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 tr...
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reviews
Jan 05, 2012
Rebecca
rated it: 
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Dec 08, 2011
Alexa Loves Books
rated it: 
I'm going to be honest here: when I first picked this book out of the ones Ashley (of What's Your Story) was selling, I had no idea what the story was about. It was the cover that drew me in, with its wonderful combination of colors and the beautiful illustration. It was the first book I read out of the ones I got from Ashley and I have to say that I enjoyed it.
CHARACTERS
Selkie Girl's main character Elin Jean is interesting, and the story is basically hers. She's different More...
CHARACTERS
Selkie Girl's main character Elin Jean is interesting, and the story is basically hers. She's different More...
Feb 19, 2010
Heather
rated it:
Elin Jean lives near the sea and has always felt drawn to it. She has never fit in with the other children in the village, a situation that is compounded by the fact that her fingers are webbed. So instead of people for friends, Elin Jean looks to the selkies, or seals. Every year the humans “cull” the selkie herd by killing the baby seals with clubs, a tradition which appalls Elin Jean. On a strange night in midsummer, Elin Jean has a chance encounter with a young man named Tam, tries once
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Jan 05, 2009
Patricia
rated it: 
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May 19, 2010
Christopher
rated it: 
I couldn't really place this book within other folklore I've encountered about Selkies, perhaps because it is set in the Orkney Islands, and I'm more familiar with the Irish versions. Despite descriptions of the the landscape and some folk traditions, I didn't really get a sense of place, at all. That added to the problem. The plot also seemed to drag a bit in places. Elin Jean's time with the selkies seems drawn out and largely pointless. I didn't get a feel for what their community was lik
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Jul 02, 2009
Clare
rated it: 
This book is amazingly touching! It is the story of a girl named Elin Jean who is half selkie(seal human)and half human. She has webbed fingers, and for her whole life has been taunted and made fun of. But now she finds her mother's pelt and her mother goes away to the ocean. Elin wants badly to go away to the ocean, so she does. There she is still under suspicion, because of the human part of her. However, she still tries to be a selkie, and eventually she becomes more accepted. Then she works
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Sep 06, 2011
She Known As Jess
rated it:
Reading through this made me constantly want to stop and repeat to myself that it doesn’t make sense why I wanted to read this; I adore mermaid stories as you have probably guessed by now since I rave about them when I read a novel that has them at stage centre. However I have never enjoyed stories that revolve around Selkie’s; for some reason they never seem to appeal to me (the words boring come to mind) and I always end up feeling as though I have just wasted my time. I didn’t find myself dr
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Apr 05, 2010
Danielle
rated it:
This cover, with its neon bright colors, attractive figure, and girly fonts, made me think this would be like the movie AQUAMARINE; light, magic, modern. Maybe for... ages 12-14.
Instead it was a serious period piece (set on some Scottish isles, I believe) about a girl coming to terms with the dark side of her past, and trying to find what it is that truly fulfills her. Very heady, nothing candy-colored.
Oh, and baby seals are clubbed. This is not implied on the cover.
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Instead it was a serious period piece (set on some Scottish isles, I believe) about a girl coming to terms with the dark side of her past, and trying to find what it is that truly fulfills her. Very heady, nothing candy-colored.
Oh, and baby seals are clubbed. This is not implied on the cover.
More...
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Jul 13, 2010
Lady Scribbles
rated it:
I didn't finish this book. But not because I didn't think it was good. It deals with a lot of harsh issue's like the clubbing of poor baby seals. The legend of the selkie was also very interesting, and equally beautiful and heartbreaking. I liked the characters. It was just too sad, I can't take animal violence and there was a lot in this book. On the plus side it did get me aware of the seal clubbing problem and here's a good site to join to protest against this act of cruelty: http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/seal...
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Apr 18, 2011
Betsy
rated it:
There are times when Selkie Girl succeeds wildly in the beauty of its language and the evocation of its characters and settings. It was Brooks’ writing that sold me on a romance subplot that would otherwise have felt forced. From chapter sixteen:
"I lean my body into his and feel a small shiver bind us together. We stand still as jackrabbits, as if the smallest movement might be dangerous. Our breathing gradually slows, and the night air surrounds us like the walls of a roo More...
"I lean my body into his and feel a small shiver bind us together. We stand still as jackrabbits, as if the smallest movement might be dangerous. Our breathing gradually slows, and the night air surrounds us like the walls of a roo More...
Jun 10, 2010
Kendra
rated it:
Selkie Girl
by Laurie Brooks
Personally i think this book was only intresting when we were told the story how the sekings happened.And the mystery of the story was small but you are wondering the answer till the end of the story.
i got really sucked in becasue the ending you/i would usually have figures it out but then there are the boring but necessary parts make you forget.
i also think there were parts that were not so necessa More...
by Laurie Brooks
Personally i think this book was only intresting when we were told the story how the sekings happened.And the mystery of the story was small but you are wondering the answer till the end of the story.
i got really sucked in becasue the ending you/i would usually have figures it out but then there are the boring but necessary parts make you forget.
i also think there were parts that were not so necessa More...
Jun 08, 2011
Ashley
rated it:
While Selkie Girl did have a very original premise, and I was excited to read it at first, unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectation of it. I wanted to like it, but I just found it dull and lagging. The plot, to me, felt like it never went anywhere, and even though the writing was vivid and beautifully descriptive, the story itself fell flat. There were many scenes that I felt dragged the story down.
The mythology of the selkies was my favorite part of the novel, and what made More...
The mythology of the selkies was my favorite part of the novel, and what made More...
May 11, 2009
Shannon lent me this book, saying it was very emotional and meant for teenagers, but interesting because it explored the folk lore of the Orkney Islands. One of the best values it taught, imho, was the value of life, and the intelligence of marine life. The legends or folk tales have it that selkies are seals who can live either as humans or seals, and that on Midsummer Eve, what we would call the Summer Solstice, selkies come to dance with humankind in the celebration of Summer. The main charac
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Jun 01, 2011
Mags
rated it:
I enjoyed the beginning, but found the more I read, the less I cared. I feel like Brooks has taken the story of the Selkie, which is a myth I enjoyed, and ruined it. Granted this is the first novel she's written, but I think had this been made into a play (which she has more experience writing) the experience would have been more enjoyable. If I just saw the actions, and knew less of what was in the main character's head, I think she would be more sympathetic.
Jan 28, 2009
Reita
rated it:
A Selkie is a seal that can shed it's pelt and become human only one time a year, at the summer solctice. Elin Jean doesn't seem to fit in and is ridiculed by the village people (not the YMCA Village People!). Her fingers have webbing between them. Her mother is not happy and her father is a grump. Elin Jean doesn't know why she doesn't fit in, no one will tell her anything. Until one day she hears the selkies tell her to "Find it." This is a really good story about selkies.
Jan 21, 2011
Airynn
rated it:
I really like the meaning to the story in this book. It's told about a young girl who loves the ocean and the seals and feels a pull to be in the water and be with them. She finds out why but that would ruin it if I said. This book teaches the age old lesson of loving yourself and not caring what others think. Finding happiness within even if you don't feel it from others. It takes place on the Orkney Islands off the Scottish coast. Makes me want to go there and stay awhile.
May 11, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
I'm still giving this book 3 stars even though I didn't finish it. I read half of it and I thought the prose was quite lyrical and descriptive, but the pacing was a little slow for me. I guess right now I'm in the mood for something a little more action-packed. Maybe when my life slows down a little, I'll pick this one back up and finish the story.
Aug 25, 2011
Heather
rated it:
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Mar 14, 2009
Jennifer
rated it:
I love Irish selkie legends and grabbed this book as soon as I read the description. The writing was good but the story sometimes seemed a bit long. Other than some unexpected violence, it was a cute tale of a girl who happened to be part seal.
Jan 13, 2011
Joy
rated it:
A very interesting fairy tale. I loved the legends of the Orkney Islands. It got a little slow in the middle, but was worth finishing. A beautiful coming of age tale about how who we are is determined by the choices we make.
Jul 19, 2011
Melissa
rated it:
Don't let the cover of this book fool you. This isn't a light-hearted teen mermaid book. It's a tale filled with love and hate, life and death, selflessness and selfishness.
Aug 05, 2011
Nia
rated it:
This book is about a girl named Elin Jean and she lives in Scotland. She has a mother and a father but they call them "mither" and "fither". There tradition is to kill seal babies and Elin Jean goes to rescue her mom and dad from prison that her dad made. She meets a young man named tam.
Mar 07, 2011
Sabiha709
rated it:
I thought that this book was okay, because there were some parts that were really boring, and other parts that were interesting too, so this book was sort of on and off.
Jan 15, 2009
Alissa
rated it:
A good concept, although quite predictable as far as plot. Mostly, the book's language (the odd dialect used by the characters) made it difficult to read.
Feb 07, 2012
Madame
rated it:
I really thought this was a pretty amazing book! THe middle seemed a little dry to me but after that it was pretty good. I felt sad in the end though when her FIther didn't change, I kept hoping he might. But all in all a sweet book.
Mar 02, 2011
The cover doesn't do this title justice. Fantasy, adventure, ancient legends and young adult romance set against the beautiful and wild Irish coastline.
Mar 05, 2011
i love books like this with a romance like jean and tam- just like clary and jace, and peta and katnis!
Love it
Love it
Feb 12, 2012
Lindi
rated it:
I love me a good selkie tale, but in essence this was. I just wish the author had not been quite so descriptive about the seal pup culling. The cover makes it look like the audience is a 10 year old girl, but the violence is pretty shocking.
Aug 07, 2011
Cara
rated it:
Wonderful tail, (get it? I loved the dialect. The first time she said mither I thought it was a type-o but alas no! Just a neet accent. The cover is misleading because she is not a mermaid.
Jul 19, 2010
Dawn
rated it:
Excellent introduction to the lore of the Selkie (half seal/half human). Great read!
