Book Type: Novel Author: Chester Aaron Pages: 125 Summary(amazon.com): Strange changes begin for twelve-year-old Marian as she starts to understand a secret her mother and her grandmother already know. Why don't they tell her? And how a couple of years later, can Marian, who has never had a swimming lesson, be known world-wide, wooed by college swim coaches and Sports Illustrated for their cover as a world-class Olympic swimmer? Why does she hear inhuman voices calling her to the sea? What on earth is happening to her?
My Review: Although this book features one of the most iconic mermaids in history, "The Little Mermaid Of Denmark" on the cover, the story in this book was very boring and didn't have much mermaid-ness. First off, Marian doesn't really begin her changes until the middle and end of the book, and it was a very slowly dragging out. There also wasn't much of a plot to begin with, and the characters seemed muddled together. What I also noticed that other people on GoodReads.com noticed was that the way Marian and her friend Kathy talked to each other. Their dialogue did not mature or change from when they were 12 years old and grew to 19! I also felt this book was very depressing. At first when Marian began changing, I thought that her transforming into a mermaid was a metaphor for her dying from a sickness, but that wasn't the case. The author seemed to write her metamorphosis in a very depressing manor. Another thing that bothered me was that there were too many unanswered questions to Marian's heritage. I do like one part of the book towards the middle, when Marian rides a whale. It was a beautiful moment. However, there are plenty of other mermaid books out there that are much better, and I give this book only (**) 2 stars. -Sirenita The Selkie