The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two

As with the other books in the Fairyland series, author Valente's ornate prose is awash in linguistic, cultural, and historical references, from the town of Mercator to a character named Turing. Those who catch them will be quite pleased with themselves; those who don't will have further adventures tracking down the backstories and discovering what they have to do with this tale. Kids who get a kick out of language will love character names like Nefarious Freedom Coppermolt III, Aeroposte, and Pentameter.

No longer her "heartless" 12-year-old self, September is believably conflicted over issues many tweens and teens will recognize: the pressures of growing up, including how our loved ones treat us differently as we get older and bigger; how much control we really have over our lives; and, especially, the far-reaching effects of our choices. Even when she makes ill-advised decisions, September does it with the best intentions and with a sense of responsibility to help her loved ones and all of Fairyland. Her parents provide a strong, loving moral compass, even when she's far from home, and her loyal Fairyland friends Ell and Saturday show courage, loyalty, and creative thinking as well as emotional vulnerability.

September and Saturday kiss and hold hands. September has had plenty of time to reflect on her future daughter (seen in Book 1), but neither she nor the reader is much the wiser as to how the time-traveling child comes into being. The story's climax features a scene of cosmic childbirth.

The regular-world portion of the story takes place during World War II, so the products that come up are those of the period. For example, the increasingly magical Aroostook starts life as a Model-A Ford.