Changeling

Delia Sherman's Changeling is a funny fairy-tale adventure for 10 year olds about a girl raised by fairies in Central Park who's very tired of being told what not to do.

What happens

Neef is a changeling. She was stolen when she was little and a fairy who looked just like her was left in her bed. Now she lives in a castle in Central Park, in a hidden New York where the Fairy Folk are in charge.

Her fairy godmother is a white rat called Astris, who does half her talking with her whiskers. Her fairy godfather is a shapeshifting trickster called the Pooka. Even her magic bag has opinions (she asks it for toast and jam and gets eggs and sausage).

It sounds lovely, doesn't it? Neef is bored stiff.

She's the only human in the Park, there are turtles to polish, and every story the Folk tell her has the same lesson. Don't.

So when Astris lets her run an errand on her own, with strict orders to stay on the path, you can guess how long that lasts.

Off the path she meets Peg, a bogeywoman with teeth like green knives, who has two things to tell her. Everyone goes to a huge dance each Solstice except Neef. And none of the changelings Astris looked after before her grew up.

Neef can't bring herself to ask Astris about that. She sets about getting to the dance instead.

Neef tells it all herself and she's great company. She's sarcastic and a bit pleased with herself, and she knows her fairy tales backwards. She haggles a small devil down from a pint of her heart's blood to one dead pigeon.

The city is the other treat. Fairy folk from all over the world have moved in, and so have characters out of books. The Water Rat from The Wind in the Willows is busy painting his boat beside the Turtle Pond.

It's worth knowing that these fairies aren't sweet. In the first few chapters a demon chats quite happily about eating Neef, and Peg hints at what became of the changelings before her.

At that point it's creepy talk and nothing you see happen. A reader who frets about children in danger might still not enjoy it. One who likes their fairies with teeth will be very happy.

What to read next

This is the first book about Neef. If your reader loves a secret world tucked inside the real New York, try The Lightning Thief next. Percy's school trip is to the museum where Neef has her lessons, and that's where his maths teacher sprouts wings and claws.