2012 Kara rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, adventure, young-adult, series

This is an enchanting little book. It combines The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (minus the heroine's helplessness) with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (minus the religious undertones) with Alice in Wonderland (minus the, um, psychedelia). Given the many allusions to these works in this book, I'm sure it was intentional.

September is partly heartless little girl tired of her own world who gets swept into Fairyland. Like any little girl in Fairyland, she needs a grand mission, and she finds one. S ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 31, 2013 Emily rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi, young-adult-lit, read-in-2013

I truly loved this book. At first I did not know if I would love it, but I think my head was not able to let go and just take in the beautiful world being offered by Valente. In this story, September is a young girl from Nebraska who is offered the chance to go to Fairyland and (of course) decides to go. Along the way she encounters fantastical creatures and makes some excellent friends. But this book is about more than just the characters on the page and the richly developed world - it's a beau ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 30, 2014 Kristi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fivestars, childrensfiction, fantasy, adventure

I should mention that my experience was with the audiobook.

Fabulous. Fantastical. An adventure in the vein of Alice in Wonderland or the Oz books. Rich symbolism, beautiful descriptions, surprising plot, delightful and memorable characters. HIGHLY recommended.

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May 14, 2012 Soelo rated it it was ok

Shelves: series, series2010s, nortonaward, locusaward, mythopoeicaward

I am about 100 pages in and I don't like it so far. I have never been a fan of Alice in Wonderland and this has been too much like it so far, with lots of whimsy for no apparent reason.

Now that I have finished it, my impression stands. Things got a little more interesting, but it was still too many words and characters. ...more

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