AQUAMARINE
By Alice Hoffman

Twelve-year-old best friends Hailey and Claire are spending their last summer together when they discover something at the bottom of the murky pool at the Capri Beach Club. There, among the seaweed and jellyfish that a summer storm has blown in from the ocean, is a mysterious and beautiful creature with a sharp tongue and a broken heart — a mermaid named Aquamarine.

As her six sisters beckon her to return to the sea, Aquamarine stubbornly persists in her search for love on land. But as she starts to fade in the burning August sun, a rescue must begin.

On the edge of growing up, during a summer that is the hottest on record, Hailey and Claire learn that life can take an unpredictable course, that friendship is forever, and that magic can be found in the most unexpected places.

Excerpt:
At the Capri Beach Club, every day was hotter and hotter until the asphalt in the parking lot began to bubble. Snow cones and ice-cream sandwiches melted as soon as they were removed from the snack shop’s freezers, and the sand burned the feet of anyone who dared to walk along the beach at noon. The heat popped and crackled and wouldn’t let up. It didn’t matter if there was an evening storm with high winds and buckets of pouring rain; by morning the sky was once again blue and clear. People began to sit in the shade, and after a while most of them stayed home in their cool, air-conditioned rooms. Even those families who had been coming to the beach club for years gave up their memberships and found other ways to while away the scorching days of August.

Haven't read this book yet?
       Read an excerpt and see how other kids reviewed it!

-Already read this one?
       Rate It and Review It below!