Sunday, January 10, 2010

Book Review-Hannah (Daughters of the Sea #1) by Kathryn Lasky

Published by Scholastic
September 1, 2009
310 pages
2 stars

Daughters of the Sea tells the story of 3 mermaid sisters who are separated at birth by a storm and go on to lead three very different lives. Book 1 is about Hannah, who spent her early days in an orphanage and is now a scullery maid in the house of rich, powerful family. She is irresistibly drawn to the sea and through a series of accidents and encounters discovers her true identity. Hannah realizes that she must keep the truth a secret but she also knows that soon she will have to make the choice - to be a creature of the land or the sea. (from goodreads.com)

I received this book to review from Scholastic, and while it was wholesome and a good clean read, I found that there were too many characters that got developed too late in the book. Hannah had a great story that was lost with the development of the other characters, some of whom didn't play a huge role in her story. I felt that the middle of the book should have spent more time in developing Hannah's story, instead of towards the very end of the book.

The middle of the book talked about or had a lot about the family with whom she lived at the early turn of the century. While you get a good understanding of what it was like to be a servant to a very wealthy Boston family at that time, you got very little of the changes that Hannah was going through and she discovers who is she and what she's becoming.

I liked Hannah a lot. She's a great character who like many girls wants to find her place in the world, but stay true to herself and her quest to finding out what the feelings and yearnings she has for the sea are about.

I think this is definitely more for pre-teen girls than teen girls.

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I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~ Anna Quindlen

Good children's literature appeals not only to
the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.
~ Anonymous ~