Against Memoir

September 15, 2014
This second installment in the Chelsea Trilogy takes its 13-year-old heroine on a journey from urban blight through deep-sea magic. Sophie's adventure begins where her previous tale had ended, with her bones crushed to jelly beneath the violent, watery fist of her grandmother, the malevolent sea witch Kishka. Kept alive only by her own magic-for Sophie has inherited her grandmother's Odmience powers-Sophie is dragged into the healing depths of the ocean by her mermaid friend, Syrena. Far from the festering squalor of her home in Chelsea, Massachusetts, far from the noisy party boats kicking up a racket in Boston Harbor, Sophie begins coming into her magic at last. Together, Sophie and Syrena begin the long journey to Poland, where Sophie will have to save the world ("When I'm done with saving humanity, I am going to make my mom go on a booze cruise," Sophie promises herself). For this in-between trilogy adventure, Sophie primarily explores the richly described (if scientifically dubiously) undersea world as a warm-up for what will presumably be her epic final battle. She eats plankton and salt, wears a baby octopus in her hair and learns to control the currents. Primarily, Sophie reacts rather than acts; much of her role is to gain emotional revelations about friendship. Certainly the deep affection between Sophie and the foulmouthed, insult-flinging mermaid is apparent, if snark-filled. Much less grim than the series opener, with plenty of mermaid appeal for readers happy with lyrical but overlong musings. (Fantasy. 13-16)

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October 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 Grievously wounded by a tsunami created by her eviland powerfulgrandmother, 13-year-old Sophie is healed by her mermaid friend and mentor, Syrena, as the two swim toward Syrena's native Poland to find information that may help Sophie fight her grandmother. Here the journey is all; along the way, Sophie learns Syrena's story and her own heart becomes filled with stories and love, leaving her powerful enough, perhaps, to battle her grandmother. This whimsically illustrated sequel to Mermaid in Chelsea Creek (2013) can be read as a stand-alone story as the author prepares volume three in her offbeat Chelsea trilogy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)