How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

Lots of people in New Avalon have personal fairies that help them out with specialized luck, but fourteen year old Charlie thinks she has the worst fairy ever.   If only she had gotten a shopping fairy like her friend Rochelle, or an all-the-boys-like-you fairy like her enemy Fiorenze.  But no, Charlie had to get a parking fairy, even though she hates cars and can’t drive.  So now she’s stuck being dragged around by everyone she knows when they want to find a good parking space. Charlie tries to get rid of her parking fairy by walking everywhere, but that method seems to just make her really late and tired.  Her desperation to switch fairies finally drives her to get help from the most hated girl in school, Fiorenze.  Things definitely don’t go as planned and Charlie learns that what she thinks she wants may actually be a recipe for disaster.

The mythical world of How to Ditch Your Fairy is weird enough to be really interesting, but not so complicated that it’s hard to keep track of the customs and terminology.  I especially liked hearing about Charlie’s intense school, Sports High.  It’s extremely strict, so the students learn the discipline and persistence necessary to play all types of sports and have classes that teach things like how to do well in a press conference and how to calculate your strike rate. 

Charlie is a great character who has an incredible amount of determination, whether she’s trying to overcome her short height and become a basketball star or trying to stink away her fairy by not bathing.  How to Ditch Your Fairy is a unique fairy fantasy that will keep you giggling.