The Tail Of Emily Windsnap (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
What a sparkling, fun read! Emily Windsnap is 12 years old, funny, thoughtful and at times head strong and stubborn. She is starting her first day of 7th grade. Her new middle school is ten times bigger than elementary school and so confusing to her but not everyone else, her best friend is no longer her best friend, she is being picked on and she wonders why mom has never really told her about her dad. Then she learns she has something new and different to be concerned about. What if people find out about her big new secret, will she be taken into a lab, ridiculed? No wonder her cereal is getting soggy with all she has to think about. Soon the sublime joys of the new world that her secret opens up for her and meeting her first true best friendEmily's adventure takes off from there with the exciting, fascinating discovery of the world of merfolk and the mystery that starts with her mom's dream and strange forgetfulness. And her overwhelming need to find out why her dad left. All these propel the reader along like a strong swish from Emily's tail.Liz Kessler builds a magical fantasy world that is very visual and clever. Who wouldn't rather go to these classes? Beauty and Deportment, Diving and Dance and to learn about shipwrecks in History class. Kessler hints at a unique history between the merfolk and the humans which will be fun to explore in upcoming books.This is entertaining enough for adults and children and a wonderful read to share. Emily sneaks off without her mom's consent and pushes her new friend to help her obtain her goals. Consideration needs to be given as to what compels her to do these things and could offer up discussion about whether the end justifies the means. Emily does have a loving relationship with her mother and that love is part of what drives her. Through Emily the reader gets the message to be comfortable with who you are and not to worry about what others say about you. I would recommend it for tweens on up through every generation.As Emily's new best friend, Shona, siren in training would say. Sharks! This is a swishy good tail and tale, that will leave you flipping fins until you read the next one.
Glad I got that over with! Now I can say I read it. Hooray for me. Anyway, let's dive right in to this review, shall we?This book was boring, predictable, shallow (no pun intended), and patronizing in the sense that the overall intelligence level seemed to assume only morons would be reading it. I get that this is a children's book but even judged by that standard it felt watered down (no pun intended). It doesn't even clear the hurdle of fluffy, no-brainpower-required read, because it's obvious Kessler was trying for something more but for whatever reason found herself a little bit out of her depth (no pun intended). I was drowning (no pun intended) in the tsunami (no pun intended) of situations and scenes requiring suspension of disbelief, and I'm not talking about the fact that the protagonist is half-mermaid. There was not much in the way of quality world-building or character development to anchor (no pun intended) the text, and ultimately it was sunk (no pun intended) under the weight of its flaws.No matter! Little girls eat this series up, anyway. Oh well. Time to go read another book, so I can write another review, which will hopefully not also contain wave upon wave of bad puns.
What do You think about The Tail Of Emily Windsnap (2010)?
A young girl finds out the truth about her father, whom she hasn't even met. Very original plot, isn't it? The action is predictable and even mawkish, especially at the end. I expected an interesting construction of the world ruled by mermaids, but it was described superficially - the colours and shapes of fish and seaweeds was the main thing that we know about the place of the action. Some elements are also completely naive - for example, how could laptops work under water? Moreover, how could they have their own RADIO, which cannot be listened by ordinary people? A few years ago it was a great fun for me to read this book, but it seems that today I'm just too old for such stories.
—carnival
The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler Cindy XuThe tail of Emily Windsnap is a tale that you would want to read over and over again. It is about a girl who finds out that she is a mermaid and she goes in seeking for her father in the sea. She meets new friends and reunits with her father. But trouble is at the end of the book when Emily gets caught. This book is amazing with alot of details and descriptions. Do u believe in mermaids? Wouldnt it be so cool if you were like Emily Windsnap to be a half human and half mermaid. IT would be a girls fantasy to swim swiftly through the world while still attending school on the surface. You can be a mermaid and travel with Emily on her journey if you read this book. Its full of friendship, obstacles, and a happliy ever after ending. Just like any fairytale story, very similar to the little mermaid, it takes you off to a world of make believe. Thats why this book is great to be on your shelf. Dont take my word for it, just try it out and you will see for yourself that i am right. There is more adventures for Emily after this book, but you first have to get through this book. Wanna grow a tail too? Then this book is right for you.
—Cindy
The tail of Emily Windsnap is about a thirteen year old girl who is still figuring out who she is.When she was little her father (mysteriously)disappeared without anyone knowing where he is.One day Emily finally gets to take swimming lessons after constantly begging her mom,but when its Emily's turn to get in the water she makes an unfortunate discovery about her and who she is...a MERMAID!!!!!The book was really good. Although there were some parts where I was completely lost in and didn't know what was going on....my opinion is that they wouldn't keep changing the subject and make it easier to know what was going on.I would recomend this book to people who are interested in mythical like books. I would not recomend this book to boys because they wouldn't get Emily or what she is giong through.
—Dominique
