Are Mermaids the New Vampires?

The Mermaid's Tales

Mermaids might be the hottest thing in new releases, but don't expect a bunch of Disney-type tales about Ariel losing her voice. Most are serious stories about identity and belonging. Who needs a tail to relate to that?


 
Lost Voices
By Sarah Porter

In this new release, 14-year-old Luce is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of her grim Alaskan fishing village by her abusive, alcoholic uncle. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waters below. Instead, she transforms into a mermaid -- and is faced with struggles and choices she could never have imagined.


 

Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings
By Hélène Boudreau

At 13, Jade has problems. Her mom drowned a year ago, she's overweight, and her crush can't even remember her name. At home, a relaxing bath in Epsom salts turns into a nightmare. She nods off and wakes to find that her legs have been replaced by a scaly mermaid's tail. Her father doesn't seem surprised, only sad, and reveals that she inherited this trait from her mother.

Forgive My Fins
By Tera Lynn Childs

Lily, half-mermaid and half-human, has been living on land and attending high school where the 17-year-old develops a crush on a boy. However, she's afraid to tell him about her true destiny as the ruler of the undersea kingdom, Thalassinia.

(Read the new sequel, Fins Are Forever.)

The Mermaid's Mirror
By L.K. Madigan

Lena, almost 16, has always felt drawn to the waters of San Francisco Bay despite the fears of her father, a former surfer. But after she glimpses a beautiful woman with a tail, nothing can keep Lena from seeking the mermaid in the dangerous waves at Magic Crescent Cove.

May (Daughters of the Sea)
By Kathryn Lasky

It's 1899 on an island off the coast of Maine when 15-year-old May learns why she has always felt different from the other girls in her small town. But she must hide that she is a mermaid or risk attracting the attention of a dangerous hunter -- and losing a special boy.

Hannah (Daughters of the Sea)
By Kathryn Lasky

In 1899, an orphan named Hannah works as a servant in the home of one of Boston's wealthiest families where she meets a noted portrait painter who seems to know things about her that even she is not aware of. When the 15-year-old accompanies the family to their summer home in Maine, she feels an undeniable pull to the sea.


 

The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen
By Delia Sherman

In New York, in a parallel Manhattan that's home to various creatures of folklore, Neef meets her counterparts at Miss Van Loon's School For Human Changelings. She also learns the basics of diplomacy and soon gets into trouble.

Forbidden Sea
By Sheila A. Nielson

When a mermaid attempts to lure her into the sea, 14-year-old Adrianne, who lives in a superstitious island community, must choose between the promise of an underwater paradise and those she loves.









Ingo
By Helen Dunmore

As they search for their missing father near their Cornwall home, Sapphy and her brother Conor learn about their family's connection to the domains of air and of water. (Sequel: The Tide Knot)

Mermaid Park
By Beth Mayall

Amy doesn't expect much from her summer at the Jersey shore until the 17-year-old stumbles on Mermaid Park, an old tourist spot where girls dress in fabulous costumes and put on underwater shows. Working at the park changes Amy's life in more ways than she could have imagined. She finds romance, self-confidence, and long-buried family secrets.

Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits
By Robin McKinley

What magical beings inhabit Earth's waters? Some are as almost familiar as the mer-people. Some are as strange as the thing glimpsed only as a golden eye in a pool at the edge of the Great Desert Kalarsham where the mad god Geljdreth rules. Check out this short story collection.




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