The Girl Who Circumvented Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Fairyland #1) by Catherynne M. Valente

            "It is well known that reading quickens the growth of the heart like nothing else." 
                      - The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

             A seamless blend of modern and Victorian fairy tales, this beautiful book has the feel and look of Alice In Wonderland but with so much more bravery and heart than poor Alice ever possessed. Catherynne M Valente's language draws you in but it's the main character, named September, with her spunky personality and fascinating friends that keeps you reading well past bed time.

            This book is a normal, cliche sounding story about a special girl that gets whisked away to Fairyland only to find out she must save it and her new friends from an evil queen, it's that classic Wizard of Oz type of story that we all love. But once you start reading, September becomes so much more relate-able than Dorothy or Alice ever were. She becomes the hero that we all wish we could be, that brave, trusting child that lives deep down in all of us.

            "This is for washing you wishes," said Lye..."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." 

            Catherynne M. Valente gently reminds us and September what life is really about, that magic isn't in things, but it lurks quietly in our friends, in our experiences and in the people all around us. Everyone has a story, a reason for why they are and who they are.

            "That's what a map is, you know. Just a memory. Just a wish to go back home - someday, somehow."

           September is a reminder to us all that heroes are not chosen, born or made. Heroes are simply people that made the personal decision to stand up for what they consider right. Heroes are the ones that decide for themselves to speak up and keep going. Heroes are just ordinary people.

             "No one is chosen, not ever. Not in the real world. You chose to climb out of your window... You chose to face your own death... and twice now, you have chosen not to go home when you might have, if only you abandoned your friends. You are not the chosen one, September. Fairyland did not choose you - you chose yourself."