[[quoteright:333:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The-Girl-who-circumnavigated-fairyland_3540.jpeg]]
September, terribly bored of her mundane life in Omaha, is delighted when she's visited by the Green Wind and the Leopard of Little Breezes, who spirit her away to Fairyland. There, she takes on a quest for a witch to take her magical spoon back from the terrible Marquess, ruler of Fairyland. She gains great friends and allies in A-Through-L, a half-wyvern half-library crossbreed, a blue marid named Saturday, and many other residents of the land, both friendly and dangerous.

''The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making'' is a children's and young adult fantasy novel by Creator/CatherynneMValente, with illustrations by Ana Juan. The novel started as a [[ShowWithinAShow book within a book]] in ''Literature/{{Palimpsest}}''. It was originally published for free online, but was finally put onto paper in May 2011. It deals with the adventures a young girl called September has in Fairyland. ThatSoundsFamiliar, but the book provides a broad knowledge on folklore, and reads like a love letter to those odd Victorian classics with a twist of sardonic humor to them (such as ''Literature/AliceInWonderland''). A sequel called ''The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There'' was published in October 2012. A prequel, ''The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland—For a Little While'', tells the story of the young girl who became Fairyland's Queen Mallow (and is full of Major {{Spoiler}}s for the first book, so only read it after that one).
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!!This book contains examples of:

* AllJustADream: Averted. Everything that happened to September in Fairyland really did happen, although many characters say it feels like having been in a dream in the end. [[spoiler:But September still knows it all really happened when she returns.]]
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: [[spoiler: Mallow/Marquess]]
* ComingOfAgeStory: September is right on the verge of puberty. She hasn't grown a heart yet, but she will very soon.
* CreepyChild: The Marquess, who has no problems killing and threatening others and is physically twelve.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: The Marquess's {{backstory}} is awfully sad and touching. [[spoiler:In her life in the human world, her mother died when she was eight and she was abused by her alcoholic father. Then she stumbled into Fairyland, lived there for many years, fell in love and became a queen, and not by marriage, and became pregnant. And then she was snatched back into her dull world, all the ones she loved and who loved her in Fairyland gone, stuck with her abusive father and in a twelve year old's body, no husband, no child, nothing. Doesn't really surprise one that she became so bitter and full of hatred for Fairyland, first giving her so much love, and then taking it away again.]]
* FallenHero: [[spoiler: The Good Queen Mallow became the Marquess due to her anger at being returned to the mundane world. She still considers herself the hero.]]
* TheFantasticTropeOfWonderousTitles
* FoodChains: September is warned not to eat any of the food in Fairyland, or else she risks becoming like [[ClassicalMythology Persephone]]. [[spoiler:She fails to properly heed this warning, but it ends up working out for the best.]]
* FreudianExcuse: for Marquess.
* HeroicSacrifice: September sacrifices her shadow to save a Pooka girl's life.
* IKnowYourTrueName: Knowing someone's true name gives you power over that person. September wasn't suppose to tell anyone her true name, though she never lied about her name when in Fairyland,[[spoiler: until she finds out that the true name is actually a person's full name, which in her case would be September Morning Bell. She also finds out the Marquess's true name.]]
* InWhichATropeIsDescribed: with chapters like "In Which a Girl Named September is Spirited Off By Means of Leopard, Learns the Rules of Fairyland, and Solves a Puzzle."
* InterspeciesRomance: The Good Queen Mallow (human) and Mr. Map (who has wolf ears), September (human) and Saturday (a Marid), and Ell's parents (as he is supposedly a Wyvern/library hybrid).
* JerkassHasAPoint: many things that Marquess says are logical, including the fact that taking away one's father, is much worse than taking away one's spoon.
* KaleidoscopeHair: The Marquess uses magic to change her hair color at will.
* NarniaTime: No time passes in the Human world for a Human in Fairyland, with occasionally cruel results like growing to adulthood in Fairyland and then being thrust back into an abusive family as a twelve-year-old. Adds a serious element of FridgeHorror to the more famous example of the Pevensies returning to England and becoming young again.
* NotSoDifferent: September and Marquess [[spoiler: / Mallow]].
* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler: Mallow/Marquess. Though for a change, it is not entirely her fault. Rather the fairyland rules ''literally'' made Mallow disappear, though what happened aftewards is another story.]]
* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot: A-Through-L explains that Pandemonium, the capital of Fairyland, comes to people whenever it likes; therefore, people quite literally travel at the speed of plot, no matter what.
* TwistEnding: And a really good one. [[spoiler: It turns out that the Marquess wants September to lock the portal which connects the human world to Fairyland, supposely so that no child can get lost again. To pursuade September, she shows her a watch with September's name on it, which determines the time she stays in Fairyland. Then it turns out that it's the Marquess's watch, whose true name is Maud Elizabeth Smythe, and that it's she who doesn't want to return or let any other child come. Then she reveals her backstory, which is really interesting and touching.]]
* YouMustBeCold: September is given a velvet smoking jacket by a Green Wind in the form of a fine gentleman. The jacket is very eager to please and fits her immediately. Throughout the course of the story it becomes various things, mainly waterproofing for the titular ship, and lengthens into a dress when September loses hers.
* {{Youkai}}: Fairyland residents include {{tanuki}}, as well as tsukumogami, who have their own island.

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