Lighthouse Mermaid

by Kathleen Karr

Although Kate loves to dream about being a mermaid, she puts her dreams aside when her father, the lighthouse keeper, leaves the lighthouse and puts Kate in charge of steering the boats to safety by keeping the lighthouse lit throughout the night. Simultaneous.

Genres: Mermaids

64 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1998

About the author

Kathleen Karr was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and grew up on a chicken farm in Dorothy, New Jersey. After escaping to college, she worked in the film industry, and also taught in high school and college. She seriously began writing fiction on a dare from her husband. After honing her skills in women’s fiction, her children asked her to write a book for them, (It Ain’t Always Easy, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1990), and she discovered she loved writing for young readers.

Reviews

[Andrea]

A short and sweet novel that I checked out of the library. I couldn't resist the cover - a young girl standing in front of a lighthouse painted in barber pole red and white.

Kate is the daughter of a lighthouse keeper in Maine. Her mother is hugely pregnant, so as the eldest child, the task of tending the lighthouse falls to Kate when her father goes ashore for provisions. A storm prevents him from returning on time, and Kate performs admirably.

One night as she was standing watch, Kate saw a boat that she was sure was her father, returning with food and other supplies. She ran down the beach and found two castaways - a mother and child - nearly frozen in the boat. Kate's actions save their lives and, in turn, the woman helps Kate's mother deliver a healthy child.

A classic happy-ending children's story that made me smile after all the not-so-happy ending books I've been reading lately.

[Anna Carolina]

short, but lovely!