How to Ditch Your Fairy
by Justine Larbalestier

    HOW TO DITCH YOUR FAIRY by Justine Larbalestier
    Category:  Fantasy
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 6+
    Release Date:  9/16/08
    Publisher:  Bloomsbury
    Reviewed by:  Lynn Crow
    Rating:  4 Stars


    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!