I picked this one up searching for a mermaid fix after I finished another "mermaid" read and was disappointed there were no actual mermaids (not the case here, thankfully, this one delivers on that fantasy trope).
Meranda (see the similarity in her name to the word, "mermaid"?) is 11 and uses crutches to get around. Her legs are weak from cerebral palsy, and her parents are staunchly against her getting near water. Her mom, an ER doc, thinks it's too dangerous.
That's not all, unfortunately. Her mom has cause to worry. There was a near-drowning incident involving Meranda when she was little that involved a ferry that flipped over. Meranda was rescued, but the question is, by whom?
When Meranda's uncle, her mom's brother, dies, and the family has to go back to her mom's hometown for his funeral, Meranda starts to learn how her uncle claimed -- in this and other incidents that occurred to him and Meranda's various family members -- that there are actual mermaids living in the town's lake. And there's quite a bit of resentment toward them because the uncle supposedly drowned while at sea. The town thinks mermaids killed him.
A book of tales seems to confirm the existence of mermaids, and Meranda begins to wonder…what if she's a mermaid, too? And that's why her legs are so weak and her parents want to keep her away from the lake? Because if she fell in the lake's waters, she'd magically grow a fish tail?
I'm not going to reveal what happens. You'll have to read to find out. And how!
I loved the twist at the end. Enjoy!
