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Reviewed by: Emily McFarlane, Elementary School Librarian Title: The Girl from the Sea Author: Molly Knox Ostertag Illustrator: Molly Knox Ostertag and Maarta Laiho
Publisher: Graphix
Year: 2021 Good for Grades: 6-10 Genre/Type of Book: Fantasy/Graphic Novel
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: LGBTQIA+ character, divorce, environmental impact
Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book:
Graphic novel fan, the cover art is really eye-catching
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
A Selkie fairy tale for the modern day
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Review:
Morgan's parents split up in the last year, and it's been hard on her and her brother. She's struggling to get by on the small island they've moved to and get through high school with her friends. Morgan tries to keep everything separate and was only waiting until she could move away and really be herself. That is, until she falls into the ocean and is saved by a strange girl who seems to know her. Thinking it's a dream, Morgan kisses the girl. The next day, the girl shows up at Morgan's house, calling herself "Keltie," and claiming to be Morgan's true love AND a Selkie, to boot! Can Morgan deal with all of this craziness, hide Keltie from her family and friends, and will Keltie reveal the secret reason she came?
I appreciate that this book has LGBTQIA+ representation. It has a "coming out" through line, as Morgan struggles to hide her identity from friends and family throughout. About 2/3 through the novel, her younger brother outs her to her family and her mom is extremely supportive. Her humor adds a dose of levity to the plot, and Morgan's reconciliation with her brother is lovely. Morgan's friends do not take it poorly either, and are not mad about Morgan's orientation, more that she didn't feel she could trust them with the information. I found that refreshing, though it might still make a student feel worried about coming out to their friends as characters were still mad at Morgan in the end.
Morgan is also struggling with her parents' divorce, and feels like she can't talk to anyone. This causes her to pull away from her friends and struggle alone until Keltie comes along. However, she doesn't really open up to Keltie about anything or show that she's healing from anything going on. At the end of the story, we get context that one of Morgan's friends, Serena, has been feeling overlooked by her parents but that isn't really explored. That could have been a great path for some interpersonal growth and interaction. The characters all talk about how Morgan isn't opening up to them, but Serena doesn't talk about her problems, either. We also don't see much of the other friend characters. I understand that Morgan and Keltie were very much the main characters and it was a mythology/love story, but the intense focus on Morgan's distraction from her friends made it feel like there should have been more positive friend involvement. More inclusion of other characters' stories or more depth overall would have benefitted this story.
There was a great theme throughout about having a plan but "sometimes plans must change." This reminds us all to embrace forks in the road because we cannot always control where things take us. Morgan has to remember that she cannot control everything, and that sometimes flexibility is needed no matter how hard it is. I liked this concept, especially paired with a bittersweet ending. The phrase was only mentioned about two or so times, but the theme was strong.
I could see this book being fun to include in a mythology unit since it does explore Selkie mythology with a medium level of detail, and it was an generally enjoyable read. It features LGBTQIA+ characters (Morgan and Keltie) but they don't do anything more than kiss.
Number of party hats:
For more information about this book, see the Publisher's Website
For resources to support this book, see the title page on TeachingBooks
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