FINISHED:
Valente, Catherynne M. (2011). The girl who circumnavigated Fairyland in a ship of her own making. New York: Feiwel and Friends.

[Reviewing for ACL - review to come...

Twelve year-old September is whisked away from her mundane existence one evening by the Green Wind, and deposited on the outskirts of Fairyland. There she befriends, and takes along as a travelling companion, a Wyvern who has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things from A-L. September quickly makes a deal with the bratty, young Marquess, the "new management" in Fairyland: if September will journey to retrieve a sword for the Marquess then the Marquess will free the Wyvern on whom she has put shackles that keep its wings bound. Thus, September embarks upon an epic journey where she meets a host of odd characters in extraordinary situations that invite just comparisons to other episodic gems like The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth (Random House, 1961). Indeed, the comparisons are not lost on Valente herself who, when September asks how the story will end, has the Green Wind say, “It seems familiar to me so far. A child whisked off to a foreign land beset by a wicked ruler…” As with many classic fairy tale stories, this isn't sugarcoated sunshine but, rather, there is a constant sense of foreboding as if it is entirely possible that things may not end cheerily and tidily. Indeed, along the way, we see just how grim things in Fairyland can be as we meet a djinn who is kept in a lobster cage by the Marquess and forced to grant her wishes, and how September ends up surrendering her shadow in order to save the life of a little “Pooka girl” destined to be drown and eaten. Advanced readers only need apply here - the densely-worded passages with rich vocabulary roll off the tongue and paint a vivid world, yet often do little to advance the plot and are loaded with thinly-veiled social commentary. Originally published online and compiled for this tome, Valente has augmented this printed edition with Ana Juan's soft and mysteriously evocative chapter-heading illustrations. As a few important details aren't resolved by story's end (September didn't get her shadow back!) a sequel is certain to follow and a legion of readers are surely waiting with bated breath.]

STARTED:
Brooks, Albert. (2011). 2030: The real story of what happens to America. New York: St. Martin's Press.

[He cracks me up...]

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