Except the Queen

I recently read the oddest, most wonderful book! I was caught first by the title, Except the Queen, and the intriguing cover art which depicts a young woman with an intricate tattoo on her neck and a tortured expression on her face, with a huge moon and a murder of crows. This seemed like a book I would like! Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder have writtern an incredible fantasy novel about faeries, a mean-spirited fairy queen, and the differences between the mortal and fairy world. The basic plot of the story is this: Meteora and Serana are fairies (and sisters) who like nothing more than being with each other, playing tricks on mortals and prancing around the fairy world of Greenwood. Their lives take a turn for the worse when they witness the Fairy Queen committing an unspeakable act and in return, she banishes them to the mortal world. In fairy land they were young, beautiful, nimble and blessed with magical powers; in the mortal world they are dumpy old women who live apart from each other, have no powers, and must figure out how to survive in this harsh place. Mysterious things begin happening to the sisters--are they more than mere coincidences?--and Meteora and Serana must figure out what they must do in order to return to life in fairy land. This book is a strange and wondorous piece of writing---I especially enjoyed the sisters figuring out how things work that we take for granted (i.e., snail mail--they call it "eagle mail" because the man with the eagle on his pouch picks it up from their houses every day). The sisters also meet several equally mysterious beings while on their journeys of discovery. This book is a fast read as once you begin it you will find it hard to leave! This book is a perfect read for both young adults and adults and while there are enough "battle scenes" to make it interesting for boys, I believe teen girls will like the story the best. I hope this author collaboration will result in other book of this type, very soon.