The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
pages: 288 | rating: 4 / 5

I forgot who it was that said that good artists make while great artists steal (or some sort of variation on that), but that has greatly influenced my reason for my decision to read this book. A couple years back, I read Catherynne M. Valente's Deathless and I didn't realize that I jumped down my own rabbit hole. Valente's poetic writing and unique integration of a reader's already perceived awareness of particular themes, novels and classic fairytales into her works created such a vivid experience that I was encouraged to read more. I've picked up a couple other books since Deathless, and now I've landed on her young adult series, Fairyland. The first being The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making describes the classic Alice In Wonderland theme of a young girl, named September, being whisked into a completely strange land with its own tyrannical queen. Along the way, she befriends and even piles up missions and promises that force her to explore Fairyland. Valente is smooth with the writing and each chapter is given its deserved attention to detail. I love the hark to Alice in Wonderland theme with Valente's own twists. September is an impressive girl, carrying the curiosity and impulsiveness of children while rounding off her strengths into flaws and vice versa. We see a slow growth within the young girl as she makes her mistakes and act all together oh so human in a not so human place. While this book is intended for middle school kids, it's adult enough for older readers to pick it up. I think what makes me appreciate it is how Valente plays on mature topics through a child's perspective. Someone older will able to pickup the hints while younger readers will be supplied with simple background. The book draws out your imagination as we go along with September's adventure while still maintaining a good cliffhanger balance to want you to pick up the sequel which I very much will.