Helpful Score: 6
This book was absolutely horrible. If I could give it no stars, I would. It was sloppy, annoying and just plain lame. The author tried a bit too hard with the slang. Teenagers just don't speak that way. I wanted to love this book because the premise was great! Fairies are wonderful! But I got through the first two chapters and I couldn't take anymore of the stupid slang and annoying characters. This book sucked!
Helpful Score: 3
In the city of New Avalon, located in an alternate world, where people have personal specified fairies, fourteen-year-old Charlie (Charlotte) Steele is having a hard time. She's a first-year at the highly prestigious and strict New Avalon Sports High, and she has a parking fairy. She guarantees that whatever car Charlie is in, that car will find the perfect parking space, right when you need it.
A parking fairy is so NOT what a girl like Charlie wants. Not only is it not fun, it also attracts attention from Danders Anders, a slow-minded star athlete who loves to "borrow" Charlie for his car rides. Charlie would much rather have something like an all-the-boys-like-you fairy, the one Fiorenze Stupid-Name has. Stupid-Name is so nicknamed because she is annoying when she attracts attention from all the guys. It gets even worse when the new boy, Steffi, whom Charlie befriends, falls for Fiorenze as well because of her fairy.
How far is Charlie willing to go in order to ditch her fairy? And what'll happen if she succeeds?
HOW TO DITCH YOUR FAIRY was so much fun to read! Justine Larbalestier does a great job of creating engaging characters who act their age. Charlie is a genuinely relatable fourteen-year-old who worry about making the team and whether or not people like her. The world in which this story is set is fabulous, a success brought forth by the combination of language (lots of slang here, maybe Aussie? Not exactly sure but they add to the book's atmosphere), description, and quirks (have you ever encountered such a regimented and sports-oriented high school? I didn't think so). Overall, a story well done and highly recommended.
A parking fairy is so NOT what a girl like Charlie wants. Not only is it not fun, it also attracts attention from Danders Anders, a slow-minded star athlete who loves to "borrow" Charlie for his car rides. Charlie would much rather have something like an all-the-boys-like-you fairy, the one Fiorenze Stupid-Name has. Stupid-Name is so nicknamed because she is annoying when she attracts attention from all the guys. It gets even worse when the new boy, Steffi, whom Charlie befriends, falls for Fiorenze as well because of her fairy.
How far is Charlie willing to go in order to ditch her fairy? And what'll happen if she succeeds?
HOW TO DITCH YOUR FAIRY was so much fun to read! Justine Larbalestier does a great job of creating engaging characters who act their age. Charlie is a genuinely relatable fourteen-year-old who worry about making the team and whether or not people like her. The world in which this story is set is fabulous, a success brought forth by the combination of language (lots of slang here, maybe Aussie? Not exactly sure but they add to the book's atmosphere), description, and quirks (have you ever encountered such a regimented and sports-oriented high school? I didn't think so). Overall, a story well done and highly recommended.
Helpful Score: 1
Reviewed by Lynn Crow for TeensReadToo.com
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!
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!
