Book list: young adult books about mermaids

Out of nowhere she appeared-a golden yellow and sun-fire orange hair aparkled like tiny stars and flowed in the glistening water. The most wonderful pink-lipped smile flashed before me. Her angelic skin glowed; her piercing ocean-blue eyes stared through meand touched my soul. She floated majestically before me, a silver locket in the shape of a heart dangled from her lovely neck. This had to be a dream, or a sure sign that I had already died and gone to heaven!

~

Forgive my Fins'by Tera Lynn Childs

Unrequited love is hard enough when you're a normal teenage girl, but for Lily Sanderson, there's no such thing as a simple crush.'Lily has a secret, and it's not her huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Lily's mermaid identity is a secret that can't get out, since she's not just any mermaid'she's a Thalassinian princess. When she discovered three years ago that her mother was actually a human, Lily finally realised why she didn't feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she's been going to Seaview High ever since. Living on land has its problems'like her obnoxious biker-boy neighbor, Quince Fletcher'but it has that one major perk: Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren't really the casual dating type'when they bond, it's for life.'When Lily's attempt to win Brody's love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily ever after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned. ~ Lost Voices by Sarah Porter Fourteen-year-old Luce has had a tough life, but she reaches the depths of despair when she is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of a grim, gray Alaskan fishing village. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waves below, but instead undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid. A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in'all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: the mermaids feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks. Luce possesses an extraordinary singing talent, which makes her important to the tribe'she may even have a shot at becoming their queen. However her struggle to retain her humanity puts her at odds with her new friends. Will Luce be pressured into committing mass murder? ~ Tempest Rising'by Tracey Deebs Tempest Maguire wants nothing more than to surf the killer waves near her California home; continue her steady relationship with her boyfriend, Mark; and take care of her brothers and surfer dad. But Tempest is half mermaid, and as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she will have to decide whether to remain on land or give herself to the ocean like her mother. The pull of the water becomes as insistent as her attraction to Kai, a gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an otherworldly identity as well. And when Tempest does finally give in to the waters temptation and enters a fantastical underwater world, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her-and that the entire oceans future hangs in the balance. ~ Midnight Pearls by Debbie Viguie In a quiet fishing village seventeen years ago, one lone fisherman rescued a child from the sea. He and his wife raised the girl, Pearl, as their own daughter, never allowing themselves to wonder long about where she came from or notice her silver hair, usually pale skin, and wide, dark blue eyes.'Pearl grows from a mysterious child into an unusual young woman, not always welcomed in the village. As all the other girls her age find husbands, she has only one friend to ease her loneliness. One very special, secret companion: Prince James.'But their friendship is shaken when trouble erupts in the kingdom a conspiracy against the royal family combines with an evil enchantment from beneath the sea. Now, just when Pearl and James need each other most, bewitching magic and hints about Pearls past threaten to tear them apartforever. ~ The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova For Tristan Hart, everything changes with one crashing wave.'He was gone for three days. Sucked out to sea in a tidal wave and spit back ashore at Coney Island with no memory of what happened. Now his dreams are haunted by a terrifying silver mermaid with razor-sharp teeth. 'His best friend Layla is convinced something is wrong. But how can he explain he can sense emotion like never before? How can he explain hes heir to a kingdom he never knew existed? That hes suddenly a pawn in a battle as ancient as the gods.'Something happened to him in those three days. He was claimed by the seaand now it wants him back. ~ Wrecked by Anna Davies Ever since the death of her parents, Miranda has lived on Whym Island, taking comfort in the local folklore, which claims a mysterious sea witch controls the fate of all on the island and in its surrounding waters. Sometimes it's just easier to believe things are out of your control.'But then a terrible boating accident takes the lives of several of her friends, and Miranda is rescued by a mysterious boy who haunts her dreams. Consumed by guilt from the accident, she finds refuge in late-night swims'and meets Christian, a boy who seems eerily familiar, but who is full of mystery: He won't tell her where he is from, or why they can only meet at the beach. But Miranda falls for him anyway'and discovers that Christian's secrets, though meant to protect her, may bring her nothing but harm. ~ Forbidden Sea by Sheila A. Nielson A mermaid haunts Adriannes dreams . . . is she coming to warn her, save her, or drag her down into the depths of the briny sea forever?'When Adrianne comes face-to-face with the mermaid of Windwaithe Island, of whom she has heard terrible stories all her life, she is convinced the mermaid means to take her younger sister. Adrianne, fierce-willed and courageous, is determined to protect her sister from the mermaid, and her family from starvation. However, the mermaid continues to haunt Adrianne in her dreams and with her song. ~ Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mothers death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his familys homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancocks daughter, Lily. Easy enough'especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistable good looks and charm on ususpecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily'just as Lily starts to suspect that theres more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him. ~ Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences. Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect . . . or a curse? With Ezra's help, Hester investigates her family's strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean'but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago. ~ Sirena'by Donna Jo Napoli In Donna Jo Napoli's beautiful prose, the tragic love story between a mermaid and a mortal comes to life for young readers. When Sirena meets Philoctetes, Hercules' friend, she falls in love. But the young warrior must return home to fight the Trojan War and leave his magical love behind. ~ The Deep by Helen Dunmore' Sapphire lives in two worlds. On land she walks the rocky shores of the Cornwall coast'but under the sea she can swim like a seal by the side of her Mer friend Faro.'Now both of Sapphys worlds are threatened. In the profound depths of the ocean, where the Mer cannot go, a monster called the Kraken is stirring. He has the power to sweep Ingo away and shake the land from its foundation.'Because of her mixed blood, Sapphire can enter the Deep. With a great whale as her guide, she will journey to a place so far from the sun, no light can find it'and confront an evil thats even darker. ~ Sea Change by Aimee Friedman 16-year-old Miranda Merchant is great at scienceand not so great with boys. After major drama with her boyfriend and (now ex) best friend, shes happy to spend the summer on small, mysterious Selkie Island, helping her mother sort out her late grandmothers estate.'There, Miranda finds new friends and an island with a mysterious, mystical history, presenting her with facts her logical, scientific mind cant make sense of. She also meets Leo, who challenges everything she thought she knew about boys, friendshipand reality. ~ Ripple'by Mandy Hubbard Lexi is cursed with a dark secret. Each day she goes to school like a normal teenager, and each night she must swim, or the pain will be unbearable. She is a siren a deadly mermaid destined to lure men to their watery deaths. After a terrible tragedy, Lexi shut herself off from the world, vowing to protect the ones she loves. But she soon finds herself caught between a new boy at school who may have the power to melt her icy exterior, and a handsome water spirit who says he can break Lexis curse if she gives up everything else. Lexi is faced with the hardest decision shes ever had to make: the life shes always longed for or the love she cant live without? ~ My Sister Sif'by Ruth Park Fourteen-year-old Riko manages to get her sister Sif and herself to their Pacific island home, where a scientist who falls in love with Sif discovers her connection with an underwater race. ~ Seven Tears into the Sea by Terri Farley At the age of ten, Gwen Cooke had a strange encounter with a boy with dark, slightly tilted eyes. He came to her on the beach, whispered strange words in her ear, and then disappeared. Shortly thereafter, her family moved away from their seaside home and Gwen never saw the boy again.'Now seventeen, Gwen is returning to her childhood home. Her nana asked her to come. But Gwen knows its time to go back for another reason: She yearns for the sea. Perhaps the sea itself is calling to her. Perhaps the memory of the boy and his haunting words are drawing her back to the place they met. Perhaps its time for her to face her destiny.