It’s impossible not to fall head over heels in love with the little mermaid explorer Oona and her sea otter friend Otto. The adorable duo was created by illustrator Raissa Figueroa who has this amazing ability to make all her characters completely irresistible and her environments rich with atmospheric colors and magical details. I can’t wait to see what adventures Oona and Otto go on next!

I read this tiny collection of stories after chatting to the author on social media, and it's what got me reading again after two years of barely reading a thing.

Nostalgic, atmospheric, and vivid, these stories are sometimes stomach-churningly brutal. Even though a lot of them deal with the supernatural, it's the most mundane of situations that are the most anxiety-inducing. They took me right back to my own Northern childhood, with all the mystery, boredom, wonder, and terror it entailed. A very emotional collection with as much heart as heartbreak, wrapped up in chiming prose.

“The river’s rhythm runs through my veins. Runs through my people’s veins.” This Caldecott Medal-winning picture book about the Indigenous-led movement to protect water as a sacred resource deserves all the accolades it has received. In a clear and powerful voice, Lindstrom’s young narrator reflects on the critical importance of water to her community, its spiritual significance, and the need to come together and stand up against an oil pipeline that threatens it.

I love how the book uses abstract language and imagery to tell a sweeping story of environmental justice and resistance that starts with one community’s fight to save its waterways and zooms out to include the whole world. At a time when environmental stories can be scary, sad, and overwhelming, Lindstrom’s poetic text encourages us to “Take courage!”

I started reading this book as a webcomic on Tapas almost a decade ago, and I’m so happy to finally have the graphic novel!

I love The Little Mermaid, especially when it’s retold as a sapphic tale, so this is right up my alley. I am in awe of the unique depictions of mermaids in this world, and I can’t wait for the sequel.  

I was immediately sold by the concept of this book: a sweet romantasy about noblemen and women who were descendents of merfolk but lived on land, and as society’s outcasts.

There were three POVs and it’s a short read, but yet, I found that the author seamlessly weaved them together and wrote them beautifully, and with such depth. Half-mer Meredith’s story both broke and warmed my heart. Human noble Peter and half-mermaid Rose have such a sweet childhood friends-to-lovers romance that seems so fitting for the time period. Finally, I loved that all of our characters are forced out of their comfort zones, and stumble their way into finding who they really are.

I found this to be a beautiful story of romance, survival, and identity.  

Who doesn't love a good mermaid story? I have written a few myself. Especially asexual mermaid stories. So, the first thing that drew me in was the opening tale, "Storm Song" by Rebecca Coffindaffer, about an asexual siren. I felt seen!

As the book went on, I was given all sorts of perspectives on mer-folk tales. Trans. Gay. Lesbian. Vietmanese, Polish, Filippino, Latin American and South Asian perspectives. Mermaids who become human. Humans who become mermaids. Those who transition between the two. Stories set in fantasy worlds, and stories set in our familiar world - with a twist!

I especially liked the different ways the symbolism of mermaids was used to explore ssues of identity. For example, in "Return to the Sea" by Kalynn Bayron there is mermaid cultural appropriation. "She doesn't give a sh*t about our practices or sacred places. She wants to dress up like a mermaid and… show more.

I love this book because it takes me to the far north (where I used to live).

It takes me back to the wide skies, jagged cliffs, pounding waves, miles of rough open land, and seals gazing at you from every bay and cove. I love reading old traditional tales because, as a writer, they feed me, and give me ideas for new stories.

Charles Causley’s poems celebrate every turn of Cornwall’s stride. He writes of the sea, towns, moors, and people with incredible imagery humor, and tragedy.

The poems ask questions of love and nature. "And careless, like tide-marks, the hedges / Are bursting with Almond and May." Causley sings the magic of Cornwall, ‘Its anchor is glittering granite," "His smile was sharp as tin."

My favorites are the ballads, I was inspired to write the Caradoc ballads by reading Causley’s ballads over and over. Folklore underpins many of his poems, there are mermaids, giants, saints, and even a baby devil.

Julia Langbein is an art historian who specializes in nineteenth-century popular humor. Of course, just because someone studies comedy, it doesn’t mean that they’re funny. Luckily for us, Langbein is hilarious. American Mermaid is, in turns, smart, cheeky, cynical, beautiful, silly, ridiculous, and profound.

I couldn’t put it down, but I know that its quick-read quality was deceptive. American Mermaid, with its story-within-a-story structure, must have taken incredible skill to fine-tune and layer. With this caliber of debut, I can’t wait to see what else Langbein has in store for us. 

I loved this book because it champions imagination and imaginative play through an exceptional main character. I was sad I hadn't read this book sooner!