How the story concludes doesn’t really matter so much as the feeling of magic and discovery throughout, and that Hoffman’s themes about acceptance and finding strengths in quirks send a strong message. We know from the outset that the brothers are not quite human, but Hoffman keeps us guessing until the final scenes to reveal that they are half-mermaid, and were rescued by their adoptive parents after a boating accident which killed their mother. Martha, of course, doesn’t care one jot about how weird the boys seem, they’re her best friends and she can’t wait to escape the dreary life of Oak Grove to explore the wider world. The story is told from the point of view of Martha, a young girl who is best friends with two brothers who are deemed to be a bit weird in their landlocked and superdry hometown of Oak Grove - Trevor and Eli, aptly nicknamed Trout and Eel after some “fishy” characteristics. The second story (“Indigo”) tells a different type of water story, centring more closely on the denizens of the watery depths and their interactions with humanity. Having that peak nostalgia epitomized in my summertime lakeside haunts (Sorrento Centre and Cottonwoods RV Resort), it was impossible not to fall in love with this story. Aquamarine may be the titular character of the story and the catalyst of the story’s conflict, but for me the major themes are centred around that summertime feeling, endless friendship, and the memories we make and endlessly look back on.

After a major storm rips through the town the girls discover a mermaid (named Aquamarine) trapped in the Capri’s swimming pool, and while vowing to save her have one last adventure together. “Aquamarine” tells the story of the very last days of summer for BFFs Hailey and Claire, as they are caught up in their last summer together before one of them moves to Florida and their summer haunt (the Capri Beach Club) shuts down for good.

What a perfect little pair of stories to read during what is turning out to be an increasingly nostalgic and smokin’ hot end of summer! I was so enamoured that I devoured both in less than a day, not only because the format of the book was easy to read, but because I wanted to know how the stories turned out and couldn’t put them down!

Aquamarine by Alice Hoffman