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Reviewed by:
  • Fish Girl by Donna Jo Napoli
  • April Spisak
Napoli, Donna Jo Fish Girl; by Donna Jo Napoli and David Wiesner; illus. by David Wiesner. Clarion, 2017 [192p]
Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-544-81512-4 $25.00
Paper ed. ISBN 978-0-547-48393-1 $17.99
Reviewed from galleys         R Gr. 4-6

In this startling and memorable graphic novel, the mermaid protagonist has a bevy of aquatic friends and a caretaker in Neptune, the sea god, who tells her stories, feeds her, and watches out for her. However, readers will see that she’s actually living in a large tourist attraction aquarium, a fake system led by a creepy, canny man who trapped an infant mermaid and kept her too isolated and ignorant to even dream up anything other than her current life. The mermaid herself believes he is a god who saved her, until a blooming friendship with a human girl, her first friend, opens her eyes to the reality of her situation. Mira, named by her friend, begins to push the boundaries of her individuality and identity, trying to leave the water tank and gradually discovering that she has incredible powers to control the sea (for short times) and develop legs when she is out of water. The graphic novel moves from chilling to hopeful slowly, as Mira painfully divests herself of all that she thought she knew; Wiesner’s illustrations tell as much of the story as Napoli’s text, with Mira literally invisible on some pages and tucked away metaphorically for at least the first half of the book. The pale color palette is effectively watery, working especially well when Mira is still tankbound. Fans of Hans Christian [End Page 328] Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” and mermaid buffs in general will likely be well pleased with this powerful story.

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