I Hate Fairyland, by Skottie Young

Fairyland is an amazing world filled with nonstop wonder, magic, laughter, and joy. There are rainbow unicorns, sparkle fairies, and islands of ice cream...and the whole fluffing place is ruled by a kind and beautiful queen who is made entirely from clouds. But don't let this fool you. I Hate Fairyland, a graphic novel by Scottie Young, is absolutely NOT a light-hearted romp through a brightly-colored land of fairy tale fancy. On the contrary, this story is straight-up horror! In the best possible way.

When Gert was a starry-eyed six year old, she made a wish to be transported to Fairyland, where she could eat rainbow cupcakes and frolic through the daisies with her favorite fairy tale characters. And guess what? Her wish was granted! YAY!!

Upon arrival, Queen Cloudia tells Gert that, in order to get home, she must go on a quest to find a magical key to open a magical door back to her world. Until then, she is a special guest of Fairyland.

Nearly 30 years later, Gert is still stuck in Fairyland. She may still look like a sweet, curly-haired child, but inside she is a bitter grown-up in need of some serious anger management therapy. And the constant exposure to the (actually kind of scary) randomness of the Fairy Realm has made her...well...kind of crazy. Ok, REALLY crazy. But Gert is still a special guest. And no guest can be harmed. No matter how violent or bonkers they become. And believe me, Queen Claudia will do anything to get around this law. Even dig up a long-forgotten loophole.

Meanwhile: Welding a giant-sized battle axe stolen from the Headless Huntsman, Gert has been chopping her way through Fairyland on her continued quest to find the Key. But she comes up against her biggest challenge yet: A super-adorable, super-happy human child who has the power to blast magical rainbows from her fingertips. And oh yeah...this cute little newcomer is on the quest to find the key too. And if she gets to the key first, that means Gert will be trapped in Fairyland. Forever. It will also mean that Gert is no longer a protected guest, and all bets are off (the Queen is counting on this).

Only one thing will save Gert now: The Powers of the Seven Evil Dooms. But first she must defeat the Darketh Deadeth. IF she can survive.

I've been hearing a lot of good things about I Hate Fairyland. And everything I heard about this darkly humorous story is true. Although it's most definitely for OLDER readers, I Hate Fairyland is nonstop action and entertainment. Older teens with a dark sense of humor will love this one! --AJB