Book type: Middle grade/ YA
Author: Liz Kessler
Pages: 264
For more on the other Emily Windsnap series, please see this link
Summary(goodreads.com): When Emily makes a wish on a magic stone, she gets a glimpse of what the future holds -- and it's a disaster! She tries to make things right, but each trip through time takes Emily to a future where things turn out badly for either the humans of Brightport or the merpeople of Shiprock. Plastic pollutes the ocean, garbage overflows the landfills, and the two towns are no longer getting along. Emily realizes she can't save her hometown and the ocean alone, but with help from her best friends, Shona and Mandy, she'll have to find a way to get humans and merpeople to work together. Will Emily be able to create a better future for everyone, including herself? This new adventure gives readers a glimpse at what Emily and her friends could be like as grown-ups, with a fresh story that explores how uniting communities can make a future that's bright for everyone.
My Review:
In previous Emily Windsnap books, the central theme tends to rely on mythology with other themes of friendship and family. However, Kessler really decided to tackle environmental issues instead of focusing on monsters of the deep!
What I really appreciated about this novel was the overall consequence of wishing and how it can affect the future, and how our actions can either fix or destroy the planet. Emily decides to use this wishing stone to help her friends Mandy and Shona, but as the summary states, each version goes terribly wrong. The only way she learned how to help everyone, both human and mer, was to get them to work together. This is such an excellent concept to showcase in a middle grade-YA novel where working together is more important than ever.
Kessler also excelled at her setting descriptions, which included more mature post-apocalyptic themes of homelessness and how companies can destroy small towns. While the reader initially believes this Midas company is a savior, Emily learns that either way they can’t be involved in her community’s future. The reader also sees a darker side to the future with excellent character descriptions and how stress can really affect people.
The conclusion to this novel was beyond emotional, and really shows the impact of working together to solve environmental issues, especially plastic contamination in the ocean. My only complaint was Aaron is missing. I understand what happened in the previous book, but is he out of the series for good? We will have to wait until the next book!
For now, I give this book 4.5 stars.
-Sirenita The Selkie