Bad Mermaids Make Waves is great reading for girls 8 and up

I am not enjoying a book about mermaids….I tell myself….but I am. Bad Mermaids Make Waves is the type of madcap, creative, fun book that will utterly entrance readers who are 8 and up, even boys, if they dare. This is a book that will mainly cater towards girls due to the title and subject matter. However, I, as a grown adult male stumbled into Hidden Lagoon and can wholeheartedly recommend Bad Mermaids Make Waves for several reasons.

One of the key factors to a kidlit book that young readers will want to read is chapter length. If that is off, relative to their reading confidence, even by a page or two, then they won’t want to read it-regardless of how great the book is. Bad Mermaids Make Waves is the perfect page length for ages 8 and up. Each chapter has approximately nine pages, the size of the text is larger than average and is presented in a variety of formats. Some pages show headlines and stories from Clamzine, the newspaper that all of the mermaids read, while some pages have illustrations of mermaids or situations that our heroines find themselves in.

Recap: Chapter length-check.

Next up is a compelling story and Bad Mermaids Makes Waves has that in swimming spades. It’s also a bit of a fake out, but you’ll only find that out if you read the entire book. Bad Mermaids is the story of three mermaids who are given a summer on land with legs. Beattie, Mimi and Zelda have spent the hot months on solid surfaces, but are suddenly summoned back to the bay. Once back in the water they realize that things are quite different.

The queen of the Hidden Lagoon is missing. There are piranha everywhere and all of the mermaids have a tattoo on their hands to identify them to the flesh eating fish. To top things off the trio loosely tasked with saving the day or at least figuring out what’s going on in the lagoon. Factor in a talking seahorse named Steve, a clam car and lots of other colorful characters and the answer is a resounding yes.

Bottom line: Bad Mermaids Make Wave is a book that kids, especially girls will relish, minus the hot dogs.

Bad Mermaids Make Wave has illustrations by Jason Cockcrock that help move the book along, but it doesn’t really require any assistance. The text is fun, lively and the sort that mid-elementary school readers will strum through without effort and with anticipation. However, if they’re feeling hesitant or distracted by cat videos on Youtube then the illustrations by Cockcroft will push them through.