Keeper

Written by Kathi Appelt

Narrated by Kathi Appelt

Newbery Medal Honoree Kathi Appelt enchants with a tale about mermaids, mermen, and what happens when you believe in fairy tales for too long.

Keeper was born in the ocean, and she believes she is part mermaid. So when she accidentally sets off a series of disasters, she goes out looking for her mother—an unpredictable and uncommonly gorgeous woman who swam away when Keeper was three. Keeper heads right for the ocean, right for the sandbar where mermaids are known to gather on full moon nights. But her boat is too small for the surf—and much too small for the storm that is brewing on the horizon.
     Kathi Appelt follows her award-winning and New York Times bestselling novel The Underneath with this stunning, mysterious, and breathtaking tale of a girl who outgrows fairy tales just a little too late—and learns in the end that there is nothing more magical and mythical than love itself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: May 18, 2010
• ISBN: 9780743599542

Kathi Appelt

Kathi Appelt is the author of the Newbery Honoree, National Book Award finalist, and bestselling The Underneath as well as the National Book Award finalist The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, Maybe a Fox (with Alison McGhee), Keeper, and many picture books including Counting Crows and Max Attacks. She has two grown children and lives in College Station, Texas, with her husband. Visit her at KathiAppelt.com.

Reviews for Keeper

[maureene87 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I know a lot of people really liked this book, but I’ll just cut to the chase: I didn’t. It felt like a stereotypical Newbery book–and I don’t mean that in a good way. Kid on quest to find parent and/or parent figure. For me, there was little that was original or interesting about it. [Sept. 2011]

[wispywillow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a pretty good read. The only reason I didn't give it 4 stars is because I was often frustrated at the spinelessness of the mother -- but in a way that is a good thing, because it helps the reader sympathize with the frustration felt by Nick as he, powerless, watches his family disintegrate.From what I've read about the author, her first husband struggled with mental illness. I imagine that is why she is so good at portraying the fear, frustration, anger, and finally acceptance of the family as they deal with the father's illness.But boy, did I want to shake some sense into Wanda at times! I understand that she doesn't drive, but that doesn't mean she should have let her husband behind the wheel! *sighs*

[coppers_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

On the night of a blue moon, ten-year-old Keeper sets out to fix a day that should have been perfect but instead went terribly wrong. Set on a sleepy strip of beach on the Texas coast, Keeper is a charming story for younger readers. It is full of magic and mermaids and likable characters, including a couple of dogs, a mysterious cat and a seagull with a heart. It's a book that older elementary school kids will want to read "just one more chapter" on past their bedtime; there is just the right amount of tension to keep the pages turning. It is a lesson in love and families and the consequences of the choices we make in life. My only complaint is a line on page 205 which states that one of the main characters "would smoke her cigarette, the one she allowed herself each night, even though she knew it was bad for her". Really?? It was a line that was unnecessary in a book for fourth or fifth graders. It added nothing to the plot or the character and removing it would have been the wiser course. I'm hoping it didn't make the final cut. If not, a discussion about cigarette usage, no matter how limited, may be warranted.Other than that, Kathi Appelt's Keeper is a charming book that I truly enjoyed. In fact, I loved it. The copy I read was an arc kindly sent from Simon & Schuster. The release date is May 18. Phyically, the arc, at least, was a satisfyingly chunky book, thick and slightly smaller than a trade paperback and, oddly, it just felt good to hold. The book also contains some illustrations and the cover art, especially, is lovely.

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Reason for Reading: Mermaids are another of my favourite mythological creatures to read about in novels. I actually had no idea the author was a newbery honor winner, although I have heard of her other book, I have not read it and didn't know who wrote it.The book has a simple plot. Living on the Texan Coast in an isolated area close to a small town in three houses are Keeper and a young woman who is not her mother, an old man who has forgotten how old he is and a young man who runs a surfboard rental shop. These people are Keepers "family" and she loves them very much but one day Keeper has a bad day and everything she does goes wrong and she hurts each one of these people. Living a life filled with tales of the sea and a strong belief in mermaid lore, since she herself is half merfolk she sets off under the stealth of night, on the night of the blue moon, to make her way to a sandbar out in the ocean with her dog BD and a segull named Captain to call her mermaid mother back to ask her help on fixing everything that has gone wrong.The book is well written and has a dreamy, calm atmosphere even when Keeper feels that everything has gone wrong. The pace is slow. The book starts with Keeper in the boat and then goes back to explain everything that happened that day to get her to this point. Along the way, we get the backstories of the people (and animals) inhabiting her world. This takes perhaps the first half of the book. Then the second half takes Keeper on her journey out to sea and reveals secrets of those back on shore culminating in the worst bad thing that has gone wrong all day. There are some magical elements to the story which are not explained in any sense as to whether they are real or dreamings. It is up to each reader to decide for themselves.I'm having a hard time coming up with a rating for this book as I'm caught in the middle as to whether I really liked it. I certainly enjoyed the characters, they were all brought to life for me and I appreciated who they were and what they had experienced very much; I just wish something actually happened to them in this book. The plot is simple and dragged out but the book does leave one feeling tranquil most of the time. I think what I may be trying to say is that the writing is almost like poetry and that just may be my problem; I'm not big on poetical writing. I think this may be one of those books that you're either going to love or just could do without.

