And Then I Turned Into a Mermaid

By Laura Kirkpatrick

Louise Rennison meets Bad Mermaids in a hilarious new series for 9+ readers

Molly Seabrook’s dull seaside life is turned upside down when she turns 13 and is let in on the family secret: she’s PART-MERMAID! While this does explain why her bonkers Mum is always skinny-dipping, Molly isn’t exactly thrilled. She already has to dress as a haddock to promote the family fish ’n’ chip shop, and now this? Growing up is hard enough without sprouting a fish tail in Double Maths, or disguising your gills from the cute boy at the ice cream kiosk.

Join Molly as she navigates the stormy sea of social awkwardness, best friend fallouts and the World's Most Embarrassing Family – all while attempting to hide her (Very Weird) new double identity. Will she sink or swim? You’ll have to wait and SEA …

The first in a hilarious new series about family, friendship and one BIG fishy secret.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: May 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781405295178

Laura Kirkpatrick

Laura Kirkpatrick is part-mermaid, part-children's author living in northern England. Her favorite things are white chocolate, beach walks with her puppy, and hiding her tail from prying humans. In addition to her fiction, Laura is a journalist and screenwriter whose work has been featured in Buzzfeed.

Reviews for And Then I Turned Into a Mermaid

[grgenius_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What do you get when you cross a Seabrook with those special teen years? A 'tail' that you won't soon forget!

Molly Seabrook just wants what every other soon-to-be thirteen year old wants...to be popular, noticed by the boy she likes, and rock her teen years. Instead, Molly is being inducted into a world of weirdness that every one of her older family members already belong to, and to top it all off, sprouting a tail to boot! Honestly, it couldn't get any worse, right? Umm, yeah...about that. Not that she wants to shout her fishy news from the rooftops, but it has to remain a secret...like TOP secret...which is kind of hard when almost any decent amount of water suddenly can turn you from upstanding young lady into a quite literal fish out of water! What's a girl to do?

Honestly, I LOVED the way this book was written...the dialogue was so spot on, I found myself wanting to read passage after passage aloud just to hear the humor, the sarcasm, the oh-my-godess-can-this-really-be-my-life moments, and then some! I felt for Molly, I really did, and while yes, she had the support of her family, it didn't make it any easier to handle her new situation. Watching her best friend friendship flounder, seeing her take it on the nose for simply being different (and we're not even talking about the secret!), and still trying to make amends...be the bigger person...it really touched my heart. I mean, I'm all for turning the other cheek, but her bestie was a bit of a sea-witch when bit by the popularity bug (and something to do with the relationship is what kept me from going to the big FIVE STAR rating). On the other hand, we've got Eddie of the Eddie (or Ears, you preference) who is such a kind soul and hopefully has a bigger role in future installments (fingers crossed!)...and we can't forget her beloved sisters (well, mostly beloved, sometimes annoying, and partially helpful) whom we discover have secrets of their own too.

In the end, it's a wonderful story filled with all the teen angst and growing up issues a girl can handle...with a scaly twist! It reminds us that everyone is going through something, whether they wear it on their sleeve or not, and that kindness is always the best accessory.


**copy received for review via Sourcebooks; opinions are my own

[managedbybooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a fun little middle grade novel about mermaids and unexpected changes. It was cute and very clearly written for the early middle grade audience, even though the main character is 13 years old.