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

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

• September: A quiet human child of 12 who loves to read and is not above taking an adventure when the Green Wind comes to call.
• A-Through-L: A very intelligent wyvern who travels with September to the city of Pandemonium.
• 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.
• 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.
• Iago: The Marquess' panther, brother to the Leopard of Little Breezes.
• Leopard of Little Breezes: The leopard who came with Green Wind to carry September off to Fairyland.
• The Green Wind: One of the four winds of the world (six actually, but two are on vacation).
• Lye: A soap golem made by Queen Mallow who still greets and washes travelers on their way to Pandemonium.
• Gleam: A Tsukumogami in the form of an orange lantern.
• Mr. Map: The Royal Cartographer
• Manythanks: The husband of both Hello and Goodbye. A wairwulve.
• Hello: A witch who can see the future. She sister to Goodbye and married to Manythanks.
• Goodbye: A witch who can see the future. She is sister to Hello and married to Manythanks. She asks September to retrieve her Spoon which was stole by the Marquess.
• Betsy Basilstalk: A gnome who works at the "gate" to get into Fairyland
• Charlie Crunchcrab: A fairy, who works on the ferry across the river to Pandemonium.
• Iago the Panther: Brother to the Leopard of Little Breezes and pet of the Marqess.
• Hannibal: A Tsukumogami in the form of a pair of yellow sandals.
• The Leopard of Little Breezes: Steed of the Green Wind
• 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 changling Calpurnia rescued from the Changling Orchestra. She was once known as Molly, when she was with her human family.
• Queen Mallow: The beloved queen of Fairyland who has not been heard from in years since her rule was taken over by the Marquess.

Quotes edit see section history

• “"It would be easier, if you were the only one lost. But lost children always find each other, in the dark, in the cold. It is as though they are magnetized and can only attract their like."”

  Narrator

• “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 Green Wind

• “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

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• Stories have a way of changing faces. They are unruly things, undisciplined, given to delinquency and the throwing of erasers. This is why we must close them up into thick, solid books, so they cannot get out and cause trouble.

  Highlighted by 51 Kindle customers

• All children are heartless. They have not grown a heart yet, which is why they can climb tall trees and say shocking things and leap so very high that grown-up hearts flutter in terror. Hearts weigh quite a lot. That is why it takes so long to grow one.

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• “When you are born,” the golem said softly, “your courage is new and clean. You are brave enough for anything: crawling off of staircases, saying your first words without fearing that someone will think you are foolish, putting strange things in your mouth. But as you get older, your courage attracts gunk and crusty things and dirt and fear and knowing how bad things can get and what pain feels like.

  Highlighted by 49 Kindle customers

• 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.

  Highlighted by 41 Kindle customers

• 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.

  Highlighted by 41 Kindle customers

• (It is well known that reading quickens the growth of a heart like nothing else.)

  Highlighted by 38 Kindle customers

• “For the wishes of one’s old life wither and shrivel like old leaves if they are not replaced with new wishes when the world changes. And the world always changes. Wishes get slimy, and their colors fade, and soon they are just mud, like all the rest of the mud, and not wishes at all, but regrets. The trouble is, not everyone can tell when they ought to launder their wishes. Even when one finds oneself in Fairyland and not at home at all, it is not always so easy to remember to catch the world in its changing and change with it.”

  Highlighted by 38 Kindle customers

• though you can have grief without adventures, you cannot have adventures without grief.

  Highlighted by 32 Kindle customers

• As all mothers know, children travel faster than kisses. The speed of kisses is, in fact, what Doctor Fallow would call a cosmic constant. The speed of children has no limits.

  Highlighted by 26 Kindle customers

• Breaking things heals a great many hurts. This is why children do it so often.

  Highlighted by 25 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Fairyland
• Lonely Gaol
• Omaha, Nebraska

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

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.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

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

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Andre Norton Award (2009: Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, #1)
• CultureGeek Readers' Choice Award (Best Web Fiction of the 21st Century)
• Amazon Best of the Month (May 2011, #9)
• Mythopoeic Fantasy Award (Finalist, 2012: Children's Literature)
• Locus Award (2012: Young Adult Book)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: PZ7.V232Gir 2001

Notes for Parents edit see section history

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

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Children's Books › Literature › Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths › Other
• Books › Children's Books › Literature › Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror › Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
• Books › Children's Books › Ages 9-12
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Authors, A-Z › ( V )

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Catherynne Valente's Official Site
• Original Official Site for The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
• Feiwel and Friends Official Site for The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history