The Mermaid Secret

Melanie Marttila is a Sudbury-based freelance writer and writing
consultant.

Featuring twins Kallie and Danya, Vicki Blum’s sixth children’s
fantasy takes the sisters on an adventure to the aquatic world of
Ayralon where they help to recover the Jewel of Life from a greedy
human. Then when it is mistakenly shattered, Kallie and Danya travel
further to restore the magical jewel and return it to its rightful home
in Kahului, the capital of Ayralon.

In the course of their adventure, the girls learn that they are half
mermaid and that their mother has never told them the secret of their
birth because she is afraid of losing her daughters to the sea. Aided by
their quirky Aunt Mattie and the mermaid princess Brin, Kallie and Danya
travel to Edmonton and then to the Crystal Caves of Ayralon before
returning home. Kallie and Danya are opposites, one blonde and one
brunette, one given to flights of fancy and one pragmatically dedicated
to science. The two must not only complete their quest, but also
negotiate their changing relationship and sense of family.

The Mermaid Secret is simply and well written. It does suffer somewhat
from a printing error that replaces quotation marks with degree symbols,
but happily this error does not compromise the story or its enjoyment.
Recommended.