Sunday, October 27, 2019

Maybe a Mermaid by Josephine Cameron - ESSENTIAL

Maybe a Mermaid by Josephine Cameron 273 pages. Farrar Straus Giroux (MacMillan), 2019 $17.

Content: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 


12-yo Anthoni is spending the summer at the Showboat Resort - a lakeside camp where her mother built some great memories as a child and made a True Blue Friend. Anthoni has a fool proof checklist - her mom is a super salesman and is climbing the ladder of success at her job - so Anthoni is planning to use some of the same techniques to make a forever friend. But, the resort isn't what they expected - it's run down, there are no other guests and it turns out, Anthoni's mom hasn't been entirely truthful with her. 

Living through your memories (or regrets) of the past isn't a very good way to improve your future. Cameron's characters are real, her story is poignant and nostalgic, and the writing is beautiful. I loved the bit of mystery, the show business history (the old woman who owns the resort grew up in a Vaudeville family), and the exploration of what it means to be and to have a friend. A delightful debut novel - can't wait to read what she writes next! 

Lisa Librarian

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