Clemency Pogue isn’t your average child. She wears burlap pants she made herself, listens to the outrageous tales told by her parents, and spends her vacation days wandering the nearby woods, amusing herself. However, when a wicked fairy decides to torment her mercilessly, Clemency is forced to fall back on the deadliest weapon in her imagination’s arsenal. Drawing from Peter Pan, she cries “I don’t believe in fairies,” over and over until the fairy molesting her drops dead. Unfortunately, there are innocent causalities as a result: six other fairies across the world have dropped dead thanks to her random disbelieving. And not all of those fairies were wicked ones who deserved to die. Now, accompanied by a hobgoblin she’s won over to her service, Clemency has to magically travel the world, discovering the names and functions of her victims, and bringing them back to life with the power of her belief. She’ll encounter fairies of all kinds: the Fairy of Noninvasive Surgery, the Fairy of Instinct and Wisdom, the Tooth Fairy, a Fire Fairy, and of course her nemesis, the Fairy of Frequent and Painful Pointless Antagonism. Luckily, she’s a quick-witted, intelligent, resourceful girl.
Hopefully, this is just the first of many Clemency Pogue books to come. It’s a genuinely fun, whimsical fairy tale that keeps its tongue firmly in cheek even as it delivers a wholly enjoyable plot filled with quirky, memorable characters. It’s reminiscent of the Spiderwick Chronicles, but on a somewhat sillier, younger level. It certainly has plenty of appeal, and the lovely illustrations which pepper the pages are a nice accompaniment. Petty and Davis may just have a hit on their hands.