Customer Reviews

The Fish in Room 11

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I was riding the subway this morning reading Heather Dyer's, "The Fish In Room 11". I often read children's books while riding public transportation as it usually makes for some interesting conversations. Today was no exception. I was halfway through when a European woman asked to see what I was reading. I showed her the title and the author and she exclaimed that though she had never heard of this book or knew what it was about (though she probably gathered a lot from the pen and ink illustrations that were on almost every page) she thought this book would be perfect for her dyslexic daughter. After all, the story looked interesting and the words are quite big (fontwise) and simple on the page. And that, quite frankly, sums up my opinion of this book to a tee. It's a very simple story with a very simple plot and not much in the way of surprises or, for that matter, originality. Still, this is an excellent tale for that precocious reader who feels that they are ready to handle full-blown chapter books, but can't handle stuff by Nancy Farmer, Diana Wynne Jones, or even J.K. Rowling yet. Dyer may fill a niche, but it's certainly a tiny one.

Some people might think it's fun to live in a hotel. Some people aren't Toby. Found as an abandoned baby in one of the hotel's many rooms, Toby was raised by the staff of The Grand, and eventually put to work by the hotel's penny pinching Mr. Harris. Perpetually wearing pajamas and no shoes (why bother giving the kid stuff he doesn't need to wear?, ponders Mr. Harris) Toby has to do the dirty work of the hotel. That all changes the day he forgets to bring in the laundry that's been drying on the line. Due to a mischievous wind, Toby's search for the cook's cap leads him to find a delightful mermaid residing with her family in a nearby cave. When a present from the fishy crew leads the residents of the hotel to go on some intense treasure hunts, Toby realizes that he must move the mermaid family to a safer location. And what possible place could be more ideal than The Grand itself? Now Toby and his new friends must figure out how to proceed without attracting the attention of the nasty Mr. Harris and his rat-like son Nigel before the greedy duo find out what's flipping and flopping right under their noses.

You get the feeling that with this book, Dyer's just testing the waters (so to speak). She's trying to figure out what she can add to the world of children's literature. Carefully, she takes some very basic elements for her tale. Orphaned hero. Magical benign creatures. Lots of money in treasure form. A villain who has zero redeeming qualities. Then she kinda mixes them all together into a sort of stew and hopes that kids enjoy it. Which they might, admitted. The illustrations, presumably done by Ms. Dyer herself, are reminiscent of old Edward Eager stories (though his mermaids had a little more pep to them). Likewise, the story is easy and familiar. Many people will enjoy it without knowing exactly why.

The reason why is clear. It's derivative. There's nothing in this tale that you couldn't find elsewhere in a more interesting manner. Consider, "The Island of the Aunts" by Eve Ibbotson. There you have a story of some kids caring for a mermaid family, but it's heightened with the verve and pizzazz of Ibbotson's heady writing. Dyer, on the other hand, is predictable. Any time Toby says that he has a plan, the story cuts him off and the readers do not hear it (this happens at least twice) allowing the reader to know that his plan is going to succeed. The villain has no redeeming qualities and is about as three-dimensional as your average Saturday morning cartoon bad guy. Also, I suspect that roughly 76% of readers, and this includes children, will know or guessToby's mysterious past by page 56. And what's with the mermaids being able to sing a Cat Stevens song off the top of their heads? Did that strike anyone else as a little out of place?

At this point, large crowds of irate parents inform me that I'm being too harsh on this perfectly nice children's book. Not a bit of it. Children's literature is an art. You either write it well or you cull together some overworked ideas and call it new. Do you remember those old Choose Your Own Adventure books from the 1980s? Those books allowed you to choose the direction in which the story you were reading went. If you wanted the plot to do one thing, you turned to that page. If you wanted it to do another, to turned to another. They were hardly great writing. One of those Choose Your Own Adventure stories revolved around finding a mermaid and over half of the ideas I read there could be found in this book as well. It's all been done before, my friends. But if you have a kid that wants something fun, that doesn't require much thought, and that has mermaids (but they've rejected "Island of the Aunts" for some reason) then by all means thrust, "The Fish In Room 11" into their hot little hands. It's not going to blow you away, but for some children it will remain beloved for years and years.

This was a great read-a-loud for my daughter and I. She even did a class diorama book report on this book to encourage other students in her school to give it a try. We love that this story demonstrates that greedy people always get their due!

Toby has always lived at the hotel by the sea, where he's grown up as an abandoned child. His meeting with Eliza Flot and her mermaid family complicates his life, however: soon Toby finds his secret more than he can handle on his own, and changes begin. The Fish In Room 11 is a truly endearing and whimsical story of a most unusual friendship.

The idea of a book about mermaids for boys seems ... preposterous. But this is a great read-aloud book. It's a Cinderella Story with Fishy Godmothers. It is really fun to read together.

Bravery, acceptance, making the best of a situation, and clever problem solving in this book. A positive attitude can change bad things for the better.