[kaledrina_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

All because of a bunch of stupid crabs, Keeper has made sure that everyone in her life now hates her. The only person who doesn't is her long-lost mermaid mama, Meggy Marie... but Keeper hasn't seen her since she was three years old. In hopes that she'll be able to find Meggy Marie, Keeper steals her friend Dogie's rowboat and sets off into the ocean with her trusty dog, BD, to find her mother. But even memorized 26-step perfect plans are never as easy as they seem.

[quirkylibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well-crafted but overlong. Not sure what patron I’d recommend it to, though it unusual and that’s it’s main appeal.

[jothebookgirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I definitely recognize the writing style of Kathi Appelt. The characters Dogie, Signe, Keeper, Mr. Beauchamp are the only people who live on Oyster Ridge Road on the banks of the Gulf of Mexico in
Texas. With them is Dogie's Dog Too, BD or Best Dog, Captain an injured seagull who is best friends with BD.Oh yes and Meggie Marie who is gone when the story begins. She is Keeper's mother. Let me know what you think of her.
The story gets pretty harrowing when Keeper goes out in the boat to try and reunite with her mother. I couldn'r read fast enough to find out was was going to happen to Keeper, BD and Captain in that little boat made for a pond not an ocean.
In the style of Appelt, she interjected the supernatural aspect that I don't personally think adds to the story, but it does make it a bit different reading.
Last night found a gumbo recipe online and made it because reading made me want some Blue Moon Gumbo which by the was Paula Deen turned out wonderfully Now I want to go the Gulf of Mexico. I made my gumbo so maybe I'll just go to Texas

[alovett-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Appelt, Kathi. Illustrated by August Hall. Keeper. 2010. 399 pp. $16.99. Atheneum. 978-1-41695-060-8. Ages 9-13.Keeper’s small world consists of the human and animal inhabitants of the three houses clustered together on a patch of Texas coastline. The residents - Keeper’s caregiver Signe, the troubled former soldier Dogie, and the aging and lovesick Mr. Beauchamp are all looking forward to the blue moon, until Keeper manages to get herself in trouble and disrupt their plans. Blaming herself, Keeper decides to sail away at night to a nearby sandbar, where she can ask her mother Meggie Marie - who Keeper believes is a mermaid. Along the way, tragedy strikes and it will take real magic to reunite Keeper with her family. With chapters told from each character’s perspective - human and animal - it takes longer than usual for the story to take off. However, the skillfully interwoven details and the satisfying conclusion make the story will make the story well-worth the slow start. Mature themes of parental abandonment and a homosexual love affair are sensitively and inoffensively handled. From the New York Times Bestselling author of The Underneath. Recommended. Ages 9-13.

[francescaforrest · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was very much looking forward to reading this book, and it was as wonderful as I had hoped it would be, though not in the way I expected.

I knew it was going to be a story with small events and quiet magic, but at first it looked as if maybe the magic was going to be that grown-up thing that I always hated as a kid: “Oh, the real magic is the beauty of ordinary life, my dear.” Grrr. Yes, okay, ordinary life has magic to it, but sometimes I want more magical magic. And I wanted it for this story, and I feared I wouldn’t get it.

Here’s the thing, though. First, as the author gradually worked in the stories of the people and animals surrounding Keeper (the ten-year-old protagonist), I found myself loving them so powerfully that I wasn’t even going to mind about the lack of magic.

And then, there was real magic, after all—magic, connected with love. Wonderful.

