The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two (Fairyland, 3)

(4.5 stars) This is the third book in the Fairyland series. September has been waiting for the winds to bring her back to Fairyland with some impatience. Planning ahead, she has been saving money from odd jobs and has begun to learn how to drive. When she does manage to get back, the way is more difficult than in the past, and she travels along with the Model A car. Things are not going well in Fairyland and she is sent on a mission to the Moon where she meets up with her old friends, A through L and Saturday. Each have changed and September must deal with her feelings as well as her own changes over time. Things are not what they seem as she journeys through strange and unusual places to find the time controlling Yeti. There is a wistful sadness to this book amidst the evocative language and creative and unusual imagery. These include entering a town within photographs, a town within a shell on the moon, and tools that are more than they seem. The author also shows another, darker side of the fairies and Fairyland. Perhaps not my favorite of the series, but still a fantastic book.

I've been slowly making my way through a long list of books recommended by a librarian I follow on social media. Next up on the chopping block was a story I've had on my docket for literal years---a book that my friend continuously praised as one of the best fairy tales she ever read. Well, better late than never, and at long last, I finally sat down to see what all the hype was about. And while I wasn't blown away nearly as much as my friend, the "Circumnavigated" book was a decent start to what had the potential to become a classic fantasy series for kids. Thankfully, "Fell Beneath" was a vast improvement, and now this third installment raised the stakes in every way possible.Taking place over a year since the previous installment, September is now 14 years old, and puberty has hit her full force. The war is on the cusp of being over, yet she has an injured father to take care of, her mom is still barely around due to her work, the kids at school pick on her, and none of the colored winds have yet to show up to whisk her to Fairyland (to which they're long past due). Her only solace is in the fact that she's learned how to drive and frequently borrows her neighbor's Model A Ford. But the monotony is finally broken when a Wind appears on September's farm. But the feisty and snarky Blue Wind has no desire to pick up passengers, to which September and her car forcefully hitch a ride back to the land of magic and wonder. There, she finds she's landed on the moon, and worse, the land is experiencing extreme earthquakes and a terrifying yeti is behind it. But after reuniting with her old friends A Though L and Saturday, and along with her Model A Ford that's slowly gaining sentience, September will have to traverse the lunar surface to save the world of magic once again. And in the process, she'll discover the dark secrets behind Fairyland's creation, and that the lines between right and wrong and good and evil aren't as clean cut as she once thought.To say the worldbuilding is phenomenal would be an understatement. From the moment September crosses the threshold into Fairyland, she enters a world bursting at the seams with all manner of magic and otherworldly creatures. This time around, we get a cold hearted Blue Wind, taxi crabs, a sentient car, and a trip through the dimension where camera images end up, to name only a few. And though it may seem like nonsense from the outside looking in, there IS a strange logic to it all if you think about it hard enough. It's nice to finally have A through L and Saturday back for the adventure, and in the intervening years, they've both done a bit of growing up. Ell finally has a library to look after, and Saturday has built his confidence by joining a circus. As such, September continually feels left behind---not knowing what she wants to do with her life.And that's a theme that carries all throughout the novel. This installment feels a lot darker than the previous two books, and it's appropriate, since our main heroine is making the transition to adulthood. As such, the world has become more dangerous and complicated, with some characters not behaving as kindly anymore---not out of meanness, but because they're not treating September (or we the reader) as an innocent child anymore. Much like the first book, for a long while, the plot seems to meander around, with the main cast essentially going on one long road trip (appropriate considering they literally have a car this time), and I was left to wonder what the point of it all was. But much like the climax to "Circumnavigate", the ending saves it and connects all the scattered dots. I won't give anything away, but let's just say that this book is the poster child of "nothing is as it appears", and that the so-called monster may turn out to be an innocent victim.This is still a very creative and imaginative adventure that can stand up to the likes of "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Wizard of Oz". It asks hard questions such as: are some things in life inevitable? Or are we able to change whenever we want? Is it possible to be an adult while still retaining a childlike wonder for things? And if society labels you something, do you embrace that label and become the thing they believe you to be? Or are you able to decide how people perceive you? I can't wait to see what happens next, as this novel ends on one of the biggest cliffhangers ever.

This book came with all of its pages in the correct order, bound in a rigid cover, with a dust jacket. It is not marked up and it doesn’t small like smoke. The book was not damaged. I’m not sure what more you could hope for when ordering a book.

This one was weirdest by far of the three Fairyland books I’ve read at this point. Things felt much more dire and tense and odd all around and then the ending! I’m honestly unsure if I liked it more or not but it left me full of feelings.

A much stronger offering than the second book in the series, though it ends on a crazy-making cliffhanger. As these stories go on they become less and less "middle grade" and more and more "young adult;" kind of like the Harry Potter books, they age with their nominal readers.

Bought for my gf who enjoys fantasy books. It's middle grade but great story for adults too.

Fans of September and her fairyland friends will not be disappointed - this third installment of the Girl Who...series is just as imaginative and unexpected as the others. This time, September, Saturday, and A-through-L are growing up and facing internal challenges as they race along the surface of fairyland's moon after Ciderskin, a ferocious Yeti that they believe is attempting to destroy the moon as a terrible vengeance on the fairies. As an adult, I adore this series and reading it aloud to children never fails to bring about gasps of delight. A bit scary for the younger ones, it's absolutely worth the read if you love a great adventure.

Inhalt: Nun ist September schon 14. Das Leben Daheim wurde stetig härter. Sie wartet immer dringender darauf nach Fairyland zu gelangen, zu fliehen. Weg von der Schule, weg von Arbeit, Pflichten und der Einöde.Als sie es endlich schaffte, scheint ihr diesmaliger Ausflug ein einfacher zu sein: Bringe diese Kiste auf den Mond, sie wird dort erwartet. Nichtsahnend steht September wohl vor ihrer bisher größten Herausforderung.Meinung: Ein grandioser dritter Band. Mittlerweile mustert sich das Buch mehr in Richtung Young Adult. Septembers Herz war ja schon immer ein großes Thema in der reihe. Wie verändert sich so ein Herz im Laufe der Jahre? Wann ist es naiv? Wann öffnet es sich, ist übermütig und besonders: Wann beginnen wir es wieder zu verschließen?September wird erwachsen, in der Schule wird sie gemobbt und ihr verlangen nach Fairyland zurück zu kehren wird immer mehr und mehr eine Forderung, eine Selbstverständlichkeit. Doch es stellt sich heraus, dass nichts selbstverständlich ist.Dieser Band ist mit der stärkste, wenn nicht der stärkste von allen dreien. Es wird noch einmal ihre charakterliche Entwicklung der Vorgänger zusammengefasst. So wie Fairyland das Ergebnis ihrer Taten ist, ist die September heute ebenfalls ein Ergebnis dessen, was Fairyland aus ihr gemacht hat. Man wird zu dem, was andere einen nennen. Wie immer wird die Selbstfindung des Erwachsenwerdens thematisiert und hier mehr und minder zu einem Ergebnis geführt. Diese Thematik kristallisiert sich deutlich als Hauptsubstanz heraus und dieses magische Land ist quasi die Metapher für alle Hürden, die wir sicherlich selbst kennen.Die Geschichte wird merklich komplexer und altert quasi mit den Lesern mit, wäre man ein Kind und erhielte dieses Buch im gleichen Alter wie September. Als Erwachsener fühlt man sich selbst an seine Kindheit zurück erinnert und das ein oder andere betrifft einen selbst heute noch.

Still good but some confusing sequences with too many new introductions and actions. The typos continue with gaps in the words, so annoying. The series however is fantastic, and the next book picks it up.

AAA+++