To Catch a Mermaid

by Suzanne Selfors

Boom Broom doesn't think his life could get any worse. Ever since his mother was swept away by a twister, his family has gone crazy. They refuse to leave the house and Boom and his sister Mertyle are looked after by Halvor, the Viking descendant who rents the room over their garage.

When Boom finds a baby mermaid who seems to grant unlimited wishes, he thinks his luck has turned around. That is, until his sister is hit by the curse of the merfolk. Now Boom and his best friend Winger must find a way to return the merbaby to its mother and save Mertyle before it is too late.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Mermaids, Fiction, Childrens, Juvenile, Young Adult

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

Suzanne Selfors lives on an island near Seattle where it rains all the time, which is why she tends to write about cloudy, moss-covered, green places.
She's married, has two kids, and writes full time.
Her favorite writers are Kurt Vonnegut, Charles Dickens, and most especially, Roald Dahl.

Please visit her at www.suzanneselfors.com to learn more about her books.

Reviews

[Nilsson]

Heavens... It takes some patience when mermaids are giving you trouble, doesn't it? Just grin and bear it.

[Vish Pothukuchi · Rating 5 out of 5]

read countless times as a child-definitely a favorite! heartwarming story with strange (yet loveable) characters. dives into very heavy topics through lenses tinted with childhood whimsy.
reread it recently, and definitely think that despite being a children’s book, it has something meaningful for all ages

[The Library Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally would give this a three. But my brilliant, charming, utterly gifted 10 year old (you can gag now) told me I should rate it a 5. And I value her opinion on a book over my own and over that of any other adult reviewing kids books, no matter how much their opinion is held in reverence by other adults.

So I've compromised. And we both agree, it's not as good as Fortune's Magic Farm.

[Sara Brunsvold · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book I read as part of my daughter's book club at her school. This story opens up the imagination for kids of all ages!

[Julia Mae · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book about 10 years ago when I was 8 or 9 and I still hate it. As a young girl who loved mermaids, I was very excited to read this book at the time. I was eager to read a story about lovely merfolk.

It was horrific. Instead of a nice mermaid story, I got a story about a disgusting sea monster who curses a little girl to have a (quite graphically described for a children’s book) skin condition that almost kills her.

I hated this book so much that I still remember it as a grown woman. For a child that appreciates gross things, this book may be enjoyable. For a child who loves Disney mermaids and Barbie mermaids, stay away! I speak from first-hand experience.

[Anne Patkau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread. Selfors makes oddness real. Funny. Sad. Hurts of being different. Comforts of belonging. Unusual Vikings and merpeople. A difficult voyage home.

[Sasha (book hugger) · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautifully written!

[Shay ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this a lot when I read this because of how weird and bizarre the story was. It's a very memorable book.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would love to read this book. I am a huge e-reader too.

[Lora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes we have to find our happy among trials. My granddaughter loved this book and it was a fun read with her!

[j · Rating 2 out of 5]

read this in 7th grade and i occasionally still think about it (in a disappointing way bc i still want to think about mermaids as this beautiful mythical mysterious pretty girlypop)

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

To Catch A Mermaid by Suzanne Selfors was a very science fiction book and very interesting book. This book was about when a boy named Boom Broom his mother got carried off by the tornado his father Mr. Broom has locked himself in the attic. Boom has a chef named Halvor who always tells about Viking stories.

One day Boom went to get fish but instead he got a fish with a tail a human face that looked green and had green hair and it was a mermaid baby. The brooms chef Halvor also tells about that mermaids cursed people so Myrtle and Boom had to keep it away from him. The baby mermaid also can do wishes Booms told his friend Winger about the baby mermaid but he didn't believe in him so Boom showed him and he got shocked about it.

One day when Myrtle woke up she got hairy stuff all over but she was not pretending because she used to pretend to be sick. Boom was shocked that he saw her sister get hairy Boom thought that his friend Wingers fish gets sick and the fish has white stuff all over the scales. Boom told Myrtle why she got white stuff all over her body because the baby mermaid was sleeping in her bed.

Winger told Boom that he gets the ick medicine from the pet store. So Boom got the medicine for Myrtle but he wants the baby to go back to her home. Boom showed Halvor the baby and he was surprised about it! Halvor held a viking meeting at the Brooms household. He told the boy to bring the fish and everyone got their axes and hammers!

