Teenage Mermaid [Hardcover]

Ellen Schreiber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2003 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Spencer almost drowns in a surfing accident when a sparkling, golden girl saves him with a kiss of life before she suddenly disappears. Where did this dream girl come from, and will she return?

Lilly rescues a boy from nearly drowning and dangerously steps out of her own watery world. Curious to explore this forbidden land, she's gotta find her handsome Earthdude.

A silver heart locket is their only clue.

Ellen Schreiber revamps a classic favorite with a funky magical romance that shows what transpires when boy meets girl, but discovers girl is really a . . .

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Younger teens who are not quite ready for the sophisticated magical realism of Francesca Lia Block's Weetzie Bat and crew or Alice Hoffman's lyrical Aquamarine (Scholastic, 2001) will giggle their way through these alternating chapters by Valley Girl mermaid Lilly and surfer-dude Spencer about their courtship and search for true love. The story all hangs on a magic potion and a silver heart locket, and that famous "kiss of life." Although the plot is completely predictable and the characters are caricatures, Schreiber still manages to render this classic theme into a charming romance that's sure to be popular with reluctant readers. It's easy to booktalk and would also make a good tie-in to Tom Hanks's 1984 movie Splash.
Susan Riley, Mount Kisco Public Library, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-8. The familiar story of the earth-bound mortal falling for a mermaid is given a modern makeover. Lilly is a teenage mermaid who saves 15-year-old Spencer after he slides off his surfboard and nearly drowns in the sea. From then on, Lilly and Spencer tell their stories in alternating chapters. An underwater kiss leads both Spencer and Lilly to believe they have found their soul mate, with Lilly taking the initiative in the relationship, using a potion to sprout legs and go to high school. The humorous conceit here is that California's youth culture extends outward onto the continental shelf: Lilly is a bored, rebellious teenager who just happens to have a tail fin and gill slits. The novel ends with a dramatic scene of Spencer saving Lilly with a kiss of his own, forever changing his life, as fireworks explode overhead. A sharp, funny novel that includes a super-sized serving of over-the-top romance. Todd Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books; 1st edition (June 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060082046
• ISBN-13: 978-0060082048
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,574,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ellen Schreiber was an actress and a stand-up comedienne before becoming a writer and moving to her own Dullsville. She is the author of Teenage Mermaid, Comedy Girl, and all of the books in the Vampire Kisses series. Vampire Kisses is an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, and an IRA/CBC Young Adults' Choice.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a romance, a laugh, and a surpise ending, January 23, 2005

By 

Sharon E. Levin "school librarian" (Northeastern U.S.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teenage Mermaid (Hardcover)

Gr 6 up
This light-hearted romance pokes fun at romance itself.
Spencer is surfing in the Pacific before school, when he falls off his surfboard, which then hits him on the head. Is he drowning? He's drowning! But he doesn't even have his drivers license yet! A beautiful young swimmer saves his life, kisses him, and disappears. He wonders if she was a dream, a lifeguard, or a mermaid. He has fallen in love. He has survived with her silver locket held tightly in his fist, so he knows she was real.
Lilly is desperate to retrieve the locket, a family heirloom, before her mother finds out she took it. She is also falling in love with him, and yes, she is a mermaid.
Their problem is that one of them lives on land and the other in water. They take turns telling their side of a fast-moving, perfectly executed story. Amusing dialog (a few swear words add to the realism) and short, snappy, easy-to-read sentences lead with growing suspense to a surprise ending.
Spencer and Lilly are lightly sketched: the plot and characters are an airy scaffold for their evolving feelings. Their world as they tell it has very few adults, and school is definitely an impediment to real life.
This book is going to fly from one reader to another. Girls from grade six up will inhale it, especially if you put a romance label on the spine. Try it with boys who ask for funny books, and count it as a gift for reluctant and poor readers. Readers who enjoy this may also enjoy Fifteen Love, another recent romantic boy/girl duet, with a less airy and more serious approach.
This is a review I did for professional reasons, and as you can tell, I am a school librarian. This is a fun book for you to enjoy.

4.0 out of 5 stars Summary from Flap Cover, September 18, 2011

By 

psychPJOlover "H&K, Kendall" (Atlanta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teenage Mermaid (Library Binding)

Spencer almost drowns in a surfing accident when a sparkling, golden girl saves him with a kiss of life before she suddenly disappears. Where did this dream girl come from, and will she return?

Lilly rescues a boy from drowning and dangerously steps out of her own watery world. Curious to explore this forbidden land, she's gotta find her handsome Earthdude.

A silver heart locket is their only clue.

Ellen Schreiber revamps a classic favorite with a funky magical romance that shows what transpires when boy meets girl, but discovers girl is really a...teenage mermaid.

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick, Lighthearted Read!, June 20, 2011

By 

Cynthia P. Stiles - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Teenage Mermaid (Paperback)

I first read this novel at around the same time I read Sirena (about four years ago), and I recently purchased it through Amazon.com. It's getting difficult to find in decent condition at a low price, so it's better just to buy it used.



Teenage Mermaid is the story of fifteen-year-old Spencer Stone. While surfing early one morning, he almost drowns but is rescued (and kissed) by a "sparkling, golden girl." In the struggle he pulls a heart-shaped locket off her neck, and it crosses his mind that he might have been saved by a...mermaid.



Waterlilly, or "Lilly," for short, lives in the underwater community of Pacific Reefs. Unlike the other merpeople, Lilly is bored with life under the sea. When she loses her family heirloom, the heart necklace, she must convince her mermaid best friend Waverly to help her become human and go ashore to get it - as well as meet the boy she rescued.



I gave this book 4 out of 5. This novel was a humorous, modern-day twist on The Little Mermaid, and it's a fairly short read at only 160 pages. While the romance isn't very realistic (for example, Spencer grows obsessed with Lilly and believes he's truly in love with her even though the period of the novel takes place over two days), it was still a fast, lighthearted read that ends with a magical twist only a true fairy tale could ever pull off.