sign in| help
Search advanced search
 
Books
Search:
x dismiss this message

Did you know you can edit this page?

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
  • Rated 0 stars
Fairyland: Book 1

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (2011) (edit title/settings)

by Catherynne M. Valente (Author), Ana Juan (Illustrator) (edit contributors)

Share this book on:
see page history

Description edit see section history

Twelve-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... read more

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Summary edit see section history

When the Green Wind offers to whisk young September from her dull home in Nebraska off to Fairyland, she jumps at the chance and onto his flying leopard. Once in Fairyland (a self-aware mashup of surreal otherworlds from Wonderland to Oz to Neverland), she makes fast friends with a wyverary... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

When the Green Wind offers to whisk young September from her dull home in Nebraska off to Fairyland, she jumps at the chance and onto his flying leopard. Once in Fairyland (a self-aware mashup of surreal otherworlds from Wonderland to Oz to Neverland), she makes fast friends with a wyverary (the offspring of a dragon and a library); runs afoul of the wicked little girl Marquess, who rules the land with tyrannical poutiness; and traipses about in a loosely plotted series of merry, harrowing, and just plain weird adventures. September herself is a standard-issue fairy-tale fish out of water, ever flummoxed and begging pardon but given to sharp outbursts of pluck in pluckworthy situations. The setting, however, fairly bursts at the seams with darkness, wonder, and oodles of imaginative quirks, while Valente's busy and at times intrusive narration is thick, thorny, and stylistically vigorous. Chapters are headed by Juan's dreamy, stubby-figured drawings and a wry look forward (In Which September Enters the Worsted Wood, Loses All Her Hair, Meets Her Death, and Sings It to Sleep). The rich, dense vocabulary presents some tricky footing, but for readers like September, wh. read often and liked it best when words did not pretend to be simple but put on their full armor and rode out with colors flying. this book is quite simply a gold mine.--Chipman, Ia. Copyright 2010 Booklist

Characters/People edit see section history

  • September: A 12 year old girl who is very well-read and longs for adventure.
  • Lye: A golem made of soap; waiting for the Queen who made her to return.
  • Mr. Map: The Royal Cartographer
  • Manythanks: A Witch and wairwulf, husband to Hello and Goodbye
  • Betsy Basilstalk: A gnome who works at the "gate" to get into Fairyland
  • Glashtyn: Unfriendly beasts with greaves, gauntlets and the heads of horses. They demand payment for passage through their territory.
  • Rupert: Add a description of this character.
  • Charlie Crunchcrab: A fairy, who works on the ferry across the river to Pandemonium.
  • Mary
  • The Green Wind: A harsh air who comes to spirit September away from Omaha to Fairyland.
  • Hello: A witch, wife to Manythanks and sister of Goodbye
  • Goodbye: Hello's sister, another witch, has lost her Spoon
  • The Leopard of Little Breezes: Steed of the Green Wind
  • A- through-L: A Wyvern, son of a library (Wyverary)
  • Saturday: A Marid, rather like a djinn, except from the sea. He is dark blue, and can grant a wish if he yields in battle. He is September's friend.
  • Calpurnia Farthing: A velocipede (wild bicycle) rider/wrangler, whose ward is Penny Farthing. She is a fairy who doesn't put much stock in the Marquess' rules.
  • Penny: A changeling, adopted by Calpurnia Farthing, with a skill for velocipede wrangling
  • Iago: The Marquess' panther, brother to the Leopard of Little Breezes.
  • Marquess: The despotic ruler of Fairyland. She has created many rules forcing Fairyland to become more like our world, with shifts and taxes and the like.
  • Queen Mallow: The sweet, kindly former ruler of Fairyland, under whose rule the land prospered. All of Fairyland misses her.
Show all 20 characters
Popular Covers

Loading covers…

Choose your book’s cover

Quotes edit see section history

  • “She sounds like someone who spends a lot of time in libraries, which are the best sorts of people.”
    A- through L
  • “It is well known that reading quickens the growth of a heart like nothing else.”
    Narrator
  • “Readers will always insist on adventures, and though you can have grief without adventures, you cannot have adventures without grief.”
    Narrator
  • “When one is traveling, everything looks brighter and lovelier. That does not mean it IS brighter and lovelier; it just means that sweet, kindly home suffers in comparison to tarted-up foreign places with all their jewels on.”
    Narrator
  • “I'm not lost, because I haven't any idea where to go that I might get lost on the way to. I'd like to get lost, because then I'd know where I was going, you see”
    September
  • “I wouldn't even consider it if I were you. But then if I were you, I would not be me, and if I were not me, I would not be able to advise you, and if I were unable to advise you, you'd do as you like, so you might as well do as you like and have done with it.”
    Iago.
  • “When little ones say they want to go home, they almost never mean it. They mean they are tired of this particular game and would like to start another”
    The leopard of Little Breezes
  • “I believe we have an utterly unique specimen on our hands: a child who listens”
    Manythanks
  • “In September's world, many things began with pan. Pandemic, Pangaea, Panacea, Panoply. Those were all big words, to be sure, but as has been said, September read often, and liked it best when words did not pretend to be simple, but put on their full armor and rode out with colors flying.”
    Narrator

First Sentence edit see section history

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.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Chapter I: Exeunt on a Leopard
Chapter II: The Closet Between Worlds
Chapter III: Hello, Goodbye, and Manythanks
Chapter IV: The Wyverary
Chapter V: The House Without Warning
Chapter VI: Shadows in the Water
Interlude: The Key and Its Travels
Chapter VII: Fairy Reels
Chapter VIII: An Audience with the Marquess
Chapter IX: Saturday's Story
Chapter X: The Great Velocipede Migration
Chapter XI: The Satrap of Autumn
Chapter XII: Thy Mother's Sword
Chapter XIII: Autumn is the Kingdom where everything changes
Chpter XIV: In a ship of her own making
Interlude
Chapter XV: The Island of the Nasnas
Chapter XVI: Until we stop
Chapter XVII: One hundred years old
Chapter XVIII: The lonely gaol
Chapter XIX: Clocks
Chapter XX: Saturday's wish
Chapter XXI: Did you see her?
Chapter XXII: Ravished means you cannot stay

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 1 of 3 in Fairyland. (standard series)

Preceded by The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland -- For a Little While, and followed by The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There.

This is book 9 of 9 in Amazon.com Best Books of May (2011). (authoritative list)

Preceded by What Happened to Goodbye.

This book is in New York Times Bestseller. (community list)
This book is in 2011 Locus Recommended Reading List: Young Adult. (authoritative list)
This is book 2 of 5 in NPR Best Science Fiction - Fantasy 2011. (authoritative list)

Preceded by A Dance with Dragons, and followed by Rule 34.

This book is in Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2011. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Catherynne M. Valente (Author)
  2. Ana Juan (Illustrator)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Country: USA
Publication Date: April 2011
ISBN: 978-0-312-64961-6
Page Count: 245

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

The book is thematically appropriate for all ages, but the vocabulary is a little challenging.

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • Palimpsest

We’re hiding the errata, movie connections, books that influenced this book, books influenced by this book, books that cite this book and books cited by this book sections. If you would like to add content to them, you must first make them visible.

© 2006-2012 Shelfari | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy

Close