So on the next day Myrtle and Boom went to a viking ship with the other Vikings plus Halvor but they needed another rower so Boom went to his house and got his dad from the tiny closet, Mr, Broom said that he didn't want to leave because of the tornado but Boom said he needed another rower for the ship and he needed to save his sisters life so his dad said yes and they left.
When the Vikings rowed and Boomers dad did too they couldn't find the island.

When the ship landed on the island they were tired then they slept on the next day Myrtle told Boom that she saw the mermaids and they cured her Myrtle also told him that their dad was going do his job again. I think this book was very amazing and weird I think that i will recommend this book to anyone!!!

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boom Broom's mother was sucked up by a freak twister. Since then he's practically been on his own. His father stays in the attic, afraid the twister will come back and take them away. His sister, Mertyle, can't seem to make it past the front porch, and fakes sick every day. That leaves Boom with the cook that his father hired, a Viking named Halvor. After a particularly bad day Boom stumbles upon something extraordinary, something that will change his life forever.

This was an interesting story. A fun mermaid story is always a joy. This was one ugly merbaby though. I don't know if I would have kept it. It was pretty hideous and a bit creepy. Not that I would have eaten it, but maybe just thrown it back in the water. This story did not end the way I had expected. With all the magic swirling around, I thought I knew for certain how everything would turn out. I'm glad that it surprised me. Halvor was a fun character, I liked that he brought some strange Viking folklore with him. This was a fun story about family and love and magic. I couldn't stand their neighbors, the Mumps. They were just a terrible family and got everything they deserved. This story was strange but fun. Something younger kids will probably love.

First Line:
"Boom Broom awoke to find his little sister, Mertyle, looking for spots."

Favorite Line:
"Lives were so short-live in those dark days, and heartache so common, that the Vikings wrote the most beautiful love poems to ever come from the human heart."

Read more: http://www.areadingnook.com/#ixzz1vco...

[Laura P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwarming and hilarious! The Broom family was struck with tragedy when Mrs. Broom (a very nice person indeed) was sucked away by a tornado. Mr. Broom and his daughter, Mertyle, have refused to leave the house as a result, leaving Boom Broom (whose luck is never good) the only family member trying to hold the family together. Things begin to change when Boom Broom accidentally brings home a cranky merbaby. Boom has hopes that the merbaby will bring an end to their financial troubles, and things get really exciting when he realizes that the creature can grant wishes! But there is a price to pay, and it soon becomes clear that Boom's sister, Mertyle, has been cursed (with Ick!). Boom realizes that there are more important things than riches, and Mertyle and Mr. Broom must discover that they can no longer hide from their lives. This book is rich with imagery and humor. It is full of colorful characters including a family cook who is a direct descendent of the Viking Erik the Red, and serves nothing but rye bread, marmalade, and every manner of fish; a congested and simple pet store owner with a huge heart; an elderly family doctor whose usual remedy is a pat on the head and a tangy tangerine lollipop; and a family next door who are greedy and conniving and always get what they want.

[Angela Liao · Rating 4 out of 5]

To Catch A Mermaid is an excellent book that shows how people don’t use one another

to get benefits of their own. Boom knows that catching a mermaid will lead to many riches, so he

thought of using it to get rich. Generous, Mertyle on the other hand wants to keep it and not let

it get harm by others. ‘Give her up?’ Mertyle’s shoulders dropped, and if Boom could have seen

her expression through all that fuzz, he guessed he would have seen one of the extreme sadness.”

is a quote from the book To Catch A Mermaid. Unlucky and kind-hearted, Mertyle got sick

from keeping the mermaid, but she still decides to keep it, so no harm will be done on the

mermaid from other people. Mertyle’s family is also in need for money too, but she still decides

to not give up on the mermaid. That way the mermaid will not get harm. This quote shows that

Suzanne Selfors writings in the book To Catch A Mermaid is about how characters don’t use

others to get benefits of their own.

[Leah Beecher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one this winter.
The girls really liked it.
It kept their interest. The writing was good. It had quirky " Roald Dahl-like" characters. Its was about a young boy who lost his Mom when she was sucked up in a freak tornado. Both his dad and sister refuse to leave the house afterward, paralyzed by fear. Boom, the main character is then forced to take care of the house. He is helped by their cook, Havlor, who thinks he is a Viking and talks incessantly about how he is "a direct descendent of Erik the Red".
My only issue was that the author keeps referring to "the universe" as the stand in for divine intervention, good and bad in Boom's life.
A good satisfying ending with plenty of action and humor to keep the kids (and me) entertained each night.

