Teenage Mermaid

June 16, 2003
Life under the sea has become considerably more hip since the days of Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid. In first-novelist Schreiber's updated version, teenage mermaid Waterlilly (Lilly) listens to rock music, wears glittery make-up and frequents the local hangout like most other cold-blooded girls her age. However, unlike the other mermaids, she is not content to date mermen "jocks" from Pacific Reefs High. Instead, she falls for a boy way out of her league, a high school "Earthee" named Spencer, whom she saves from a watery death after a surfboard accident. After the rescue (which ends with a kiss), the story takes familiar turns with Lilly magically sprouting legs and going ashore to seek out the boy of her dreams. When the two reunite, their fondness for each other grows, but Lilly isn't sure if she can give up her fins permanently for the sake of love. As the author alternates between the two lovers' points of view, Lilly, with her adventuresome spirit and rebellious streak, outshines her more mundane Earthdude, and the details of Lilly's ocean life may be the biggest lure to readers. Light on substance but loaded with fun, this revamped romance offers plenty of comical scenes above and below sea level. Ages 9-up.

August 1, 2003
Gr 5-8-Younger teens who are not quite ready for the sophisticated magical realism of Francesca Lia Block's Weetzie Bat and crew or Alice Hoffman's lyrical Aquamarine (Scholastic, 2001) will giggle their way through these alternating chapters by Valley Girl mermaid Lilly and surfer-dude Spencer about their courtship and search for true love. The story all hangs on a magic potion and a silver heart locket, and that famous "kiss of life." Although the plot is completely predictable and the characters are caricatures, Schreiber still manages to render this classic theme into a charming romance that's sure to be popular with reluctant readers. It's easy to booktalk and would also make a good tie-in to Tom Hanks's 1984 movie Splash.-Susan Riley, Mount Kisco Public Library, NY

Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2003
Gr. 6-8. The familiar story of the earth-bound mortal falling for a mermaid is given a modern makeover. Lilly is a teenage mermaid who saves 15-year-old Spencer after he slides off his surfboard and nearly drowns in the sea. From then on, Lilly and Spencer tell their stories in alternating chapters. An underwater kiss leads both Spencer and Lilly to believe they have found their soul mate, with Lilly taking the initiative in the relationship, using a potion to sprout legs and go to high school. The humorous conceit here is that California's youth culture extends outward onto the continental shelf: Lilly is a bored, rebellious teenager who just happens to have a tail fin and gill slits. The novel ends with a dramatic scene of Spencer saving Lilly with a kiss of his own, forever changing his life, as fireworks explode overhead. A sharp, funny novel that includes a super-sized serving of over-the-top romance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)