I would venture a guess to say that any teen reading this book would not recognize the current political debate raging in America over who is allowed to marry and who is not when reading about Emily Windsnap’s parents. My chief reservation and caution that I’d give any potential reader is that Kessler makes the statement – completely in relation to mermaids and humans marrying – that no law should make it illegal for people who love each other to marry. I loved her descriptions of mermaid history. I loved Kessler’s use of sea lore in relation to sirens who were used to sink ships. Emily’s mother had her memory wiped after her merman husband was imprisoned and does not remember her past until Emily makes the discovery and helps nurse her mother’s memory back to health.Īgain, on the whole, I thought the book was well-told, interesting, captivating, etc. Once Neptune discovered this relationship he had Emily’s father put into the mermaid prison. The result of their romance was, of course, Emily. Neptune, the ruler of the merpeople had strictly forbidden intermarriage between the two species but Emily’s mother and father had disobeyed his orders over twelve years prior to the beginning of the story. The reason it took so long for her to discover this was because love and marriage between humans and mermaids is strictly forbidden in the mermaid kingdom. Her mother is human but her father is a mermaid and Emily inherited the mermaid gene from him. This book is journey of self-discovery for Emily as she uncovers the secrets of her mysterious past. Just don’t have your teen read my review and all will be well. (I normally wouldn’t give a spoiler but in this particular case, if you want to make a good decision about whether or not to hand this book over to your teen, you should know the facts. In actuality, they were! As it turns out, Emily is part mermaid. Upon being immersed in water she felt a strange sensation in her legs, as if they were being joined together. Written by Liz Kessler and published by Candlewick Press, this is the story of a young girl who makes a discovery about herself the moment she is first immersed in water - which happens to be in her seventh grade gym class. On the one hand, The Tail of Emily Windsnap is one of the more imaginative tales I have ever read. I have mixed emotions about this book, truly.

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