And Then I Turned Into A Mermaid

 Title:

And Then I Turned Into a Mermaid

Author: 

Laura Kirkpatrick

Series: 

And then I Turned into a Mermaid

About the Author: 

LAURA KIRKPATRICK is the pen name of author Laura Steven. She is part-mermaid, part-children's author living in northern England. Her favorite things are white chocolate, beach walks with her puppy, and hiding her tail from prying humans. In addition to her fiction, Laura is a journalist and screenwriter whose work has been featured in Buzzfeed. Visit her at laura-steven.com.

Book Summary: (Edelweiss+) 

Some family secrets really make waves—just ask Molly Seabrook, newly thirteen and part-mermaid!

Molly Seabrook's dull seaside life is turned upside down when she turns thirteen and is let in on the family secret: she's PART-MERMAID. Molly isn't exactly thrilled. She already has to dress as a fish to promote the family seafood restaurant, and now this?

Growing up is hard enough without sprouting a fish tail in math class, or disguising your gills from the cute boy at the ice cream stand.

Format: Trade paperback 208 pages

Age level: 8 to 12

Price: $7.99

Catalog link: https://www.edelweiss.plus/?sku=1728214203&g=4400 

I'd Recommend To: Middle school mermaid lovers

My Rating: 9/10 

My Thoughts: 

This was a very fun book to read! I could DEFINITELY see it being turned into a movie, and if it does I hope to land a part in it! It gives me big Lizzie McGuire vibes but make it mermaid. Although I'm over 10 years older than Molly (and the desired audience) I could still relate to Molly's mad-at-life attitude, her desire to fit in, and her friendship struggles. The universal relatability is a strong marker of a good novel as it means that it can find a meaning in a wide variety of audiences, not just the intended target. Who doesn't love reading about mermaids? 

As a professional mermaid myself, I also think that some of Kirkpatrick's ideas on how mermaids transform/hide their tails, appearances when in mermaid form, etc, were also very interesting and definitely made sense in terms of being believable. I will be using some of the examples from the book the next time kids ask me certain mermaid questions! 

If you are a big mermaid fan, don't let the "age level" steer you away from reading this easy-to-read novel. Sometimes you just have to have fun once in a while!