Keeper

Keeper was born in the ocean, like a dolphin, like a Minke whale—like a mermaid. That’s what Keeper was told, and that’s what she believes. But, what if being born in the middle of the night, in the middle of the waves, isn’t so much about being part mermaid as it is about being the daughter of a woman who is unpredictable, wild, and uncommonly gorgeous, a woman who swam away when Keeper was three—a mermaid? That’s what Singe says and what Keeper believes. So when this ten-year-old goes out looking for her mother, she heads right for the ocean and the sandbar where mermaids are known to gather. But her boat is too small for the storm that is brewing on the horizon.

Kathi Appelt’s follow-up to The Underneath is a stunning, mysterious, and breathless tale of outgrowing fairytales just a little to late—and learning in the end that there is nothing more magical and mythical than love itself.