The Mer-Child: A Legend for Children and Other Adults [Hardcover]

Robin Morgan (Author), Jesse Spicer Zerner (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1993

This enchanting story tells of two outsiders who find a deep kinship in each other. The Mer-Child -- with his pale green skin, surf-white hair, and shimmering tail -- is not fully accepted in the sea world or the human world. The Little Girl -- child of a black mother and a white father --has been ostracized both because of her race and because her legs are paralyzed. The bond they weave, against all odds, becomes a wondrous celebration of our common capacity to love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A well-known feminist writer and editor presents a sad but ultimately uplifting tale of two outcasts. The Mer-child, rejected by his people as the child of a sailor and a mermaid, meets the Little Girl, who is also rejected, not only because her mother is black and her father white, but because she is disabled. They form an intense and bittersweet friendship by the edge of the sea, and she grows up to become an ecologically concerned oceanographer. The tale invites comparison to Randall Jarrell's The Animal Family , but Morgan is no poet. Unlike Jarrell, she doesn't let the characters' interactions tell the story, and so drifts from the book's center--the well-handled friendship of the children--into clumsy and pedantic moralizing. Stylized drawings of sea life don't rescue this well-intentioned but flawed work. Ages 8-up.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-- Written in the style of a fairy tale, this is the story of a special relationship between a paralyzed little girl and the son of a mermaid and a human. The lonely mer-child has only a few sea creatures for playmates, and his efforts to play with human children have met with rejection, disbelief, and teasing. One day he sees a child carried to the beach by her father. After watching her for days, he begins to leave her gifts, initiating a friendship that continues from year to year. He teaches her to swim; when she grows up and becomes a famous oceanographer, she returns yearly to their beach until, upon their death, they become sea swallows. The child is biracial and she and the mer-child talk about how people treat each other because of race, sex, money, etc., but this didacticism does not overwhelm the story. The writing sustains the mood well; however, there is little action as the story concentrates on the children's relationship and the characterization is limited to their interactions. The book is nicely decorated with small black-and-white drawings at the beginning and close of each chapter and page numbers encased in scallop shells. --Jane Gardner Connor, formerly at South Carolina State Library, Columbia
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558610537
• ISBN-13: 978-1558610538
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,480,725 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonder for all ages, December 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mer-Child: A Legend for Children and Other Adults (Paperback)

Alice Walker called this book "a a rare and precious tale," and was she ever right! Full of glory, delight, and wonder, for children and adults both. A new classic, a joy.