Celia and the Fairies by Karen McQuestion

Title: Celia and the Fairies
Author: Karen McQuestion
Reviewer: Stephanie
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating: Love
Alerts/Warnings: None
Premise: When Celia Lovejoy's parents announce that her grandmother is coming to live with them, Celia is delighted. Now while her parents work at their toy company, she can spend time with Grammy instead of going to bossy Paul's house. When her grandmother tells stories about the fairies living in the woods behind Celia's house, her parents are quick to dismiss it. "Just a lot of nonsense," says her father with a wave of his hand. Her mother reminds her that a ten-year-old girl is too old to believe in magic. But if there are no fairies, how to explain the glimmers of light she sees from her balcony at night? And why does she dream of a fairy girl begging for help? All of the answers are in the woods, if only Celia is brave enough to find out.

Opinions: This is such a cute book. I love the sweetness of the story. Celia is a great character. I love that she feels real. She reads like an girl and not like an adult trying to sound like a girl. (Which is nice and a job well done for Karen McQuestion.) She is spunky and I liked her character.

It isn't a long book. I read it in less than 2 hours. But I enjoyed it. I liked that at the end I didn't have loose questions that hadn't been answered and I wasn't frustrated by the ending. I finished and was satisfied. (I love when I feel satisfied when I finish a book as opposed to frustrated and want to pull my hair out.)

I think my favorite aspect of the book was the relationship between Paul and Celia. It felt very real to me. I could see the tension of wanting to grow up and change and wanting to stay young. I felt the relationship was unique and appealing to me. (I think it reminded me of a friend from my childhood.)

Overall, it was a sweet and fun book. I loved that it felt like a book from my past and that it could have happened. It was beautifully written and had a magical feel to it that was grounded in childhood magic. I highly recommend this book and hope you take the opportunity to read it.