What do you think?
Rate this book
The Mer-Child: A Legend for Children and Other Adults
This enchanting story tells of two outsiders who find a deep kinship in each other. The Mer-Child—with his pale green skin, surf-white hair, and shimmering tail—is not fully accepted in the sea world or the human world. The Little Girl—the child of a black mother and a white father—has been ostracized both because of her race and because her legs are paralyzed. The bond they weave, against all odds, becomes a wondrous celebration of our common capacity to love.
64 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1991
46 people want to read
About the author
Robin Morgan
151 books109 followersAn award-winning poet, novelist, political theorist, feminist activist, journalist, editor, and best-selling author, Robin Morgan has published 20 books, including the now-classic anthologies
Sisterhood Is Powerful
(Random House, 1970) and
Sisterhood Is Global
(Doubleday, l984; updated edition, The Feminist Press, 1996); with the recent
Sisterhood Is Forever
(Washington Square Press, 2003). A leader in contemporary US feminism, she has also played an influential role internationally in the women’s movement for more than 25 years.
An invited speaker at every major university in North America, Morgan has traveled — as organizer, lecturer, journalist — across Europe, to Australia, Brazil, the Caribbean, Central America, China, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Nepal, New Zealand, Pacific Island nations, the Philippines, and South Africa; she has twice (1986 and 1989) spent months in the Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, West Bank, and Gaza, reporting on the conditions of women.
Her books include the novels Dry Your Smile (Doubleday, l987) and The Mer-Child A Legend for Children and Other Adults (Feminist Press, 1991); nonfiction Going Too Far (Random House, 1977), The Word of a Woman (Norton, 1992, 2nd ed. 1994), and The Anatomy of Freedom (Norton, 1994). Her work has been translated into 13 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Russian, and Sanskrit. Recent books include the poetry anthologies Upstairs in the Garden (1994) and A Hot January (both Norton), as well as the memoir Saturday's Child (Norton, 2000), and her best-selling nonfiction piece The Demon Lover - The Roots of Terrorism (Norton, 1989—2nd ed. with a new introduction and afterword (Washington Square Press, 2001). Her novel on the Inquisition — The Burning Time — was published in 2006 (Melville House), and Fighting Words A Toolkit for Combating the Religious Right in 2006 (Nation Books).
As founder and president of The Sisterhood Is Global Institute and co-founder and board member of The Women’s Media Center, she has co-founded and serves on the boards of many women’s organizations in the US and abroad. In 1990, as editor-in-chief of Ms. magazine, she relaunched the magazine as an international, award-winning, ad-free bimonthly, resigning in late 1993 to become consulting global editor. A recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Prize for poetry, and numerous other honors, she lives in New York City.
An invited speaker at every major university in North America, Morgan has traveled — as organizer, lecturer, journalist — across Europe, to Australia, Brazil, the Caribbean, Central America, China, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Nepal, New Zealand, Pacific Island nations, the Philippines, and South Africa; she has twice (1986 and 1989) spent months in the Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, West Bank, and Gaza, reporting on the conditions of women.
Her books include the novels Dry Your Smile (Doubleday, l987) and The Mer-Child A Legend for Children and Other Adults (Feminist Press, 1991); nonfiction Going Too Far (Random House, 1977), The Word of a Woman (Norton, 1992, 2nd ed. 1994), and The Anatomy of Freedom (Norton, 1994). Her work has been translated into 13 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Russian, and Sanskrit. Recent books include the poetry anthologies Upstairs in the Garden (1994) and A Hot January (both Norton), as well as the memoir Saturday's Child (Norton, 2000), and her best-selling nonfiction piece The Demon Lover - The Roots of Terrorism (Norton, 1989—2nd ed. with a new introduction and afterword (Washington Square Press, 2001). Her novel on the Inquisition — The Burning Time — was published in 2006 (Melville House), and Fighting Words A Toolkit for Combating the Religious Right in 2006 (Nation Books).
