The Plot In Five Sentences Or Less:  Fish Girl is a mermaid who lives in a water tank at a private ocean attraction aquarium.  The owner is a man who claims, and Fish Girl initially believes, to be the ocean god Neptune who tells her that he saved her and that she must stay hidden from everyone else.  A girl named Livia spots her and begins regularly visiting with her and informing her of the outside world.  Fish Girl yearns to break free from the tank and to learn more about her past and what the wider world is like.  She begins to take risks, to defy Neptune, and eventually find where she belongs.

My Take:  I am so impressed by this book.  Library patrons often ask me for something like CeCe Bell’s El Deafo or any of the graphic novels by Telgemeier.  I feel like Fish Girl would appeal to these readers looking for a strong female protagonist.

Culturally, Fish Girl also feels very relevant to the times in which we live.  For those who participated in The Women March in D.C. or are interested in promoting the ‘She Persisted’ philosophy, Fish Girl will hold a lot of appeal.

One Interesting Note About The Author:  Donna Jo Napoli has a LOT of pictures of her family on her website!  It’s kind of neat because you don’t see that too often!