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"Everyone in the broken-down town of Chelsea, Massachusetts, has a story too worn to repeat--from the girls who play the pass-out game just to feel like they're somewhere else, to the packs of aimless teenage boys, to the old women from far away who left everything behind. But there's one story they all still tell: the oldest and saddest but most hopeful story, the one about the girl who will be able to take their twisted world and straighten it out. The girl who will bring the magic. Could Sophie Swankowski be that girl? With her tangled hair and grubby clothes, her weird habits and her visions of a filthy, swearing mermaid who comes to her when she's unconscious, Sophie could be the one to uncover the power flowing beneath Chelsea's potholed streets and sludge-filled rivers, and the one to fight the evil that flows there, too. Sophie might discover her destiny, and maybe even in time to save them all"--Page 4 of cover.… (more)
User reviews
The protagonist, Sophie, growing up in polluted, working-class Chelsea, Massachusetts, learns about her heritage and who she is. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I didn't even notice until reading the reviews that all of the important characters are female. I know this was intentional, but it felt totally organic and natural to the story.
The Kirkus review was fairly negative, since the reviewer hated the "lumpy" illustrations and the shifts in narrative voice and perspective (from third person to first, and from character to character). I didn't agree with that so much. I didn't find the shifts to be herky-jerky, and I didn't find that they affected my feelings about the plot or characters. However, the Kirkus review made a statement at the end that really made me think. "The ornate literary style and grim themes make this read more like a story about adolescence for adults than one aimed at actual teens." Since I really loved this book, and I am well over that line between adolescence and adulthood, the statement rings true.
This book is about self-discovery and understanding one's place in the world, and also feelings of outsiderism, all important developmental tasks of adolescence. The story also brings in a teen dealing with OCD, and I think that piece could help teens understand and empathize with people who have this condition.