Description

A magical story about finding your identity from one of the most acclaimed storytellers of his generation, richly illustrated in full colour by an internationally renowned artist.

My mother says that all things can be turned to tales. I thought she meant tales like fish tails, but I was wrong. She meant tales like this, tales that are stories. But this tale of mine is very like a fish tail too…

Annie has never been like the other girls. Her mam tried sending her to school when she was small, but Annie couldn’t seem to make words or numbers stick. She prefers instead to be swimming in the sea, or sunbathing on the shore at Stupor Beach, her head full of tales. She should have been a fish, her mam always tells her, and Annie knows the truth of it. Then a stranger who comes to town is struck by the beauty and the wonder of her, and Annie Lumsden realizes that perhaps she really is half a creature from the sea.

Publisher Review

A tender story, cheerfully illustrated, about unconventional people and the freedom to be yourself. * The Sunday Times * I really like the way that David Almond writes. His descriptions are mesmerising. * Books Up North * Featured in a piece with David Almond showing readers where he works in WRD Magazine. * WRD * David Almond's glowing prose conjures a magical world, building a picture of a special girl w h o is very much a creature of the sea. [...] Beatrice Alemagna's beautiful illustrations complement the text perfectly, evoking the sea, the shore, both the everyday and the mysterious: "Annie Lumsden, seal girl, fish girl, dolphin girl...". The story and the pictures will haunt the reader long after the covers of the book are closed. * The School Librarian *