Review: How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

I have a parking fairy.
I'm fourteen years old.
I can't drive.
I don't like cars and
I have a parking fairy.

In New Avalon, almost everyone has a personal fairy. These invisible fairies are like a good luck charm and vital to each person's success. Some help to get good grades, make touchdowns, never get into trouble - but Charlie has a parking fairy. She doesn't need or want help parking, especially since she can't drive. The only person who does is the school bully and he forces her to ride with him so he's insured a great spot.

Charlie comes up with an idea that involves the girl in school she likes the least. Fiorenze has a fairy that makes all of the boys like her. Unfortunately for her, none of the girls do. Charlie needs her to make her plan work so she can get what she's always wanted, a good fairy. But things don't work out the way she planned and now she needs to set things right. But it's going to take something extraordinary to do it.

I enjoyed the fairy tale (pun intended) aspect of this story. In the author's notes she mentions that this is set in an imaginary country similar to the U.S. and Australia, possible in the near future. This made it easy to relate to in many ways but also allowed for the fantasy to develop. While Charlie attends a prestigious all sports school the characters could be interchanged with the stereotypes of any high school - the popular girls, the jocks, the misfits and all the rest. And their insecurities are timeless even in a fantasy world. The humor made this even more enjoyable and the girls' ambition to take charge of their own lives had me cheering them on.

A glossary and school rules are in the back of book and are very helpful. I wish I had known about them during the story but it wasn't that hard to figure out the definition from the context. I would highly recommend this to anyone who would like a bit of a different take on the high school experience.


Author's website and blog: www.justinelarbalestier.com

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Release date: 9/16/08
Pages: 320
Price/Format: $16.99/Hardcover
Type: Fiction
Age: Young Adult