Secrets of Selkie Bay

Eleven-year-old Cordelia has been trying to hold her family together since her mother left. With Da heartbroken and withdrawn, finances tight, and youngest sister Neevy still in diapers, it’s no easy task. Though it’s off-season in their tourist town of Selkie Bay, Cordie begs a job at cranky Mr. Doyle’s gift shop/selkie-spotting tour business to help make ends meet. Meanwhile, middle-sister Ione becomes convinced that their mother hasn’t really left -- she’s a selkie who’s returned to the bay. The three sisters set out in search of a legendary selkies’ island, looking for treasure and Mum. Cordie initially hopes their expedition will disabuse Ione of her selkie-Mum fantasy, but slowly realizes she wants to believe, too. Thomas’s writing is sensory and lyrical, particularly in “tales” (about Mum, about selkies) interspersed into Cordie’s first-person narrative, and when the emotions Cordie has tried so hard to tamp down finally surface. The real explanation of their mother’s disappearance is a bit implausible (Mum and Da would rather their daughters believe themselves abandoned than tell them the truth?), but her absence nevertheless effectively sets up -- and gets parents out of the way of -- the girls’ adventure. That Cordie’s unwavering determination to save her family coupled with her naiveté tends to make matters worse only heightens her character’s satisfying complexity and this touching family drama’s poignancy. katie bircher

Eleven-year-old Cordelia has been trying to hold her family together since her mother left. When middle-sister Ione becomes convinced that their mother is actually a selkie who's returned to the bay, the girls set out (with baby Neevy) in search of a legendary selkies' island. Thomas's writing is sensory and lyrical; Cordie's determination coupled with her naiveté heightens this touching family drama's poignancy.