The Mermaid's Sister - Softcover

Noble, Carrie Anne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1477820884 ISBN 13: 9781477820889

Publisher: Skyscape, 2015

Synopsis

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Winner for Young Adult Fiction, 2014

Realm Award Winner for Best Speculative Fiction of the Year, 2016

There is no cure for being who you really are...

In a cottage high atop Llanfair Mountain, sixteen-year-old Clara lives with her sister, Maren, and guardian Auntie. By day, they gather herbs for Auntie’s healing potions; by night, Auntie spins tales of faraway lands and wicked fairies. Clara’s favorite story tells of three orphaned infants—Clara, who was brought to Auntie by a stork; Maren, who arrived in a seashell; and their best friend, O’Neill, who was found beneath an apple tree.

One day, Clara discovers iridescent scales just beneath her sister’s skin: Maren is becoming a mermaid and must be taken to the sea or she will die. So Clara, O’Neill, and the mermaid-girl set out for the shore. But the trio encounters trouble around every bend. Ensnared by an evil troupe of traveling performers, Clara and O’Neill must find a way to save themselves and the ever-weakening Maren.

And always in the back of her mind, Clara wonders, if my sister is a mermaid, then what am I?

About this title

About the Author:

Carrie Anne Noble is a former staff writer for a Pennsylvania newspaper. A member of Kingdom Writers, she also eagerly participates in National Novel Writing Month each November and meets bimonthly with other NaNoWriMo writers in her area. Besides making stuff up, she enjoys reading, sewing, cheering on fellow writers, spending time with her family, and attempting to garden.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 8 Up—This lovely, lyrical fantasy takes place in a mythical Pennsylvania mountain setting and tells the story of three foundlings—Clara, Maren, and O'Neill. Clara was delivered to Auntie by a stork, Maren was found in a seashell, and O'Neill was placed beneath an apple tree. Clara and Maren have grown up as sisters with wise woman Auntie as their guardian, while the young man O'Neill is raised by Scarff the traveling peddler. When Clara notices that Maren is developing scales and needs to spend more and more time in water, she realizes that her friend is turning into a mermaid and that no potion or magic will halt the change. Because the only way to save Maren is to return her to her father, the Sea King, Clara and O'Neill place Maren in a tub of salt water in the peddler's wagon and journey toward the ocean. However, they are waylaid by members of a traveling show who enslave them and put Maren on display in a freak show. Clara must overcome her inner doubts about who she really is in order to save Maren, O'Neill, and herself from the wicked traveling players. Like all good fairy tales, this one touches on deeper themes of sibling rivalry, jealousy, insecurity, and questions of identity. Osbert the rambunctious wyvern is a particularly well-done character. VERDICT Noble's treatment of the mermaid theme is fresh and original, and even her minor characters are beautifully depicted.—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ

About this edition

• Publisher: Skyscape
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1477820884
• ISBN 13: 9781477820889
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 236