The Wee Free Men

It was a lot of fun to re-read The Wee Free Men at the same time as the Fairyland books. Tiffany Aching and September have a lot in common, and if they were ever to meet I think they'd be friends. Except that Tiffany may have been able to warn September about the fairies. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

In this book, nine-year-old Tiffany starts to discover her destiny. Which isn't written in the stars so much as it's written in her bones. Tiffany is the second-youngest child in a large farm family. She was the baby until her younger brother, Wentworth, the long-awaited son, came along and stole all the attention from her. So now she watches him and does her chores and misses her grandmother.

But the the fairy queen shows up and kidnaps Wentworth. And Tiffany, practical, angry Tiffany, who kind of resents her brother for being born, doesn't hesitate to set out looking for him. With the help of the Nac Mac Feegle, the titular Wee Free Men, she begins to learn what it means to be a witch.

Tiffany is not your typical protagonist. Something she recognizes and comments on. She's angry and selfish and a little bit detached from the world. She wants to learn more about the world around her, but she doesn't have any desire to leave home to do so. She loves her family and she's content to make cheese on the farm. She just thinks the world ought to be a bit more fair, and she decides to do what she can to make it so.

Knowing now where her story ends, it's even more exciting to go back to the beginning and see how she starts out. Her first big task, her first time taking on responsibility, and her first meeting with Granny Weatherwax. I've loved Tiffany from the start, and I can't wait to relive her journey - or to share her with my son.

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