[#MiddleGrade] Maybe A Mermaid by Josephine Cameron @MacKidsBooks @josephinewrites @fsgbooks

Genre: Middle Grade Fiction

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It doesn’t matter if you feel brave. It matters if you act brave.

Summer always gives me all beachy mermaid feels, and this was the perfect summer read.

Carrie is a single mom trying to make ends meet by selling bee cosmetics. With all the moving around, Anthoni hasn’t had a BFF since kindergarten and is hoping to meet her True Blue friend this summer at Thunder Lake.

During their stay at the magical Showboat Resort, Anthoni learns some hard truths about their current situation and friendship.

This was a fun and very well-written story with a touch of mermaid magic and a great cast of characters. I loved DJ and quirky Charlotte. The mother-daughter relationship gave me Lorelai and Rory vibes from Gilmore Girls.

I highly recommend this one for those who enjoy middle grade fiction. I think it sends a great message to young readers about friendship, having a positive attitude and never giving up, even when things go wrong.

**Thank you Macmillan Kids Books for my ARC **

Eleven-year-old Anthoni Gillis is not the kind of kid who believes in fairies, unicorns, or even the word “maybe.” She’s more of a comic-books girl. So when her mom brings her to Thunder Lake for a summer at the Showboat Resort, she doesn’t believe the local rumors about the Boulay Mermaid.

Anthoni has bigger fish to fry. She’s always wanted a True Blue Friend. But it’s been hard to find one, since for the past five years she’s been bouncing from town to town, helping her mother sell Beauty & the Bee cosmetic products to keep them both afloat. This summer will be different, though. Anthoni has a plan―a foolproof checklist for making lifelong friends! There won’t be any maybes this time.

But as she grows entangled in local gossip, and her mother stretches the truth, Anthoni must decide if she’ll “stick to the plan,” like always, or dive into a summer full of extraordinary possibilities.