How to Ditch Your Fairy

Reader reviewed by stephanie

In New Avalon, everyone has their own fairy. Or at least, most everyone. However, the fairies are invisible to the naked eye, a personal fairy that specialized in something that is vital to success. In the case of the students at New Avalon Sports High, a fairy might determine whether or not you will make the team, pass a class or wear that awesome outfit. For fourteen year old Charlie, having a Parking fairy is the worse than having nothing at all. Her parking fairy allowed her to get the best parking spots at any given time. So the school bully used her as his own personal parking pass. Enter: The Plan. At first, teaming up with Fiorenza, her worst enemy, who had the all-the-boys-like-you fairy seemed like a wonderful, if not magnificent, idea. However, when she finally gets her hearts idea, it was not what she thought it would be like. So ends up resorting to extraordinary measures to ditch her fairy. But will she be able to survive the fairy ditching experiment? This book is a wonderful story of fairies, friendships and allows us to believe that anything is possible. I really really enjoyed this book since it had romance, fantasy and best of all, comedy. This book is totally recommended to everyone who loved the Magic or Madness trilogy.

Reader reviewed by HoopsGirl27

Charlie's hates her parking fairy.  She lives in New Avalon where everyone has a personal fairy.  Her parking fairy can get he the perfect parking spot when she is in a car.  Unfortortunatly her fairy gets her into some difficult situations.  ANdrew kidnaps her a couple of times ignorer to get the perfect parking spot.  She really wants to get ride of her fairy! When Fiorenze (who has a fairy that makes every boy like you) wants to trade fairies with Charlie she cant turn it down.  But how will they switch fairies?  WIll Fiorenzes mothers book on fairies answer their questions?

Reader reviewed by Steph Su

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. Shes 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 whatll 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 books atmosphere), description, and quirks
(have you ever encountered such a regimented and sports-oriented high school? I
didnt think so). Overall, a story well done and highly recommended.

Reader reviewed by Jessica

How to Ditch Your Fairy is a very entertaining book. Need to escape a rainy day? Go to New Avalon. Justine Larbalestier does a great job creating her own world inside our own complete with its own celebrities and slang. (Make sure to check the back of the book to understand it). All of the fairies are believable; Im convinced one of my friends has a good hair fairy. The main character Charlie is on a quest to get rid of her parking fairy. On the way she makes a couple of new friends, some enemies, and figures out how to be content in her own life. So I liked this book but it could slow down a lot. I also didnt check the back of the book to see what the slang meant. But really there wasnt anything wrong except the speed. My favorite character was Rochelle, probably because she has a clothes shopping fairy. I like both of these covers but I like the one with the girl on it better I dont really know why. Looking for more Justine Larbalestier? She has written a series called Magic or Madness. Also check out her website http://justinelarbalestier.com/. Totally doos book.

Reader reviewed by Katie

In New Avalon, everyone has a personal fairy. Charlie's gets her the best parking spots. She's fourteen years old and can't drive so this kind of fairy is pretty much worthless to her. She is constantly being borrowed by family members and kidnapped by the school bully so her fairy can work its magic for them. In order to trade her parking fairy in for one that might actually do her some good, she comes up with a plan. She teams up with her enemy Fiorenze, who has an all-the-boys-like-you fairy. But when they actually switch fairies, Charlie finds out that having all the boys like you isn't as great as you would think. Fiorenze isn't enjoying her new fairy either. The girls must resort to extraordinary measures to set things right again.


I'm on the fence about this book. The story was funny and overall enjoyable but I was annoyed with the main character, Charlie. I thought she was basically just selfish. It annoyed me how she had no time for her family, friends, or schoolwork because she was trying to get rid of her fairy all the time. I mean, I wish I had a parking fairy! I really liked the setting, though. The way their city and schools worked was different, but in a good way. How To Ditch Your Fairy was a good read but nothing spectacular. I recommend it, but maybe not at the very top of your To Be Read pile.