Recommended Reads: The Mermaid Upstairs

The book “The Mermaid Upstairs” by Jami Lilo easily captivated me from the first chapter. The riveting, unique story keeps you on edge throughout the whole book while the realistic aspects relate to your everyday life!

As a teenager, the main character, who is around my age, has a very different life than mine. Nevertheless, I found myself relating to her in so many ways. Rules, boys, and school have never felt so relatable before. The perfect mix of fantasy and reality is found in “The Mermaid Upstairs” and I read the book faster than any before. The anticipation, love, and imagination that was poured into this book is not only eye catching, but mind catching. 

The use of detail to describe the overwhelming change in the protagonist’s life makes the reader feel as if they are experiencing it themselves, without boring them with useless information. When reading in my everyday life, I find myself drifting away from the words due to the overuse of details. However, in “The Mermaid Upstairs” the amount of detail used created an intricate image in my mind while keeping me on focus with the book. The interesting, vivid use of details help the reader zone into the fantasy of the book, while relating to the character’s very real, true problems that many teenage girls have. 

“The Mermaid Upstairs” relates to teenage girls my age and helps us realize we are not alone in our problems with boys, school, family issues, and other similar problems. It shows us the importance of family, to respect your parents, and to be true to yourself in an interesting, fantasy-like way. Showing the true importance of family is often not seen in teenage books, whose main focus is typically romance. However, “The Mermaid Upstairs” captures the importance of family, romance, and friendship all in one. It truly relates, entertains, and shows the morals needed in this world to all, especially the teenage age group. I highly recommend reading it, for it will give you a completely new perspective. 

Submitted by Nina Hook.

(Hi guys - this is Elia. Just letting you know that we do not have this book at the Library at this time, but Nina liked it so much I will do my best to order it for the teen room so we have it to check out! Keep an eye on the catalog to see when it is in!)