Small Persons with Wings

Mellie had a magical secret until the day it disappeared and everything's been downhill from there. Nobody told Mellie that the Small Person with Wings was a secret that shouldn't be shared. Nobody warned her what would happen if she told. But she did. Now her friend is gone, school is a misery, she has no friends, and she realizes in first grade that not even her parents believe her. That's it. No more imagination for Mellie! Unfortunately, she can't get rid of her past, and she has resigned herself to being "fairy fat" for the rest of her school career.

Then her nasty alcoholic grandfather dies, her parents inherit his rickety inn and bar, and Mellie has hopes that 8th grade in a new town will be different...until she sees the drunken show more fairy. Oops, small person with wings. Suddenly, all her scientific, mathematical facts aren't so helpful. She has to deal with enchanted clocks, a really nasty illusion curse, the annoying boy next door, and lots and lots of Small persons with wings. Will she finally grow into the grandeur her mother has been promising her, or will she be useless and friendless Fairy Fat forever?

Things I loved about this book:
I flipped it open at my desk to skim it and suddenly found I had read half of it. It was that enticing.
Mellie's weight is neither ignored nor made into the main issue of the book (except on the cover. God forbid publishers should show a stomach that's not svelte).
No romance. When her new friend Timmo tries out a kiss, Mellie doesn't suddenly discover that he's really cute and the kiss, although awkward is wonderful....I love Mellie's reaction. Just. So. Perfect.
Mellie is prickly. Mellie is tough. Mellie is growing into her grandeur. Mellie is my favorite character in a long time. Go Mellie!
Okay, I love all those little fairy houses at the end. It's the fascination of the miniature! I wrote a paper on it! It was very scholarly!
Verdict: Must, must, must have this for your library. Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9780803734715; Published January 20, 2011; Purchased for my library show less

A rollicking adventure that swept me away with its clever banter, quirky humor, and fascinating characters. Mellie is my favorite type of heroine: gusty, determined, and snarky. This is a truly innovative take on fairies-- or, rather, Small Persons With Wings.

For generations, the Turpin family has been providing sanctuary for Parvi, known in some circles as fairies. In return for this protection, these Small Persons with Wings gave the family a magical moonstone. Trouble begins when the Parvi want their moonstone back, but the Turpins can’t find it. As the Parvi become more and more angry, this clever fantasy becomes more hilarious.

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Mellie Turpin has been suffering for her entire school career. Not only has she always been teased about being overweight, but she made the mistake of promising her kindergarten class that she’d bring in Fidius, her fairy friend, for show-and-tell. When Fidius disappeared the night before show-and-tell, Mellie was declared a liar and earned the sticky nickname “Fairy Fat.”

Now that she’s thirteen, Mellie has learned to suppress her imagination, but she’s still smart and overweight and she’s still being bullied and ostracized at school. She dreams of the day when she’ll be a famous scientist while the popular pretty girls who tease her will be the nobodies. When Mellie’s grandfather show more dies and her family moves to Baker’s Village to fix up the inn they’ve inherited, Mellie is happy to be starting a new life. But she never imagined that her new home would be infested with Small Persons With Wings (they hate to be called fairies). It seems that these Small Persons have a special relationship with Mellie’s family.

I picked up Ellen Booraem’s Small Persons With Wings to read with my nine-year-old daughter, Tali. We got about one third of the way through the book before Tali lost interest. Though the reading level, according to Amazon, is for children ages 9-12, the story, with its tampon jokes and talk about kissing boys, was too mature for her. So I attempted to finish the book by myself. I got just over halfway through the story before skipping to the last chapter.

The writing was clever and snappy and the characters were all well-drawn, but I found that Mellie’s moping and her cynical sarcastic voice were unpleasant. I felt sorry for Mellie, but her personality didn’t inspire any other feelings in me. There was not much about Mellie to admire, and feeling sorry for the heroine is just not enough. The fairies — excuse, me, the Small Persons With Wings — were even more obnoxious.

Small Persons With Wings may be just the right thing for a young teenager who enjoys tales of pitiful ostracized girls who eventually win out over the pretty popular girls at school. I never really enjoyed this theme and, frankly, I don’t really want my daughter to revel in tales of girlhood vengeance, either. I won't hesitate, though, to pick up a different book by Ellen Booraem. show less

Wonderful! A total charmer. Fun and witty writing, and a unique take on contemporary fairies, who are very traditional but also fit perfectly into a plot involving a modern American heroine and her family. I'm looking forward to seeing what else Booraem has written.

When she was small, a small person with wings (dpn't call them fairies!) lived with Mellie. When she told her kindergarten class about him, he left, and she became a laughing-stock. bullied by her peers. Now she and her family have moved to her late grandfather's house and are planning to renovate and open it as an in. The only problem - it is infested with small people with wings. Her family has cared for and protected them for hundreds of years and a missing heirloom must be returned to them before the partnership can be dissolved.

It was a cute book. It seemed longer than it should have been, but I enjoyed the story and didn't predict the twist at the end, which made me happy. It might be a better book for tweens or early young adults than for adults.