But back to those people and animals. What made me love this story with a powerful love was how it showed people and animals coming together to make a family. With the exception of Keeper, none of the people living on Oyster Ridge Road began there. Signe, who has been a mother to Keeper ever since Keeper’s own mother, a mermaid (so Keeper supposes), swam away, hails from Iowa. Dogie, who was left shaken and stuttering after a tour of duty, but who can sing without a catch, accompanying himself on the ukelele, comes from New Jersey. And old, old Mr. Beauchamp comes from France. But together they and their animals (the dogs BD and Too, the seagull Captain, and the one-eyed cat Sinbad) make a family.

So, when Keeper causes a hullabaloo one day, and treasures are broken and hopes dashed, and she feels she had better slip away at night and row to the sandbar to see if she can find her mermaid mother and get some advice on how to fix things—when all that happens—there are a legion of loving people and creatures who want to see her safely home.

I won’t spoil what happens for you. Let the story unfold and see what you think.

[pussreboots · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Keeper by Kathi Appelt is about a ten year old girl trying to fix a day's worth of bad events. It all began with crabs and her overactive imagination. She has a plan to make everything right.Keeper has been raised to believe her mother is a mermaid. She's been in Signe's care since she was three, living on a tiny road tucked between the Gulf of Mexico and a nature preserve. There are three houses and an old bus that serves as a surf shop.Keeper's story is intertwined with the stories of the other people living on that strip of beach — Signe, Dogie, and Mr. Beauchamp. Appelt spins her tale in a free verse way, using repetition, poetic allusions, alliteration and the occasional list to create a compelling and quick read.To everyone I've recommended the book to, I've described Keeper as the inverse of The Mermaid's Mirror by L.K. Madigan (link to review). While Madigan's story is about a girl who is a mermaid but doesn't know it, Keeper is about a girl who believes she's a mermaid but probably isn't.That isn't to say there aren't mermaids in Keeper. There are but how they play a part in the novel isn't what I expected. It was a delightful twist and one I'm not going to spoil here.

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this elegantly written story a lot more than I thought I would after reading the flap copy. I'm most impressed with Appelt's lyrical, emotional prose. It's a bit a too slow and sentimental for my taste.

[jenj5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I think this suffered a little for me because I loved The Underneath so very much. I liked Keeper just fine, but it didn't have quite the same level of lyricism to the writing and the setting wasn't nearly as strong (I can forgive a lot if a setting is great). The characters were very engaging and the setting was good, just not great. Part of the problem for me might also be the almost complete lack of plot and I tend to be somewhat of a plot-centered reader.

[jrlibrary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When ten year old Keeper doesn't do what she's supposed to do, it leads to a series of disasters which all culminate in her feeling responsible for the damage that results; the broken bowl, the crushed plants, the released crabs and the broken ukulele. Keeper is determined to find her mother that night, whom she believes is a mermaid. Keeper thinks her mom can be found because it is the second full moon in the month, also known as a blue moon, and everyone knows magic happens then. The characters - Singe, Dogie and Mr. Beauchamps, as well as her dog BD (Best Dog), Dogie's dog, Too, Sinbad the cat, and a seagull named The Captain, all get a chance to tell part of the story through some flashbacks. I don't recommend this to anyone younger than grade six, due to the sadness factor. I didn't see the ending coming at all, but was quite impressed with how nicely everything gets tidied up. Beautifully written and one of those books that sticks with you long after you've closed the cover.

[sandystiles · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For some reason I had a hard time getting going with this book but something kept drawing me in. By the middle I was hooked big-time and couldn't put it down by the end! What an adventure that ties in so many themes, but especially magic, and in a way that made me a believer!

[mykala2pierce · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Keeper is about a girl named Keeper and her dog and mom. She lives by a beach and a surf shop

[catheolson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was about a 10-year-old girl, Keeper, living on the Texas coast who'd been abandoned by her mother 7 years ago. She believes her mother is a mermaid, and one day after one thing after another goes wrong, Keeper heads out to sea in a little row boat to find her. As Keeper executes her plan, we get the backstory of the various characters in flashbacks.Like in The Underneath, Appelt writes beautifully--I could almost see, smell, and taste the Texas coast. I liked the story and the way the mystical was weaved in with the realistic, but for me the book dragged in places. I found that the flashbacks slowed the story down and were often confusing. The ending really picked up and I did enjoy the book.

