But she knows who can make things right again: Maggie Marie, her mermaid mother, who swam away when Keeper was just three. A blue moon calls the mermaids to gather at the sandbar, and that's exactly where Keeper is headed - in a small boat. In the middle of the night, with only her dog, BD (Best Dog), and seagull named Captain. When the riptide pulls at the boat, tugging her away from the shore and deep into the rough waters of the Gulf of mexico, panic sets in and the fairy tales that lured her out there go tumbling into the waves. Maybe the blue moon won't sparkle with mermaids and maybe - Oh, no ... "Maybe" is just to difficult to bear.
First Line: "Keeper leaned over the edge of the boat."
Random Quote: "He strummed the ukulele and smiled. Then he sang his two-word song at the top of his lungs. Ten years. He'd waited ten years to sing this song for Signe, but he had loved her since the moment he met her."Review: I very much loved this book, perhaps especially because it reminded me so strongly of one of my favorite children's books - Sam, Bangs & Moonshine by Evaline Ness. While the tone of Keeper is much less sorrowful, some of the themes are very similar - the loss of a mother, the search for family, the escape into a fantasy world, the desire to find a magical way to make everything okay. Both books nicely capture the fantastical world that children live in where simple actions fix complex problems.
Image by telly gacitúa via FlickrBeautifully written and illustrated, this book captures so much magic - like fireflies in a bottle or the sound of the waves on the shore. Highly recommended for children 8 to 98.
FTC Disclosure: Advance copy received from publisher for review
Rating: Purple
Sounds like an absolutely beautiful book!
ReplyDeleteI have this on my to-read shelf-as an ARC. I really need to read it-you make it sound worth it!
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