Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 03/01/2020 Teased by her classmates for loving mermaids, a girl is thrilled to meet a young mermaid at the shore. Calling herself an “underwater girl,” the mer-child takes Mermaid as her name. Soon the two girls are enjoying conversations and adventures together. Mermaid teaches the “aboveground girl” to swim, and together they rescue a turtle caught in some plastic. The girl attaches a barrel of water to her bicycle and takes Mermaid for a ride. After a storm, the girl finds Mermaid tangled in a net and, with help from her classmates, sets her free. The story ends years later, when the two friends, now grown, introduce their babies to each other. Though there’s a little narrative tension at the beginning and near the end, this is primarily an idyllic tale, told in well-measured prose that’s both down-to-earth and imaginative. The story’s setting is very pleasing, with plenty of white space surrounding the wide-spaced lines of text and the beautifully composed, subtly shaded watercolor illustrations. A gentle, captivating picture book for “aboveground” kids who dream of mermaids. - Copyright 2020 Booklist.