[edgoldberg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was supposed to be a Once in a Blue Moon day. Signe was going to make her famous crab gumbo. Dogie was going to sing his two word song, asking Signe to marry him, without stuttering even once. Mr. Beauchamp was going to sit on his porch with his one-eyed cat, Sinbad, in his lap waiting for his night-blooming cyrus to blossom, which it only did on a blue moon night. Everyone was going to be happy. But that was not to be.Because, when 10 year old Keeper came into the kitchen and saw the pot of crabs waiting to be put into the gumbo, she swore she heard those crabs call out to her to save them. She could hear them because she knew her mother was part mermaid. Keeper did save the crabs, shuttling them to the pond using Signe’s pot, the only souvenir she had from her mother, her favorite pot. But BD, Keeper’s Best Dog, saw Sinbad and ran across the road to Mr. Beauchamp’s, tripping Keeper who dropped the pot, which broke. And in the animal melee the pots in which Mr. Beauchamp kept his flowers, his roses and night-blooming cyruses, were broken. And when Keeper went to tell Dogie that she freed the crabs he so laboriously caught, the ones he woke up at the crack of dawn to catch, his ukulele became another animal casualty, crushed.So, there was no gumbo and no night-blooming cyruses and no two word song and no perfect once in a blue moon night. All because of the CRABS!!!!Keeper is a marvelously told tale about a 10 year old girl who learns what family and love are all about. Appelt’s lovely use of words, her descriptive phrases, her poetic tone will make you want to read from start to finish, without putting the book down. Appelt has filled Keeper with wonderful characters: Dogie and Signe, Mr. Beauchamp and most of all, BD and Sinbad and Too (Dogie’s dog) and Captain (the seagull who crashed into Keeper’s kitchen window and became best friends with BD). It has mermaids and manatees and stingrays. The animals are smarter than the humans in this heartwarming story. It has adventure. And it has home.Keeper is a story for children of all ages. It might even be a book you’ll read more than once. But you’ll have to read it once in order to read it a second time. There’s no time like the present to start Keeper.

[readingdate · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read a borrowed ARC of this book. A sweet and charming fantasy tale for middle grade readers. Beautifully written, KEEPER tells the story of a 10 year old girl who has grown up believing in mermaids and magic. After a terrible day, she embarks on an adventure to try to make things right again. KEEPER is a story of family, friendship, heartbreak, hope, adventure, magic and love written in a poetic style. I fell for the characters who live on the island with Keeper. An enjoyable read for a summer day- I would have loved to read this as a kid!

[francescadefreitas · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

 Keeper has ruined everything - and everyone she loves has turned against her. Only one person can help her make things right - her long gone mermaid mother.This was just beautiful, Keepers life on the Texas coast is drawn vividly, and the mythic elements twine so gently with real life that everything is bathed in a warm glow of wonder.

[oapostrophe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As in the Underneath, Kathi Appelt has an amazing ability to tell a compelling, deeply touching, magical, mythical story. The characters are real and flawed, their emotions strong and actions so very human. Keeper lives on Oyster Ridge Road on the Gulf of Mexico in Texas in a 'world unto itself'. Besides Keeper, the other human inhabitants of this world are Signe, who cares for Keeper, Dogie the surfboard maker, and Mr. Beauchamp, the old man who cares for his flowers. The animal inhabitants are BD, Keepers dog, Too, Dogie's dog, Sinbad, Mr. Beauchamp's cat, and Captain the seagull.On this day of the blue moon many special things were to happen. Everyone was looking forward. But when the crabs started talking to Keeper, everything began to go very wrong. One thing leads to another and everso skillfully the author weaves the past and present together in such a moving way I just couldn't put it down. A special book to curl up with.

[kraaivrouw · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.Beautifully 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.

[rstutzma · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a wonderful story of Keeper, a young girl who lives on the Coast of Texas. The lady who takes care of her has always told her that her mother was a mermaid. This untruth send Keeper on a journey with her dog BD (Best Dog) and a seagull who protects them. She, the dog, and the seagull venture into the Gulf in a small boat to visit the sandbar where her mother "lives". As she gives wooden mermaids, that were given to her by her neighbor on Oyster Road, to the Mermaid Queen, we realize the background story of each of the neigbors and all the animals who love Keeper. We also realize how Keeper came to receive her name, and why her mother is not a mermaid. I was a little surprised at the homosexual story line. It will be very difficult to recommend this to children in my public library because I am from a very conservative community that would be shocked at this.

