Customer Reviews

To Catch a Mermaid

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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The story To Catch A Mermaid is about a boy named Boom and his sister Mertle. They find a merbaby in the reject seafood bucket. They take care of the merbaby until they find out she can give them a curse. When Mertle gets the curse, they set out to find the merbaby's mother.
My favorite character is Winger. He is Boom's best friend. I liked him because he is unique and funny.
My favorite part of the book is when Mertle wishes for it to be warm. The merbaby grants her wish and a palm tree grows out of their toilet. It is hilarious.
I liked this book alot. I thought it was a fantastic book. It would be amazing to find a mermaid. I would recommend this book to people who like adventure and troublesome mermaids. A.G.

Mysteriously appearing cornfields and cupcakes, Vikings, a mermaid, freak tornados, rude neighbors, and strange diseases all descend upon the home of the inhabitants of Number 0 Prosperity Street on the little island of Fairweather. From the very first pages the reader is thrust into the topsy-turvy life of one Boom Broom, a boy with a seemingly heavy burden: a missing mother, a sister who thinks only of herself, a father who refuses to leave the attic and an unresolved Kick the Ball Against the Wall Tournament. As the story unfolds, events appear to conspire against poor Boom and his family until he realizes that he has the power to change the course of events and bring peace back to his home. Suzanne Selfors' To Catch a Mermaid is a wonderfully funny and engrossing tale sure to keep you guessing that mixes equal parts of fantasy and whimsy with real-life childhood fears and foibles. Her style, reminiscent of Roald Dahl and Jean Shepherd, is somewhat irreverent, slightly strange yet always humorous with a good, strong heart. Catia Chien's wonderful illustrations of a world gone slightly askew add tremendously to the story. An enjoyable read for children of all ages, this non-stop adventure will leave you smiling.

In an instant, Boom and his sister Mertyle lost their mother when a twister touched down in their front yard and swept her away. No trace of her was ever found causing their father to quit work and retreat to the attic in fear of the tornado's return.

Mertyle is certain that her mother will return so she stays home from school every day to wait for her. The family is barely functioning. Short on funds, Boom brings home a bucket of seafood rejects for their for dinner. Beneath the seaweed and fish, he and Mertyle find a merbaby and, soon, a world of trouble when Mertlye is stricken with a mysterious illness. Catia Chien's humorous illustrations underline that this merbaby is not the Garth Williams cherub from my childhood storybook nor is it a Disney baby Ariel. Rather, it is a growling, stinky, burping, razor-fanged creature that is a danger in many ways.

This is a light-hearted, middle grade reader but below the fantasy the story addresses the painful loss of a parent. Boom is a character to admire as he pushes forward when others in his family are paralyzed by their loss. I give Selfors great credit for the direction of the story. She surprised me with the ending which made the story richer and more meaningful.

All in all, a fun and very satisfying read.

This is a 10 year old girl giving this recommendation. So u dont get confused.

Boom's mother died because of a twister. Now his little sister, Mertyle and her father will not even take a step outside. Mertyle pretends to be sick all day to get out of school so all day she watches gameshows in her free time. Boom's dad hired a housekeeper, Halvor so he can hide in his attic. Low on money Halvor sends Boom with 10 dollors to buy a fish for supper. He gave away 7 dollors to a friend who lost a bet before he reaches the dock.Seeing he dosent have enough money he goes to the reject bucket and gets a fish for free. Little did he know that fish was a real, living merbaby! Boom wants to sell the baby and get rich but Mertyle has become attached to it and wants to keep it. Turns out none of them got there way because the baby's mother is looking for it. Mertyle still dosent want to give up the baby so bad things happen. When Mertyle starts growing white fuzz, Boom knows somethings up. After Boom finds a conch shell with a secret map engraved on it he, his dad, Halvor, and a couple other people go on a quest to save Mertyle's life.

After you read this book you will relize that you should never ever judge a book by it's cover.

I would recomend this book to kids who love fun filled fantsy storys this is the book for you.

I wouldnt recomend this to kids who dont want anything to do with fantsy story's or dislike mermaids.

This book is hilarious, well-written, exciting, and moving; the author also inserts some subtle satire that adults will appreciate. I recommend it to younger Harry Potter fans and to Roald Dahl lovers. Will appeal to both boys and girls.

This book has the same tongue-in-cheek humor and creativity as one of our family's most beloved authors, Eva Ibbotson. We got this book from the library, but will likely buy it. It loses half a star for the use of "butt", "fart", and "turd"... But the American Girl spoof alone is enough compensation for those!

Review by Anneliese Buenker (age 9) for Reader Views (10/07)


"To Catch a Mermaid" is about a boy named Boom and his sister Mertyle. They live on Fairweather Island. Boom had his mom taken away from him by a twister and since then, Mertyle and Boom's father have never stepped farther than the porch. One day, Havlor (the butler in the house) told Boom to get some fish from the dock and only gave him $3.00. Boom couldn't find anything for $3.00 so a fisherman told him to look in the reject seafood box. He found the only fish in the box and it looked really weird. When he took it home he found out that it was a merbaby. Boom let his sister keep the merbaby. The title of the book comes from an exciting ending and I don't want to spoil it for you. I love this book and I hope you will too. I recommend "To Catch a Mermaid" for kids ages 9 and up who like reading fantasy books.

Book received free of charge

I highly recommend this book! As an elementary librarian (retired) I would have been glad to put this book on the shelves. Fourth & fifth graders will empathize with Boom Broom's family problems and love the fantasy of dealing with a wild mermaid.

Absolutely loved it. Selfors brings a funny and imaginative world to life for young readers. Buying it for my neices and nephews for Christmas!! Fun to read aloud, too.

Carol, from Oklahoma

My name is Maxine and I am going to be in 5th grade. I loved this book because of the really cool characters in it. My favorite characters were the little mermaid because she sounded so cute. I loved how she growled at people too. I also really liked Halvor because he had a fish problem. When you read this book I know that you will love it! It is called To Catch a Mermaid.