Where Mermaids Sing

by Brian Keaney

"I want to pull back the blanket of the sea and find the hidden world beneath where mermaids sing sad songs of sailors lost at sea..."

Jasmine, Phoebe and Alice. As friends they were inseparable. But when friendship turns to rivalry and distrust, they begin to drift apart. Then tragedy strikes - and Alice knows life can never be the same again.

Genres: Young Adult

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2004

About the author

Brian writes novels for adults, young adults and children. HIs latest novel for adults is The Alphabet of Heart's Desire (Holland House Books), based on an incident in the life of the nineteenth century writer and opium addict, Thomas De Quincey

Reviews

[Shreya Das · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the book even with its sad ending. It really makes you think.

[Mollie Hemmings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the book when I was younger and wanted to read it again and everything was still amazing. The suspense and the story line. Everything was great

[Veda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jasmine and Phoebe have been Alice's best friends for as long as she remembered. But once Phoebe gets together with Adam, the hottest guy in school, she starts to drift apart from Alice and Jasmine. Alice and Jasmine still stick together, but tension arouses when they start falling for the same guy, Matt, the quiet but handsome boy. When they go on a literature field trip to Cornwell, Alice finds herself getting jealous of Jasmine as her friend repeatedly gets better than her, in both literature as well as Matt's attention. However, she does know that Jasmine's weakness is her fear of heights.
As the week progresses and the field trip about to end, tragedy strikes. Gary, another of Alice's friends, suggest to her, Jasmine and Matt to sneak out of the hostel they were staying in in the middle of a storm. After succeeding, Gary gives them a splint to smoke on, which makes them go a little high. A while later, Jasmine witnessses Matt kissing Alice as they venture out in the raging storm towards the choppy sea. Alice sees this, and triumphantly kisses Matt back.

Neither does Alice know that Jasmine's shocked face will be the last thing she sees of her...forever......

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

An English class goes on camp to Cornwall. Jasmine finds a fossil, a mermaid’s ear-ring, and writes a poem:
I want to pull back the grey blanket of the sea
and find the hidden world beneath
where mermaids sing sad songs of
sailors lost at sea
drifting down through the icy water,
mouths wide open
calling for help without ever once
disturbing the silence.
It is almost prophetic of what happens when she climbs a seawall, determined to overcome her fear of heights.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

A tale of friendships pushed to the edge and back again. I found it too emotionally draining and it felt a hard slog to read, hard to bond with the characters which also made it just a stressful read.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a pretty good story. I found it interesting. Good book, worth reading, well-written.

[Nelli SilveryMoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very touching and memorable story