I love this book, wrapped up in whimsy and metaphor and adventure, with a compelling narrator — in the vein of Alice in Wonderland, The Phantom Tollbooth, Narnia, Roald Dahl, and Lemony Snicket, but also something entirely new and charming.

September is a perfectly flawed human girl, Somewhat Heartless as many children are, who chooses to have a Fairyland adventure. Along the way she meets delightful companions, including Green Wind, a flying Leopard, a Wyverary named A-Through-L (not a dragon, a wyvern, and part Library too), a Marid (djinn of the sea) named Saturday, a 112-year-old lantern named Gleam, and not-so-charming antagonists: a cruel but sweet Marquess about her own age, and her Panther. The characters are all vivid and memorable, even those who show up for only a few scenes, and the settings are remarkable.