Last Updated: October 2, 2023
Aquicorn Cove
by Katie O’Neill
Unable to rely on the adults in her storm-ravaged seaside town, a young girl must protect a colony of magical seahorse-like creatures she discovers in the coral reef… A heartfelt story about learning to be a guardian to yourself and those you love.
Bad Mermaids Make Waves
by Sibeal Pounder
Mermaids Beattie, Mimi, and Zelda are summoned back from a summer on land to save their underwater world from some seriously bad mermaids.
Bayou Magic
by Jewell Parker Rhodes
If only Maddy sees the mermaid, can it be real? It’s Maddy’s turn to have a bayou summer. At first she misses life back home in the city, but soon she grows to love everything about her new surroundings — the glimmering fireflies, the glorious landscape, and something else, deep within the water, that only Maddy sees. Could it be a mermaid? A coming-of-age tale rich with folk magic, set in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, Bayou Magic celebrates hope, friendship, and family, and captures the wonder of life in the Deep South.
To Catch a Mermaid
by Suzanne Selfors
When twelve-year-old Boomerang Broom discovers a wish-granting baby mermaid, he takes her home and his little sister begs to keep her, with unexpected consequences.
Cora’s Mystery
by Janet Gurtler
When two of her Neptunia relay team members are injured and unable to swim in the thirteen-year-olds’ race, Cora presses her friends Rachel and Shyanna into service–but when the team’s lucky Sea Lion statue disappears Cora fears sabotage and sets out to find the guilty party, and her chief suspect is a merboy on the rival Titania team.
Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea
by Ashley Herring Blake
After a terrible accident on a kayaking trip, Hazel is left with terrible anxiety and the grief over the mother she’s lost. Along with her little sister Peach and her other mom, they move to Maine to start over. At first, Hazel has no interest in this new town or the old friends her mom runs into there — especially when a daughter Hazel’s age starts going on and on about a local mermaid myth. But then Hazel starts to wonder what life would be like if magic was real? A story about grief, friendship, and mermaids.
Keeper
by Kathi Appelt
On the night of the blue moon when mermaids are said to gather on a sandbar in the Gulf of Mexico, ten-year-old Keeper sets out in a small boat, with her dog BD and a seagull named Captain, determined to find her mother, a mermaid, as Keeper has always believed, who left long ago to return to the sea.
Maybe a Mermaid
by Josephine Cameron
Eleven-year-old Anthoni Gillis is not the kind of kid who believes in fairies, unicorns, or even the word “maybe.” She’s more of a comic-books girl. So when her mom brings her to Thunder Lake for a summer at the Showboat Resort, she doesn’t believe the local rumors about the Boulay Mermaid. Anthoni has bigger fish to fry. She’s always wanted a True Blue Friend. But it’s been hard to find one, since for the past five years she’s been bouncing from town to town, helping her mother sell Beauty & the Bee cosmetic products to keep them both afloat. This summer will be different, though. Anthoni has a plan―a foolproof checklist for making lifelong friends! There won’t be any maybes this time.
Of Salt and Shore
by Annet Schaap
Every night Lampie, the lighthouse keeper’s daughter lights the lantern which warns the ships away from the rocks, but when the light goes out one night, a ship is wrecked and Lampie is sent to the Admiral’s Black House in disgrace–there she finds and befriends the Admiral’s son, who was born with a tail, and together they are pulled into an adventure of mermen and pirates, and secret identities long concealed but soon to be revealed.
Sink or Swim
by Sarah Mlynowski
Once again Abby and her brother Jonah go through the magic mirror in their basement, and this time they find themselves interfering in the Little Mermaid story–and needing to set things right and make sure everyone has a happy ending.
The Tail of Emily Windsnap
by Liz Kesler
After finally convincing her mother that she should take swimming lessons, twelve-year-old Emily discovers a terrible and wonderful secret about herself that opens up a whole new world.
Tidesong
by Wendy Xu
Sophie is a young witch whose mother and grandmother pressure her to attend the Royal Magic Academy–the best magic school in the realm–even though her magic is shaky at best. To train for her entrance exams, Sophie is sent to relatives she’s never met. Cousin Sage and Great-Aunt Lan seem more interested in giving Sophie chores than in teaching her magic. Frustrated, Sophie attempts magic on her own, but the spell goes wrong, and she accidentally entangles her magic with the magic of a young water dragon named Lir. Lir is trapped on land and can’t remember where he came from. Even so, he’s everything Sophie isn’t–beloved by Sophie’s family and skilled at magic. With his help, Sophie might just ace her entrance exams, but that means standing in the way of Lir’s attempts to regain his memories. Sophie knows what she’s doing is wrong, but without Lir’s help, can she prove herself?