Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist

Liz Kessler's Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist is a magical mermaid story for 10 year olds that begins with a wedding at midnight and a pair of enchanted rings.

What happens

The wedding belongs to Neptune, king of all the oceans. His bride comes down from a castle half hidden in mist, and they swap a diamond ring for a pearl one. While those rings are worn, he promises, land and sea will live in peace.

Then we're back with Emily, who is twelve and loving mermaid school on her island home. The textbooks are woven from seaweed. The subjects include Seas and Sirens and Hair Braiding for Modern Mermaids. What's not to like?

Quite a lot, according to her mum. Mum's had enough of too much ocean and not enough land. She wants Emily learning fractions and French, and she and Emily's dad start snapping at each other over breakfast.

Emily is sure it's her fault. She's two halves that don't match, so maybe her parents are only together because of her. That worry sits under the whole opening, and it's handled really honestly.

Then school gets exciting. Neptune himself is coming to visit, and the class is sent out to hunt for jewels to dress up in. Emily feels a strange pull towards a bunch of rocks. She digs until her nails are broken and her hair is a tangle, and finds a dented gold ring with the biggest diamond she's ever seen.

It fits her finger perfectly. And it really doesn't seem to want anyone else to see it.

Neptune arrives in a gold chariot pulled by dolphins, and he's in a foul mood. Some of his treasure has gone missing and he wants every last jewel back. Meanwhile there's a ring burning a hole in Emily's pocket. Uh-oh.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The arguing at home will feel very real to a child whose parents have been going through a rough patch, and Emily's fear that it's all because of her is said out loud. For most readers it's the thing that makes them care so much about her.

Emily tells it all herself, chatty and anxious and a bit too curious for her own good.

It's the third Emily Windsnap book and leans on what happened in the first two. The Tail of Emily Windsnap is the place to begin.

What to read next

If they're after another mermaid who doesn't see eye to eye with the grown-ups, try The Little Mermaid: Against the Tide. Ariel is about to be given her own stretch of ocean and has big plans to talk her father, King Triton, round to them.