"The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making"- Reading Response

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynnne Valente is a creative fantasy about a young girl named September who is whisked off to a world of witches, Wyveraries, and magic. At first, this world seems to be any bored little girl's dream, but she soon realizes how dangerous it is. The dreadful queen of  Fairyland, the Marquess, has attempted to make Fairlyland more safe than ever before, but by this she has made it even more dangerous. The Marquess has almost complete power over her kingdom, and establishes it by essentially making all the creatures of Fairyland work for her; and when they disobey, punishing them harshly.

One way the Marquess shows her power is by making certain creatures work for her. For example, when September had disobeyed her orders, she commanded the Tsukumogami (alive household objects over 100 years old) to kill September. The Marquess also gained control over the kindness of the creatures of Fairyland. When the her people weren't kind to the little girls and boys that came to Fairyland, she greenlisted them. She greenlisted them for other reasons, too. September and her friends, Ell and Saturday, met a woman named Calpurnia Farthing while bicycle riding. Calpurnia had taken a changeling (a child who has been taken from earth to come to Fairyland and replaced with a goblin) from an orchestra where the changeling had been very unhappy. Even though it was in the best interest of the child, and she didn't have anyone to look after her anyway, Calpurnia was still punished for messing up the Marquess's system.

Another way the Marquess established her power was by making Fairyland "safer" and more suitable for the young humans who came there. One way she did this was by chaining all of the flying creatures of Fairylands' wings. One of these creatures was A-through-L, or Ell, one of September's friends. Later in the book the Marquess claims it was "unfair" to everyone else when certain creatures could fly. But if it wasn't enough that their wings were chained, they were also chained with iron, a metal that every native of Fairyland was allergic to.

The Marquess was a cruel queen of Fairyland. She showed her power through force and brutality, and Fairyland was better off the way it was before she took over.