The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There

Finished September 23
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente

This is the second book in this children's fantasy series, and I meant to read it after reading the first years ago, but only just got around to it. The first book was The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, and I can't believe it has been eight years since I read it!
The girl in question is September, and she lives her usual life in Nebraska on a farm with her parents. It is World War II, and September's father is away in Europe fighting, her mom works in a factory where they make airplanes, and September doesn't really fit in at school. To be honest, ever since she returned home from her first adventure in Fairyland, she's longed to return, to see her friends Ell and Saturday, and talk again with the Green Wind. It's been nearly a year now, and she is turning thirteen. She's had a lovely birthday and is outside in the fields near her home, looking over the books her father has sent her, when it happens again. A rowboat flies through the air near her, and she chases after it, right back into Fairyland. But this time, things don't feel right.
She's landed in a strange forest, where everything is made of glass, and one of the first things that she notices is that there are no shadows. Now, September knows that last time she had to leave an important part of herself behind, her shadow, but why does nothing have shadows here? What has gone wrong? Is it because of her shadow? She longs to find answers and to set things right again, but as she soon discovers, the problem originates beneath Fairyland, and she must visit the Sibyl to gain access to this world, where things are very different than they are above ground.
As September takes on the problem and realizes the full extent of the trouble, she also makes new friends, but she isn't sure whether she can trust everyone she meets.
Also following the boat into Fairyland are two crows, siblings who find much of interest in this world, and we see snippets of their adventures as well.
I thoroughly enjoyed this sequel and I understand there are now five books in this series along with a couple of smaller stories that fit into this magic world. Great fun!