How to Ditch Your Fairy

by Justine Larbalestier

Book Overview

Welcome to New Avalon, where everyone has a personal fairy. Though invisible to the naked eye, a personal fairy, like a specialized good luck charm, is vital to success. And in the case of the students at New Avalon Sports High, it might just determine whether you make the team, pass a class, or find that perfect outfit. But for 14-year-old Charlie, having a Parking Fairy is worse than having nothing at all?especially when the school bully carts...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1599903016
• ISBN13: 9781599903019
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Length: 307 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.6" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

HTDYF is so doos

How to Ditch Your Fairy was definitely doos. This was such a fun fairy book, and a bit different from the norm. New Avalon is like a mix of Australia and America, and the slang was fun (and there's a glossary!). Doos is my new favorite word. Charlie hates her parking fairy (and why wouldn't she? She can't even drive! Although I would personally love that fairy...) and would do anything to get rid of it. And boy, does she do a lot. When Charlie teams up with Fiorenze, things get interesting. Charlie comes off as a sweet, smart, athletic girl. Stefan was a fun character to throw into the mix (and his fairy rocks). At the end, she learns more than just fairy business. This book was entirely cute and awesome. Especially a certain chapter toward the end...*luge*.... I loved Justine Larbalestier's fairy twist in this book. A personal fairy? Umm, cool! But I probably would have something lame like Never-being-late fairy. Yeah, lame. Highlights: Justine's writing kept me entertained on all levels (fun, romance, fights). Her novel was fun, fresh,bubbly, and totally doos. Plus, the glossary in the back is definitely a major help when it comes to the words she invented. Lowlights: I hate the word pulchy. I'm sorry, I just do. Pulchy does not give me a "hot/sexy" vibe...Plus, at times Charlie really annoyed me, but then I realized that she's still a kid, only fourteen, and I was probably annoying at times too when I was that young, so I can't really hold it against her. ;)

A Fun and Enjoyable Read

From page one I was captivated with the idea of these different fairies and their odd powers; perfect parking spots, amazing clothes and deals, perfect hair and amazing sport feats. It was all very quirky. I found myself totally immersed in this whole other fantastical world. I couldn't put the book down and completed it within the day, taking time to savor and reread different parts when I was done (something I rarely do). The plot was sincere for the characters, and fun watching them figure it out. The only thing I didn't care for was the made up words. This is something the author's husband frequently does and pulls off in his work, but I feel she failed when attempting the same. Doos does not equal cool to me. Certain words were okay but doos definitly annoyed me the most. That said, the book was brilliant enough to make up for that which is why I still gave it 5 stars. I hope there are more fairy books where this came from!

Fairy Fun

How to ditch your fairy is a fun tale of how encumbersome fairies can be when growing up. The last thing Charlie wants is to drive a car, or even sit in one. She is starving her fairy who makes sure any car she is in always gets good parking lots. She doen't want that kind of fairy, and who needs the all the extra hassle of fighting with your fairy when homework looms and new boys are starting school? A very entertaining book with some exotic flair as Larbalestier uses her australian background to make an eerily familar, yet strange place where other peoples fairies are always better than yours. Wittingly written and with some cool teen savvy characters, this book was a very good surprise to me. I will have no problem recomending this book to just about anybody who are now growing up, or at leat distantly remembers just how much of a hassle growing up can be at times. It made me laugh out loud a couple of times, but mostly i kept smiling to myself all the way through the book

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

In New Avalon, just about everyone has a fairy -- an invisible presence that gives the host an extra bit of luck. Some fairies are awesome: a clothes-shopping fairy means you always find clothes that look gorgeous on you on sale; a charisma fairy means people can't help but like you. Unfortunately, other fairies aren't much fun at all. Charlie's parking fairy has never been much use to her -- she hates cars and isn't even old enough to drive -- and it's meant everyone from her parents to her schoolmates wants to borrow her so they can find that perfect parking spot. It's a completely malodorous situation. What Charlie wants is a "doos" fairy like the one her archenemy, Fiorenze, has, which makes every boy fall for her, including the new guy Charlie was just getting friendly with. But getting rid of her own fairy is harder than Charlie had hoped, and she's about to find out that fairies that look good from the outside aren't as much fun when they're yours. HOW TO DITCH YOUR FAIRY is fun, light-hearted, and hard to put down. The twists and turns that make Charlie's situation increasingly tense will have readers on the edge of their seats, though they'll be giggling at the same time. Charlie makes for a likable, relatable narrator as she starts to question the narrow assumptions she had about her world and the people around her, and to decide what's really important to her. Her friends and family don't get as much fleshing out, but they're still enjoyable company. Recommended for all fans of humorous fantasy! Reviewed by: Lynn Crow

Delightful!

What a delightful book! I picked this one up from our school's librarian and I can happily say I was captured from the first pages. Set in New Avalon where kids are educated according to their talents (what an idea!) and most everyone has a fairy, we're introduced to the irrepressible Charlie, a fourteen year old who is saddled with...a parking fairy! Which as an adult, I could see the benefits of, but as a fourteen year old, it would be definitely injured (as Charlie would say). So what's a girl to do when she wants to ditch her fairy? She becomes friend with another girl who wants the same thing, and the two conspire to switch. But is one fairy really any better than another? And how will Charlie know if she's being liked for herself or for her fairy's ability? Each chapter begins with a mini-update on Charlie's day, and each chapter takes us further into Charlie's quest to get rid of her fairy and avoid demerits at school. Charlie's got a crush on her new friend Steffi (who is actually Steffan, a boy), but she's unsure of how he feels about her. Finding her time filled with school and working off demerits doesn't leave her a lot of time to be with Steffi OR to get rid of her fairy until Fiorenze, a girl she's never liked, suddenly comes up with the perfect plan for both of them. Told with Charlie's unique way of speaking, I was right there with them, laughing and holding my breath to see how things would turn out. The only problems I had with the book were very minor: too much "teeth sucking" (what on earth was that about?) and the fact that Charlie could seemingly come and go at will as far as her parents were concerned. But overall this book cast a spell on me that had me wanting to pick it back up as soon as I laid it down. It's funny, charming, and entirely doos (and I'll let you decide what that means!). I can highly recommend it and hope that there will be more from New Avalon soon.