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ELIN JEAN HAS always known she was different from the others on their remote island home. She is a gentle soul, and can’t stand the annual tradition of killing seal babies to thin the population. Even Tam McCodron, the gypsy boy to whom she is strangely drawn, seems to belong more than she does. It’s just a matter of time until Elin Jean discovers the secret of her past: her mother, Margaret, is a selkie, held captive by her smitten father, who has kept Margaret’s precious seal pelt hostage for 16 years. Soon Elin Jean faces a choice about whether to free her mother from her island prison. And, as the child of this unusual union, she must make another decision. Part land, part sea, she must explore both worlds and dig deep inside herself to figure out where she belongs, and where her future lies. Poignant, meaningful, and romantic, Selkie Girl is a lyrical debut about a mesmerizing legend.
ELIN JEAN HAS always known she was different from the others on their remote island home. She is a gentle soul, and can’t stand the annual tradition of killing seal babies to thin the population. Even Tam McCodron, the gypsy boy to whom she is strangely drawn, seems to belong more than she does. It’s just a matter of time until Elin Jean discovers the secret of her past: her mother, Margaret, is a selkie, held captive by her smitten father, who has kept Margaret’s precious seal pelt hostage for 16 years. Soon Elin Jean faces a choice about whether to free her mother from her island prison. And, as the child of this unusual union, she must make another decision. Part land, part sea, she must explore both worlds and dig deep inside herself to figure out where she belongs, and where her future lies. Poignant, meaningful, and romantic, Selkie Girl is a lyrical debut about a mesmerizing legend.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Excerpts-
Chapter ONE
CHAPTER ONE
Heart beating hard, breath ragged and sharp as thorns, I run toward the beach, where all the world is water, calm and safe and whole. Blood pumps through my legs as I jog down the path, and the wind, not to be outdone, races with me. The damp of sea spray stings my face, but I welcome it. The sound of water playing on the shore feels like home.
My feet splash in the shallow ripples that wash up blue-green seaweed, cold but woolen soft, dark and deep with secrets. I stand knee-deep in the sea, content. Breathing slowly, until my heart quiets and my eyes clear, I search the horizon.
The selkies are nowhere in sight.
I shove back the annoying curls that cover my eyes and scan the shoreline to the rocky cliffs. The day is unexpectedly clear. I can see for miles. Even through the mist, the tip of the skerry winks at me. Visible only at high tide, it points a stony finger out to sea, the final extension of the island.
I begin to run again, and the pounding of my feet drums a rhythm in the sand that keeps time with the waves.
I know they will come. I know they will come.
Could I have missed them? What if they were looking for me and I wasn't here? Devil take those annoying chores.
I know they will come. I know they will come.
What if they think I forgot them? As if such a thing is possible. I've thought of little else all year.
The sand gives way to slippery boulders, jagged in disarray, as though they have been thrown in anger by some huge hand. Perhaps they were the expression of some giant's temper, once upon a time. Oh, to have the power to hurl such boulders, to hear the crack and crunch of stone meeting stone at the water's edge. That would make them listen, and I would change everything.
I squint across the ocean's surface, hoping for some sight of them. My hand has found its way to my mouth, and I feel a single sliver of fingernail that I've somehow overlooked. One quick bite and it is gone. Mither tells me it is a horrible habit, but I can't help it. Besides, I never bite my fingernails when anyone else is around. It draws too much attention to my hands.
I carefully arrange the extra-long lace sleeves Mither has sewn onto my dress to cover my hands. Gathering the extra fabric in my fists, I settle myself on a huge boulder worn smooth by the pounding waves. It thrusts out over the sea, a flat extension rounded into a hollow with a curved backrest, just right for perching above the waves. I have named it Odin's Throne, in homage to the great Viking god of war.
Here I can dream undisturbed, high above the concerns of the others. I wonder who else has sat here as I do, dreaming of other worlds; a young woman who traveled with the Pictish armies that invaded from the south or perhaps a Viking warrior once rested here. I close my eyes and imagine his approach in a huge carved ship, sails filled with the frigid north wind. I stand with the warriors, leaning into the hard gale.
But I am not a killer. I am not like the others. I am glad not to be a destroyer of innocent creatures.
I think of the latest argument with Grandpa, and my forehead wrinkles into a frown. Why is he so stubborn? Why won't he listen to me?
"We must stop the cull," I told him. "Why don't they call it what it is—the kill? The selkies have a right to survive, as we all do."
I pictured the yearly birthing of the selkie pups, the beach littered with their bodies, white and new, the darker forms of their mithers nestled nearby. The pups must be born on land and suckled for six weeks until they are old enough to swim. But many never have the chance to reach the safe...
About the Author-
Laurie Brooks is a playwright whose work includes The Wrestling Season, a young adult play. This is her first novel. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
Reviews-
December 1, 2008 Gr 6-9-An extraordinary, beautifully written tale about belonging, love, and the laws of nature. Sixteen-year-old Elin Jean lives in the Orkney Islands north of Scotland and is magnetically drawn to the sea. She knows she is different because of the webbing between her fingers that regenerates if it is cut. Though her father loves her mother, their relationship is tarnished by a mysterious underlying discord. He is determined to make Elin a normal girl by repeatedly cutting the webbing while her mother desperately tries to shield her from pain. Her compassionate grandfather pushes her to discover the truth for herself. Elin is attracted to Tam, a Gypsy boy in town. Her physical strangeness and his heritage set them apart from those around them, but perhaps this helps bring them together. By chance, Elin finds a seal skin hidden above a door in her house and learns the truth about her origins. The discovery is simultaneously freeing and burdensome. Brooks's rich prose reverberates with vivid, cinematic images. The author succeeds in conveying the fully fleshed-out characters' anguish and conflict. This marvelous offering brings to mind Alice Hoffman's "Indigo" (2002) and Karen Hesse's "The Music of Dolphins" (1996, both Scholastic). It's not to be missed."Renee Steinberg, formerly at Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ"
Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
November 15, 2008 Grades 6-9 Although the flowery pink-and-turquoise cover art suggests a sweet, girly mermaid story, Brooks brooding, romantic tale of a shape-shifting seal-girl is drawn straight from Celtic folklore. Her mother is a selkie (a seal/human shape-shifter), her father is human, but Elin Jean belongs nowhere. Her misshapen hands and webbed fingers mark her as a freak in her small island village, and her efforts to prevent the annual culling of seal pups enrage local fishermen. Her only defender is another outcast, Tam, the son of a gypsy peddler. But when Elin Jean finds her mothers seal skin and follows her into the sea, she finds she is a freak in the selkie world, too. Is Elin Jean the girl-seal of selkie prophecy destined to change their world forever? Brooks coming-of-age story is full of secrets, teenage angst, fierce longing to belong, dramatic rescues, revenge, and true love. Her tone mimics traditional lore: appropriately dark, moody, and satisfyingly old-fashioned. Suggest this to girls who enjoyed Berlie Dohertys Daughter of the Sea (1997), a selkie story for younger readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)
January 1, 2009 Elin Jean has never fit in, partially because of her webbed hands but also because of her connection with the selkies. On Midsummer's Eve, Elin Jean is forced to decide whether to answer the selkies' call or remain an outcast. This mythological romance incorporates a humane message, as Elin Jean fights to save the selkies.
(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
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Bahrain, Egypt, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen
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