"I knew it would all end in tears the moment I saw the hat."

In this short comedic fairytale New York Times bestselling author and ALA Alex Award winner Gail Carriger doles out tea-saturated prose and food-driven biting wit suitable for a younger audience.

Cups is a fairy with a problem. She can't grow wings because she is under a death promise to a local king. So she takes service at the castle as the Least Jester hoping to earn her adult wings, learning a great deal about cupcakes, tea daemons, and Earth dragons along the way.

Written for middle grade readers, this story is actually for anyone who wants a slice of sweet whimsey wrapped up in values of friendship and acceptance.

"A character-driven romp with great world-building and delicious rapier wit..." ~ io9.com (Soulless)

This charming short story is full of fantasy and magic for children, and ideal for fans of Stephanie Burgis, Diana Wynne Jones, or The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye. If you like this, please try Gail's young adult Finishing School series or her full cast YA sci-fi audiobook, Crudrat.

This is a quick read at 5000 words (about 10 printed pages) available in print in Sword & Sorceress 22 (2007) and Funny Fantasy (2016).

Also by Gail Carriger

The Finishing School series (start with Etiquette & Espionage)

The Delightfully Deadly novellas

The Parasol Protectorate series (start with Soulless)

The Supernatural Society novellas

The Custard Protocol series (start with Prudence)

The Claw & Courtship novellas

Crudrat