Synopsis
When Daniel's parents die, he goes to live with his grandfather on a remote gray island off British Columbia. Daniel is lonely until he meets a mermaid. When he returns to find her, a sea otter tosses him a shell with key inside. What will this magical key unlock? Written by the Newbery Award-winning author of Missing May.
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From Booklist
Gr. 5^-8. On his twentieth birthday, the book's "author," Daniel Jennings, recounts what happened to him when he was a boy. Orphaned after the death of his parents, Daniel goes to live with his grandfather on a remote island off the coast of British Columbia. Daniel, too, is remote. He doesn't go to school and rarely speaks with the other islanders; when he does, he is shy. With his eyes always toward the ground, Daniel finds things. One day, he finds a mysterious comb, which he recognizes as a mermaid's comb. And sure enough, before long the mermaid appears. She calls him by name, then disappears, but sends him a magic key that Daniel uses over the years to rescue both animals and his future wife. After his grandfather's death, Daniel learns more about his family, the mermaid, and the tie between them that closes the circle. In both format and length, this book is small, but Rylant fills it with mysteries. In so short a text, each word is precious, and choosing them so precisely and elegantly is where Rylant shines. Her seemingly effortless way with words makes her story a pleasure for readers of any age. What imperfections there are come mostly from intention rather than execution. The book occasionally hovers around the pretentious and has more than one brush with the coincidental. And readers mustn't look too closely at some of the story's particulars--or one might wonder, Don't these islanders have television, or computers, or . . . ? No, to keep the story's mystical mood intact, treat the book like a fragile ornament: handle it carefully to preserve its luster. Ilene Cooper
From School Library Journal
Grade 4 Up?A young man recalls his childhood on a remote island off the coast of British Columbia. The novel begins when 10-year-old Daniel, who lives with his reticent grandfather, is overcome with loneliness and turns to the sea in search of a friend. In response to his message in a bottle, a mermaid briefly appears. Another note asking her to return results in a key delivered by an otter with a diamond-shaped mark on his forehead. Later, Daniel finds that the key has magical powers. He discovers that he has a talent for helping birds, and he and his grandfather grow closer as they care for them together. Many years later, his grandfather dies, and Daniel discovers a photo of a young girl and her dog, which has a white diamond-shaped mark on his forehead. He learns that the girl was his grandfather's sister who perished while diving into the ocean during a storm to save the dog. Entirely alone and grief stricken, Daniel suddenly feels the long-silent key vibrate once again. It leads him to a box containing a puppy, who becomes the first member of his new family. Drawing on her talent for simple yet beautiful language to tell a story, Rylant tries her hand at fantasy with mixed results. Her heavy reliance on symbolism finally snaps the thin threads of credulity so necessary in successful fantasy, and young readers may miss their meaning. In addition, the emphasis on Daniel's spiritual journey rather than his character and the unemotional account of events combine to reduce readers' involvement.?Maggie McEwen, Coffin Elementary School,
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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