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Mermaid in Chelsea Creek Michelle Tea Jason Polan Books

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Mermaid in Chelsea Creek Michelle Tea Jason Polan Books

I started this today and finished it today, all in one big bite. With an established love for mermaids, I was also delighted to find that the book delves into multiple different pieces of worldwide mythology. It dips its toe into one, and then dives head-first into Polish mythology. As a 3rd-generation Polish-derived person, I was delighted to see my own mythology and dilemma played out. The book doesn't talk down to its intended audience but also reads "up" very well - it's a YA novel enjoyable by adults.

I would have loved to give this 5 stars, and the only thing that keeps me from doing so is that the book has several glaring grammatical/language/spelling errors which show a need for a stronger editorial/beta-read process. Those moments knocked me out of the book and I had to clamber to get back in. However, I look forward to and have already purchased the next installment.


Tags : Amazon.com: Mermaid in Chelsea Creek (9781938073366): Michelle Tea, Jason Polan: Books,Michelle Tea, Jason Polan,Mermaid in Chelsea Creek,McSweeney's McMullens,1938073363,Fantasy - General,Chelsea (Mass.);Fiction.,Fantasy,Fantasy fiction.,Fantasy.,Magic,Massachusetts,Chelsea (Mass.),Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9),Fantasy & Magic,Fantasy & magical realism (Children's Teenage),Fantasy fiction,Fiction,JUVENILE FICTION Fantasy & Magic,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Fantasy General,Young Adult Fiction

Mermaid in Chelsea Creek Michelle Tea Jason Polan Books Reviews

This book is a gift to the world. As I read it I imagined wrapping it up in pretty colored paper and giving it to someone I love, to imagine them discovering it for the first time. I began this book looking for a light, summery mermaid read, and found something worth so much more.

Our protagonist, the realistic, sometimes-bratty-but-ultimately-good-hearted Sophie, is the daughter of a working single mother. Her mother is tired, burnt-out, and neglectful. Sophie feels unloved.

This was my favorite part of the novel, although it may seem depressing. I’ve never read a fantasy story featuring a neglectful parent before. Harry Potter has a nasty aunt and uncle and Disney's wicked parents are always stepmothers. But in children’s fiction there is a dearth of children who are genuinely unloved or neglected by their biological parents but do amazing things anyway. The world needs these stories. We have an overabundance of dead parents in prose, but there’s always this assumption that these dead parents would have loved their children. That's a story that many children can’t relate to. Give them something they can relate to, and then give them hope. Neglected children, too, get to be the Chosen Ones.

Onwards I loved the fantasy elements mixed with stark realism. Sophie lives in a grubby city which contains a polluted creek. This creek is not only unimpressive, but thoroughly revolting. And yet it is here where the mermaid lurks, waiting to inform Sophie of her destiny.

The mermaid, herself, is perfectly magical, but she, too, is of this world She’s from Poland, speaks accented English, and, what’s more, has a very foul mouth. A mermaid with a pirate mouth.

Another important setting is “the dump,” where Sophie discovers that a place filled with discarded items and heaps of broken glass is, just like the mermaid, enchanted “The whole place was a mixture of sparkle and grit, sort of magical in an ordinary way…”

Throughout the novel the ordinary is made beautiful, the mundane and magical intertwined until the two become indistinguishable from one another. Reflecting this theme is the prose Michelle Tea writes beautifully, but sometimes conversationally. Her characters, too, speak not like characters in a book but like real people. They curse and have accents and say ‘like’ too many times. This theme – the ordinary is deeply, profoundly beautiful – is reinforced by every aspect of the book.

Also, I know a lot of people don’t like pigeons, but I love them. Michelle Tea writes about them in her book, putting them on the magical pedestal they deserve.

I saw that another reviewer said this book would “have difficulty finding an audience.” This book includes American immigrants from Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Poland; a lesbian mentor; a girl with a single-parent household; and more. Sounds like Tea’s reached out to a pretty wide audience to me.

Also, teeny tiny side note This book has no romantic lead. For a YA book, that is very, very rare. Plenty of YA authors need to insert a romantic subplot before their novels can be published. I was relieved and refreshed to see Sophie too busy with magic to be kissing mediocre thirteen year-old boys (or girls).

I hold this book close to my heart, now. I hope you will, too.
This is how good it is – I actually started reading slower at the end to stretch it out longer.

Mermaid in Chelsea Creek is basically my favorite kind of book metaphorical fairytale. And it is a fairy tale, but kind of a grimy one, if that makes sense. The titular mermaid just puts a mystical filter over the growth every teenager must go through, and how difficult it can be even if you don’t have a grand prophesy to fulfill. Even the various magical creatures are trying to find their places in a decreasingly magical world. (The mermaid is the most fantastical character, for sure, but the pigeons are the best, which is why they are on the cover.)

There are darker themes, too, of how full of pain and anger and sadness the world is, and how easy it can be to give up in the face of it all, but also how important it is to fight it with kindness and understanding, in whatever small ways are available to you, so take that into consideration when judging age-appropriateness.
Beautifully written story about wanting more. Very sad and revealing. I enjoyed reading it out loud to my disabled daughter.
Super enjoyable book with a diverse cast of interesting characters. It's fun to see Michelle Tea working in another genre -- If you read this and like it (and are over 18) I would urge you to read her poetry collection The Beautiful, which is a very different piece of work discussing her life as a prostitute.
This is such an imaginative story.
I had no idea this book was going to have a sequel when I started reading it. The author was mentioned on AfterEllen.com as someone to check out, and the premise sounded interesting. I'm so glad I did. The imagery and detail in this book are so captivating, it was so easy to visualize the characters and feel the emotions from them. The story was so interesting, I read it too fast. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, and can't wait to read the next one!
I loved the writing in this book. I loved the imagery. The gritty, real, teen perspective in here is marvelous. Love the relationship between the main character and her overworked, exhausted mom. Loved how magic was intertwined with reality. Loved the talking birds. Alas, the plot unwinds in the second half of the book. The magic moves from lyrical to plain weird (like a neighborhood convenience store transforms? Huh?). The story is about the main character being the "chosen one" but we don't really find out what task she is being chosen for. I know there is a sequel coming, but I wish we learn about her ultimate quest in this book.
I started this today and finished it today, all in one big bite. With an established love for mermaids, I was also delighted to find that the book delves into multiple different pieces of worldwide mythology. It dips its toe into one, and then dives head-first into Polish mythology. As a 3rd-generation Polish-derived person, I was delighted to see my own mythology and dilemma played out. The book doesn't talk down to its intended audience but also reads "up" very well - it's a YA novel enjoyable by adults.

I would have loved to give this 5 stars, and the only thing that keeps me from doing so is that the book has several glaring grammatical/language/spelling errors which show a need for a stronger editorial/beta-read process. Those moments knocked me out of the book and I had to clamber to get back in. However, I look forward to and have already purchased the next installment.