[booksandwine · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

You know how there are some people who really like fire and others who really like water? Well, I think I am both. I love the ocean, yet I also love a nice bonfire. Keeper by Kathi Appelt called to mind a glorious vacation by the ocean which I once had. I read this entire book in the car in less than two hours. I know its weird, but I like to sit in the car while my boyfriend coaches soccer. There are no distractions and I get a lot of reading done during his games. While I read this, I was not in the car, I was transported to a beach near the Gulf of Mexico. Keeper just had this tangible salt air taste to it. Upon closing the book, I was sad to be in upstate NY and not on some beach.I'm guessing at this point you want to know all about the plot. Keeper is the main character, she's an eleven year old girl who lives with her adopted mother, Signe, after her biological mother left her. One day, Keeper's mum decides to make some crab gumbo to celebrate the blue moon, it being tradition and all. This leads to the beginning of Keeper's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, as she decides to make like Hermione and emancipate the crabs, eventually culminating in an adventure on the sea with her four-legged BFF, BD short for Best Dog, and a sea gull. There's mermaids, stingrays, and well, another dog. If you are an adult like me and grew up loving books which took you on an adventure with a hint of magic, well you will love this book.I thought Keeper was a gorgeous book, and rather the perfect middle grade book. It never condescended or talked down to the reader, which I find to be very important to my personal enjoyment of children's reads. I feel books that give the reader some semblance of credit do stand the test of time, just check out anything by Roald Dahl or The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster to test my theory. I admit, the prose was lovely and chock full of magical realism, it was as though perhaps even my world has some hidden magic. I love when I book can make me believe things like that.Within the book, there is art, which I thought was a nice touch. There's one picture in particular which reminded me of something Shaun Tan would illustrate. I know I haven't reviewed The Arrival yet, but trust me, that is a compliment. Again, I like when pictures within books fit the style and taste of the book. The art was fluid and again, very mindful of a cool ocean breeze. (Yes friends, I am chock full of ocean comparisons today!)Keeper was an incredibly quick read despite it's four hundred pages. I loved that there was a DOG within the book. The end of the book left me with chest drops and rises as well as misty eyes. I won't say whether the ending is happy or sad, but that I was emotionally invested. I know I've had other books pitched at me as the perfect beach read but found I had to put them down for a bit. Now this book, this is my new you gotta read this at the beach book. I don't care if you aren't a middle schooler, this book was fabulous!

[ealaindraoi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really loved this MG book- it would be great as a ‘read outloud’ to a 5/6th grade classroom. The story has just enough magic and drama to keep kids interested. As a bonus, there’s a lot of information about the environment in Gulf coast Texas – very timely right now! The animals in this book are fantastic, the adult characters are well drawn, the pacing is great.Just about the perfect book for grades 3-6!!

[dominirose · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Makes me want to be a writer. Such craft and such feeling.

[burke73 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved her first book, so I had to read her second! It is a fabulous book that will make a great read aloud for my third grade class. Like her first book, Kathy Appelt creates deep characters with very interesting pasts. I especially enjoy the very short chapters and the way that she goes back and forth from past to present to tell the story. There are both compelling animal and human characters and I really like that as well! I am a sucker for the animals...just read her first book, Underneath!

[skstiles612 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyd this book. There are many stories that take place in this book that are intertwined. On the day of the Blue Moon Signe starts her Crab Gumbo. Earlier that morning Dogie had gone out and caught the crabs. He is preparing to ask Signe to marry him. Their neighbor, Mr. Beauchamp has awaited this for a long time. His cyrus flowers only bloom on a blue moon. Then Keeper ruins it all. She believes the crabs have called to her to set them free. Why does she believe them? She has been told her mother was a mermaid who swam away when she was 3 year old and left her in the care of Signe. When Signe leaves Keeper to run to the store, Keeper sets the crabs free. In doing so she breaks Signe's bowl. Signe is not happy and sends her to tell Dogie she has released the crabs he had spent all morning catching. On teh way to Dogie's she isn't watching her dog BD and he chases Mr. Beauchamps cat and all of his flowers go tumbling to the ground, smashing the pots. She has runied everything. That night she takes the carvings of merfold Mr. Beauchamp has made for her, her dog BD and sets out in Dogie's small boat to find her mother. She has taken the carvings to offer up to the Mother of Merfolk. Once again Keeper finds herself in trouble. Not only that but she learns some truths about her mother.There was a lot going on with this story. I believe the age listed for this book (9-12), was based on the vocabulary. I believe some of the themes are more appropriate for an older group, middle grade to young adult. I look forward to reading more by this author. Maybe there is more to this story. I would like to see a sequel. Who knows.