[Serena B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last book that I read was To Catch a Mermaid by Suzanne Selfors. This book is full of adventure and twists and turns. I would rate this book 5 stars because I was so desperate to read this book and I could not stop reading. This book is a fantasy about how a boy named Boom Broom and his sister Mertyle. They find a merbaby and Boom wants to sell the baby and get everything that anyone could imagine. Mertyle wants to take care of the baby because it was the first thing that made her happy . Thier mom died from being sucked into a twister. After their mom died his dad has stayed in the attic and is afraid of everything. Soon freaky things start happening and the 2 kids are wondering if it has something to do with them having the merbaby. You should definitely read this book.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book to my 8 year old son and almost 6 year old daughter and they both really enjoyed the story. At first we just read it at bedtime a chapter at a time, but towards the end, we had to read it during the day because we couldn't wait to find out what happens to the characters in the end.

A fun read with great characters and an interesting plot. It deals with loss and a boy having to grow up too quickly when his father cannot deal with the loss of their mother. But somehow, it's not a depressing read.

[joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's how this boy and his sister rescue a baby mermaid. And their mom was swept up buy a tornado in the begining so his dad and sister wont leave the house so their really poor and the hire a derct viking desndent from erik the red to cook for them. He only cooks fish so when the boy goes out to gets some he has to go to the reject fish and then he finds the baby mermaid. I can't tell you the rest because you have to read it.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I'M not actually reading this, but my second-grader is. She has to read aloud to me for homework and this is her book this week, so I am hearing quite a bit of it. We're both loving it! It's extremely funny and clever. Recommended for fans of Edward Eager, Roald Dahl, and other books where ordinary children become embroiled in odd magic doings. My daughter said this is "almost as good as the Penderwicks," and coming from her, this is the highest possible praise.

[Anne Patkau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, sad, sweet, scary, tense. Believable brother doesn't have the right answers, questions, or wishes, but does the right thing, saving life of annoying strange fierce merbaby for his kid sister. I kept wishing for his mom to come back. He's the only one to buck up and leave the house after a storm sweeps her away. The Viking descendants in town, susceptible to cheap artifacts labelled "Made in China" pull together, literally and physically. I'm reading more by this author.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

You usually think of mermaids as beautiful creatures of the sea--well this one is a mean little baby mermaid with razor sharp teeth who spits at you! There's a strange family with a Viking cook/manny (male nanny) who only cooks fish and toast with marmalade. They find a merbaby in the reject fish bucket and that's just the beginning of their problems!

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book because of it's adventure of two poor children all alone. After their mom's disappearance in a tornado, their dad locks himself in the attic in case another tornado approaches. When Boom Broom finds a mysterious fish they take it home and find out it is a mermaid. When the mermaid causes Mrtyles sickness they have to take t back. I loved this book.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

boone finds a baby mermaid and merchel takes care of it. there's a curse that if you take care of the baby mermaid then you'll get fuzz all of you and will die. if you return the baby mermaid you will live. boone and his dad drive to this island to where the baby mermaid's mom is and merchel gets released from the curse.

[Dave Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another winner from the author of the Imaginary Veterinarian series of children's books. The setup is on the dark side, for sure, and there are sad undercurrents throughout, but it's also funny (like the other Selfors titles we've read), and culminates in some nice lessons without being preachy. And it held our almost-8-year-old's interest for all 250 pages.

[Vicki Jaeger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute chapter book about siblings who find a baby mermaid. They live on a real but somewhat surreal island, where people are quirky and the world has hints of the magical. I really loved how they dealt with some real issues (loss & grieving, fitting in at school) with a good dose of whimsy thrown in.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book I have read of this author. I loved them both. WHile the outer shell of the book is bright and quirky, the themes are relevant and lovely. I loved the mermaid baby with her growling and poop! Very Inventive and sweet. I want to read more!

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was kind of cute but was kind of sad too. It seems everything is going wrong and then it ends up with a happy ending much like her Fortune's Farm book. She is a good writer though so it is hard to put down until you get to that happy ending.

[Syd · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was one of thee best and I love how they found the baby mermaid and how they treated it like a baby. I also loved how the girl and them had to find a cure for the girl cause of her fuzz. Because, the mermaid being stolen caused the girl to get so fuzzy that eventually she couldn't speak.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly, fun, feel-good book that addresses challenges that can be real (bullies, loss of parent, etc.) Loved the resolution. Read it together as a family. Our first grader got so excited to know the end that she spent three hours reading it by herself.