Mermaid School

by Lucy Courtenay, Sheena Dempsey (Illustrator)

Overview

A sweet and sparkling chapter book series about finding your place and believing in yourself!

It’s Marnie Blue’s first day at Lady Sealia Foam’s Mermaid School, and she’s terrified. What if she can’t make friends? What if she has to ride a seahorse? And what if the teachers assume she’s just like her Aunt Christabel, a famous singer who was a troublemaker growing up. Even though Marnie is sweet and tries her best to fit in, a mermaid named Orla seems intent on getting her in trouble. But when Orla finds herself in danger, Marnie has to swim to the rescue! Filled with fabulous, fishy fun, Mermaid School is the start of a sparkly new chapter-book series that’s sure to enchant young readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419745188
Publisher:	Amulet Books
Publication date:	02/18/2020
Series:	Mermaid School
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.65(d)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Lucy Courtenay has worked on a number of series for young readers, as well as books for young adults. When not writing, she enjoys singing, reading, and traveling. She lives in Farnham, England, with her husband, her two sons, and a cat named Crumbles.

Editorial Reviews

"This first installment of the “Mermaid School” series is a fun addition to any collection for young patrons who love mermaid tales and books about friendship."

School Library Journal

2019-12-18
A new student at Mermaid School is bullied.

Marnie's levelheaded mother assures her Mermaid School's lovely while Christabel, her vivacious celebrity aunt, recalls getting into loads of trouble—mostly earned, as she was a rule-averse prankster. In an often seen trope, Marnie's first encounter with a fellow student is with bully Orla. The teachers, remembering the chaos Christabel left in her wake, aren't inclined to give Marnie the benefit of the doubt when she falls victim to someone else's prank—obviously Orla's. But when Orla's meanness is noticed by other students, who then shun her, Marnie sympathizes with her, learning the rather convoluted root of Orla's hostility. Evidently Christabel promised to play Orla's sister's song on the radio but didn't, depriving Orla's sister of a showbiz career and forcing her to go and work in the dangerous Gulf of Mexico, where she's gone missing after a hurricane. Following formula to a T, Orla runs off and gets in trouble, and Marnie follows after to save her, and then everyone becomes friends. From a character-development standpoint, Marnie's goodness is undermined by her lack of personality. Marnie, her family, her best friend, and Orla are white; mermaids of color are present as second-tier characters. Readers who notice a throwaway line about Marnie's absentee father's career mining natural gas may hope for further exploration in sequels.

Unless mermaids really float your boat, toss this one back out to sea. (Fantasy. 7-11)

Kirkus Reviews

"This first installment of the “Mermaid School” series is a fun addition to any collection for young patrons who love mermaid tales and books about friendship." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher