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98th out of 312 books
—
497 voters
Selkie Girl
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: he...more
It’s just a matter of time until Elin Jean discovers the secret of her past: he...more
Hardcover, 262 pages
Published
October 14th 2008
by Knopf Books for Young Readers
(first published October 7th 2008)
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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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 agai...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
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 like. I...more
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...more
Sep 06, 2011
She Known As Jess BlogSpot
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
owns
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 dra...more
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.
It has lots of substance up f...more
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.
It has lots of substance up f...more
1 like · like · see review
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.human...more
Reviewed on Alexa Loves Books
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 dif...more
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 dif...more
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 necessary to be so long becasue i didnt like those so much they were reall...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 necessary to be so long becasue i didnt like those so much they were reall...more
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 it slightly...more
The mythology of the selkies was my favorite part of the novel, and what made it slightly...more
May 11, 2009
Catherine
added it
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...more
I think the story is pretty good. It's none-traditional and to use a cute instead of fabulous animal to spin a mermaid tale is quite bold.
There were some lapses if I may add to the narration, may be bit of inconsistency to the characters like the heroine's mother so to speak, but it was an enjoyable quick read of a book.
Maybe the love story part can be a bit more developed, as it became a bit too "expected" of a love story/fairy tale.
It's a good read though.
There were some lapses if I may add to the narration, may be bit of inconsistency to the characters like the heroine's mother so to speak, but it was an enjoyable quick read of a book.
Maybe the love story part can be a bit more developed, as it became a bit too "expected" of a love story/fairy tale.
It's a good read though.
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.
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.
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.
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.
this book was great!
its about a girl with webbed hands who i an outcast in her town. each year, selkie girl goes to swim with selkies (seals). she is determined she will never be loved and wont find fate... until she finds out secrets she never knew which involves her mother. along the way, selkie girl falls in love.
i liked this book because it was nice to relax and read a fiction/fantasy book. it started a bit slow for me but i really got into it after about 30pgs.
i would recommend this book to...more
its about a girl with webbed hands who i an outcast in her town. each year, selkie girl goes to swim with selkies (seals). she is determined she will never be loved and wont find fate... until she finds out secrets she never knew which involves her mother. along the way, selkie girl falls in love.
i liked this book because it was nice to relax and read a fiction/fantasy book. it started a bit slow for me but i really got into it after about 30pgs.
i would recommend this book to...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book could have been better. Why is it that most Selkie books I read lack something that I can't put my finger on? Oh well, I enjoyed some of the ocean description, but I felt this lacked strong characters, I know I read this awhile back, but I don't even remember what happened.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Elyse
added it
The cover doesn't do this title justice. Fantasy, adventure, ancient legends and young adult romance set against the beautiful and wild Irish coastline.
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.
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.
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Laurie Brooks is an award-winning playwright and YA fiction author.
Awards and grants include TCG's National Theatre Artists Residency Program, AT&T Firststage award, three Distinguished Play Awards and the Charlotte Chorpenning Cup from AATE, NY Foundation for the Arts, and Irish Arts Council Commissioning Grant (with Graffiti Theatre Company, Cork, Ireland).
Brooks' Lies and Deceptions Quartet...more
More about Laurie Brooks...
Awards and grants include TCG's National Theatre Artists Residency Program, AT&T Firststage award, three Distinguished Play Awards and the Charlotte Chorpenning Cup from AATE, NY Foundation for the Arts, and Irish Arts Council Commissioning Grant (with Graffiti Theatre Company, Cork, Ireland).
Brooks' Lies and Deceptions Quartet...more
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Dec 03, 2012 12:42pm
Feb 25, 2013 04:31am