[grgenius_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The idea behind the story drew me to this book. A young mergirl awaiting the arrival of her mermaid mother at long last...sounded cute and magical. As I began reading, I couldn't have but feel like the story was stalled as nearly all of takes place over the course of one day. When a book is over 300 pages and you are dealing with one day of events, you can't help but wonder where on earth the story is going. HOWEVER, there is so much more at work here. At it's heart, it is a story of enduring love, families that may not be connected by blood (or even species)but are are strong if not stronger for it, and a little mer-magic for good measure. An enjoyable read through and through...

[jmchshannon · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Before reading this book, I debated as to whether I should read it aloud to my children or if I should read it first to determine the age-appropriateness of the story. I opted for the latter option but knew within the first five chapters that I would be reading this to my daughter and that she would love every minute of it.On the surface, Keeper has everything that will appeal to children. Animals speak. The main character is a little girl who just wants to find her mother. There is magic and mystery, some tension but nothing too scary. I found myself, at the end of each page, delighting in the charm, envisioning the delight my daughter will get at reading it together.However, this is not just a story for adults. One of the most fascinating aspects of Keeper is the main story told from different points of view - at first the reader only gets Keeper's point of view. As the story progresses, the reader finally gleans the truth as the adults are allowed to tell parts of their stories. In addition, the dual nature of the book trickles down into the messages/lessons to be learned from the story. There is one for children to learn and one for adults to learn, neither of which are preachy or blatant. This cross-over appeal will allow parents and children to both appreciate the story.In general, Keeper is simply charming. It solves the mystery of the worst day ever in a realistic manner, while keeping some of the mystery of the ocean alive. I cannot wait to read it to my daughter and share this delightful story with her! I anticipate her reactions, her enjoyment, her wonder and amazement at each aspect of the story. I suspect that my daughter will be among many to enjoy this fantastic story from Ms. Appelt.

[thecrowdedleaf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Keeper is a ten-year old girl living on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico in Texas. Keeper’s mother, Meggie Marie, left her when she was a child so she lives with a young woman named Signe, and her dog named BD (short for Best Dog). Signe tells Keeper that her mother was a mermaid and went back to the sea after Keeper was born. So Keeper grows up believing in mermaids and fairytales and that she’s a special girl with special mermaid abilities.Next to Keeper and Signe lives Mr. Beauchamp, an old man with a one-eyed cat named Sinbad. Mr. Beauchamp is waiting and wishing and hoping that someday he’ll be reunited with the boy with blue eyes. The boy he met when he was so many years younger. The boy he ran from and could never find again.Down the road from Mr. Beauchamp is Dogie. Dogie runs a surf-board rental shop and Keeper likes to work with him. Dogie is in love with Signe and on the day the book begins, he’s practiced a two-word song that he’s going to sing for Signe that night. Keeper can’t wait for Dogie’s two-word song.Everything is supposed to go perfectly that night, the night of a blue moon. Signe will make her blue moon gumbo, Mr. Beauchamp’s night flowers will bloom and he’ll be done waiting, and Dogie will sing his two-word song. But Keeper messes it all up. Wracked with guilt Keeper turns to the only person who can help her, her mother, Meggie Marie the mermaid. Desperate to find her mother so she can fix everything, Keeper embarks on an ocean-bound journey and gets swept away into danger and desperation.Keeper reads as a children’s book should read, simple language, pictures to enhance the imagination, a fun story with adventure and a little girl who doesn’t know better. But underneath the fairytale of talking crabs and seagulls who eat watermelon are adult topics. Unwed mothers who abandon their children, a scary birth scene in the middle of the ocean, age and death, a veteran traumatized from his experience in the war, and love that doesn’t necessarily meet everyone elses expectations. These are real-world scenarios placed in a children’s book and I can’t imagine an eight year old, no matter how mature, understanding some of the more difficult themes.Another detail that makes Keeper more than a children’s book is the narrative. The storytelling isn’t linear; it doesn’t follow a set arc. We are with Keeper on her journey, and then we flashback to what happened to Signe when she ran away from home, and where Mr. Beauchamp lived when he was younger, and what happened to Dogie to make him stutter the way he does. Beautiful literary themes all of them, but I do caution anyone who wants to get this book for their child that they should expect some question-and-answer sessions to follow.I loved Keeper for containing the topics it did, for being mature and expecting more from a child reader. For containing hints of Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky (Oh frabjous day, calloo callay!). And like Lewis Carroll’s works, I loved it for being a tad dark and ominous. It doesn’t patronize to the younger audience, it exposes the fact that the world we live in is not a fairytale and that’s okay. Through the childlike language is a story about a group of people who care for each other, individually unique humans, tragically brought together, but living happily in the “world unto itself.”