The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

Title/Author: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
Publisher/Date published: Feiwel & Friends, May 10th 2011
How I got this book: received an ARC from the publisher (can you believe it? My first ever printed ARC!)

Goodreads summary: "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 that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn’t... then the Marquess will make
life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday."

This book was such a sweet read! And can I just say that I love that every chapter had an illustration at the beginning? So pretty! And it was something I adored about fairytale books when I was little. And I still do.

I really enjoyed this take on Fairyland and the way it works and certain rules that almost always exist in these stories. I feel a bit cryptic saying this, but I really don't want to give anything away.

I loved the whole feel of it, September is a girl who can make anything happen. And she throws herself wholeheartedly into this adventure and I really liked her. And can I just say that I loved the green jacket! Is it weird that one of my favourite characters was a jacket? There was such emotion coming from it, major props to the author for that!

The way she described wyverns, I pictured A-Through-L as a huge chickenlike dragon. But luckily, the picture on the cover corrected me, which saved some weirdness. I loved the wyvern and his family. He seems so lovable and I just wanted to hug him. And as a kid I would have loved having a miniature version as a stuffed animal.
Oh, who am I kidding, I would love one now!

I really enjoyed reading it and I love looking at the illustrations, they're awesome!

My rating: 4 stars