A fun, quick read from the author of the "Magic or Madness" trilogy. The author creates a world where some people believe they have personal fairies, with varying success. Having a fairy endows you with one particular type of luck -- a great parking space in the case of the main character, Charlie. Even though this may seem like an innocuous piece of luck, it has its downsides. Charlie works hard at various schemes to rid herself of her fairy, hence the title of this novel. ( )

Reviewed by Lynn Crow for TeensReadToo.com

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! ( )

From: http://booknerds.net

There is no big arc in the story, at no point did I go Oh. My. God. That did NOT just happen, but at the same time other then a slightly slow pick up I wasn’t bored with it either. Although I think the beginning was a little extra slow because of the new words thrown in, like: spoffs, pulchy, and doos. Sure, you can read the context and sort of guess what they are, but when reading a book that uses them frequently it’s nice to KNOW what the words mean. Which is why I must say for those of you who might read it: There is a glossary in the back of the book! I hadn’t even considered the possibility of one until I thought about how the ‘new’ words were sort of like the British slang used in the Georgia Nicholson books, and the fact that there is a glossary in the back of those books.

How to Ditch Your Fairy was cute, and presented a new question: What if there was no such thing as ‘luck,’ but instead a tiny fairy following you around that was responsible for all of your good hair days, or insanely cute clothes? The characters are, again, cute, smart, and even somewhat charming, I liked them all, and especially Charlie’s little sister Nettles. I’m pretty sure she was my favourite. Although, no matter how smart the characters were through out most of the book I’m not sure I would have went to the extreme that Charlie and Fiorenze went to get rid of their fairies, I’m quite sure at that point I would have learned to live with it a little bit. Also the use of the cliche, ‘bad girl is just misunderstood,’ was uniquely played. I wasn’t rolling my eyes thinking how typical it was, I was actually rooting for Charlie and Fiorenze’s friendship. Even though I’m still not quite sure how to pronounce Fiorenze’s name.

Kind of long review, read the rest at http://booknerds.net ( )

The world building in this is really interesting, a city where kids go to schools according to any talent they might show, a sports school, or an arts school, and where all the emphasis is on becoming a famous person, an 'Our'. Also, some people have invisible fairies, that give them help, being charming, or never dropping a ball. Charlie's parking fairy is nothing but trouble - and she is desperate to get rid of it. ( )

Full review at http://yannabe.com/2009/07/09/review-...

Summary: In the city of New Avalon, most people have a fairy that helps them with something, like finding loose change or great clothes at bargain prices. 14-year-old Charlie has the lamest fairy of all, so she sets out to ditch it. All is going according to plan until she gets a crush on a new boy at school, who then falls victim to another girl’s every-boy-likes-you fairy.

Review: In the language of New Avaloners, this book was vastly doos! I zipped through it but drug my feet on the last few pages because I didn’t want it to be over. It was a complete and utter delight to read, but the story still had substance behind it.

My favorite part was the fresh use of language. It even has a glossary at the back! (doos: cool, ace, brilliant) Also, Charlie had such a sweet, non-dysfunctional relationship with her parents, which was refreshing.

I’ll let Charlie take it from here:

I have a parking fairy. I’m fourteen years old. I can’t drive. I don’t like cars and I have a parking fairy.

Rochelle gets a clothes-shopping fairy and is always well attired; I get a parking fairy and always smell faintly of gasoline. How fair is that? I love clothes and shopping too. Yes, I have a fine family (except for my sister, ace photographer Nettles, and even she’s tolerable sometimes) and yes, Rochelle’s family is malodorous. She does deserve some kind of compensation. But why couldn’t I have, I don’t know, a good-hair fairy? Or, not even that doos, a loose-change-finding fairy. Lots of people have that fairy. Rochelle’s dad, Sandra’s cousin, Mom’s best friend’s sister. I’d wholly settle for a loose-change fairy. ( )