The Little Mermaid: Against the Tide

J. Elle's The Little Mermaid: Against the Tide is an underwater adventure for 10 year olds about Ariel in the week she's supposed to grow up.

What happens

First things first. This isn't the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, and it isn't the film's story told again either. It's a brand new story that borrows Ariel, King Triton and Sebastian from Disney's live-action film.

Ariel is fifteen. In a few days she'll be made Protector of her own stretch of ocean, just as each of her six older sisters was before her. She can't wait to explore it (she's hardly been allowed beyond her father's castle).

Then breakfast goes wrong. Her father won't let her open the ceremony to the Sea Monsters who live there. Worse, he's asked Sebastian to keep an eye on her for her whole first year. Who wants a crab as a babysitter?

The good news is that her sisters are all coming. Well, nearly all. Ariel hasn't seen Tamika since the day their mother died, and nobody even says her name any more.

Reading it, you're right there with Ariel. She's thrilled one minute and furious with her dad the next. And her sisters are a LOT. Doors slam, old arguments start up again and Ariel spends half her time trying to make peace.

The quieter moments are the ones that stay with you. At their mother's memorial the others swap stories, and Ariel can't remember a single one. Their mother wrote each daughter her own MerSong, a song with a special power. She died before Ariel got hers.

There's plenty bubbling under the surface too. Why won't her father talk about how their mother died? And why is everyone so jumpy about Sea Monsters?

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Ariel is fifteen and the book reads a bit older than this shelf. Her mother's death (an accident, when Ariel was very small) hangs over the whole family. There's grief, lots of sisterly sniping and a little teasing about which mermen Ariel likes. Nothing in the opening chapters is scary, but a younger reader might find all that family sadness heavy going. If your reader loves stories about sisters and feelings as much as adventure, they'll probably dive straight in.

What to read next

If this one goes down well and they'd like more mermaid life, try The Tail of Emily Windsnap. Emily lives on a houseboat and has never been allowed in the water. When she finally swims, she finds out what she really is, and that her mum hasn't been telling her everything.