As founder and president of The Sisterhood Is Global Institute and co-founder and board member of The Women’s Media Center, she has co-founded and serves on the boards of many women’s organizations in the US and abroad. In 1990, as editor-in-chief of Ms. magazine, she relaunched the magazine as an international, award-winning, ad-free bimonthly, resigning in late 1993 to become consulting global editor. A recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Prize for poetry, and numerous other honors, she lives in New York City.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 30, 2016
This was a children's book I found at one of my local thrift stores, and I knew I had to buy it the moment I saw it. Not only is it a mermaid book (which I've always been a sucker for), but it's published by The Feminist Press and the cover artwork is absolutely stunning. After finishing this short, quick read, I'm so glad I decided to pick it up.
The Mer-Child is a short story about the son of a human and a mermaid, and his friendship with a girl who is paralyzed from the waist down. They're both outcasts, yet they fit with each other and no longer feel so alone in their worlds. It's a sweet, sad, inspiring story, and I loved every page.
Robin Morgan is amazing in her descriptions of the characters and scenery, and she uses vivid imagery full of vibrant colors and flowing language that paints a beautiful image in my head just like a gorgeous watercolor. I could say that this was my favorite aspect of this book, but it gets even better.
The girl who lives on land is obviously disabled, as she is paralyzed and cannot walk, and she also has darker skin and thick curly hair (as seen on the book cover in addition to her description in the story), which is a character one does not get to read about often enough. This book teaches a good lesson to children (and adults!) not to judge or bully someone who is different from oneself or others.
The book goes even further in its good causes and messages in pointing out how humans treat the oceans and the impact that we have, because we all need to be much more aware of that. A quote I loved so much from this book is: "Was it possible, then, for humans to cause such a catastrophe undersea and remain completely unaffected themselves, on land?"
There are so many more things throughout the entirety of this book that are strong messages for both children and adults, and I definitely recommend it to everyone. This is another book that's a quick read, but it will make you think, and I really encourage you all to go out and read it.
The Mer-Child is a short story about the son of a human and a mermaid, and his friendship with a girl who is paralyzed from the waist down. They're both outcasts, yet they fit with each other and no longer feel so alone in their worlds. It's a sweet, sad, inspiring story, and I loved every page.
Robin Morgan is amazing in her descriptions of the characters and scenery, and she uses vivid imagery full of vibrant colors and flowing language that paints a beautiful image in my head just like a gorgeous watercolor. I could say that this was my favorite aspect of this book, but it gets even better.
The girl who lives on land is obviously disabled, as she is paralyzed and cannot walk, and she also has darker skin and thick curly hair (as seen on the book cover in addition to her description in the story), which is a character one does not get to read about often enough. This book teaches a good lesson to children (and adults!) not to judge or bully someone who is different from oneself or others.
The book goes even further in its good causes and messages in pointing out how humans treat the oceans and the impact that we have, because we all need to be much more aware of that. A quote I loved so much from this book is: "Was it possible, then, for humans to cause such a catastrophe undersea and remain completely unaffected themselves, on land?"
There are so many more things throughout the entirety of this book that are strong messages for both children and adults, and I definitely recommend it to everyone. This is another book that's a quick read, but it will make you think, and I really encourage you all to go out and read it.
June 18, 2017
This is a charming little fairy tale with a strong message about acceptance. Morgan captures the tone of such classic fantasists as E. Nesbit and Hans Christian Andersen, but infuses her story with modern concerns like environmentalism and prejudice. While the story does occasionally dip towards preachiness, the lessons it imparts are valuable, and never undermine the beauty of the prose or the poignancy of the story.
November 21, 2025
Beautiful story of friendship and acceptance of their physical differences. The writing was so descriptive that seeing the characters was easy. I read this on Hoopla not as a children’s illustrated book. I enjoyed this so much.
July 5, 2024
sweet short story
I enjoyed this quick read. It is a short story of two children from different worlds who fell lost and alone until they form a friendship.
I enjoyed this quick read. It is a short story of two children from different worlds who fell lost and alone until they form a friendship.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews