EMILY WINDSNAP AND THE CASTLE IN THE MIST
by Liz Kessler
Candlewick Press
ISBN-10: 0763633305
ISBN-13: 9780763733301
Ages 8-12
208 pages

EMILY WINDSNAP AND THE CASTLE IN THE MIST is the third installment in Liz Kessler's continuing saga of Emily and her friends and family in their half-ocean, half-earthly community.

Emily is a perky kid who enjoys being a mermaid, although her mother seems to be having a difficult time reconciling the fact that Emily's more academic studies have been put aside for her mermaid studies --- oceanography and underwater hairstyling. The ever-widening chasm between the lives she shares with each of her parents starts to cause a rift between them, and Emily fears they will break up.

But then King Neptune, still angered from the loss of his only intermarriage with a human, learns that Emily has uncovered the diamond ring he gave to his beloved so long ago --- which he had hoped would never surface again. As a result, he decides to ban intermarriage between merpeople and humans and curses the offspring of such unions. Emily is forced to become either fully human or a complete sea creature, thus ensuring that one of her parents would be lost to her forever. Can Emily possibly locate the other missing ring that will break all the curses? Is there anyone who can help her save the day before it's too late?

This is a complex story with deepening questions about love and its meanings, anger and its consequences, redemption and hope for the future --- all good things couched in a lushly detailed story about underwater life that should capture the attention and hearts of girls who love adventurous, romantic tales encased in charming fantasy elements.

EMILY WINDSNAP AND THE CASTLE IN THE MIST is a great book, one that can be enjoyed on land or at sea and certainly raises the bar on mermaid stories for young girls.

   --- Reviewed by Jana Siciliano

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