"A cute whimsical young adult fantasy"
This is an enchanting tale that children of all ages,
including adults who are young at heart, will love. Jesse is a young girl full of adventure and quite fearless
about it. Her best friends are three magical penguins with
whom she spends all her free time. One day, she goes on an
adventure with the penguins out to sea and it changes her
permanently. When her adventure takes a bad turn, she is
rescued by a magical being, the most powerful of all the
ocean fairies, The Selkie. He saves her from drowning and
after they spend a little time together, he disappears and
she can't get him out of her mind. She now departs on her greatest adventure. Jesse goes off
to find the wonderful place, Island Beauty, the home of all
the Merfolk and the Selkie, just so she can see him again.
Her travels take her far out to sea, where she meets up
with many magical creatures of the deep. All her hopes are
pinned on finding Island Beauty and her Selkie, but she
never expects what happens in the end, something she never
even dared to dream about. This was a delightfully fun adventure that young girls will
absolutely love. Jesse is an adventure-loving young girl
with a huge imagination, one that takes her very far and
has her end up in many amazing places. This is just a feel
good story that will make people dream of finding hidden
island paradises, meeting mystical fairies and the sea
creatures themselves. All of the characters are delightful,
from Vegemite the loveable and ever-hungry pudgy penguin
with a fascination for tuna sandwiches, to the beautiful
Sea Princess, to the frightening looking but kind Sea
Wizard, and of course the beautiful Selkie too. There were several editing errors throughout the story,
which could get distracting in a few places, and a few
inconsistencies in details a time or two as well. But if
one can ignore that, or doesn't notice them in the first
place, this story is more than enjoyable. The illustrations
and sound effects that are integral to the story add an
extra flair that readers will enjoy. They really brought
the story to life, lending beautiful images of the
characters throughout. All in all, this was a pleasing read that people, whether
young or just young at heart, will love and treasure. This
reviewer hopes a non-electronic version is available,
complete with illustrations, so that it can be treasured by
the entire family. © Kelley A. Hartsell, June 2004. All rights reserved.
Posted August 13, 2004
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted December 15, 2006
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Location! Location! Location! If real estate agents discover the truth about the beach
near Jesse's house, property values would triple. This
magical beach has fairies living in nests on the foreshore.
These fairy penguins are her best friends, and while Jesse
is with them her life becomes enchanted, too. As soon as
her fairy friends return home in the evening, they tell
Jesse about their fantastic adventures in the ocean. But
even better than listening to their fairy stories, the
penguins promise they will take her with them on their next
adventure. One diamond day, Jesse and the penguins sail out into the
ocean and meet the mightiest ocean fairy of all - the
Selkie. He is beautiful and wild beyond human imagination.
Vegemite is concerned Jesse will fall in love with the
Selkie and forget about his tuna sandwiches. But when her
dinghy sinks to the ocean floor, it is the Selkie who
rescues her. Jesse does fall in love with the magnificent
Selkie who wears pearls in his hair and a pearl encrusted
lyre strapped around his shoulder. However, without her
little boat, she fears she'll never see him again or hear
his enchanted music. However, Vegemite, the clumsiest penguin - and the one
responsible for the dinghy sinking in the first place -
provides the answer and shows Jesse that fairy penguins are
just as magical and heroic as any other fairy. If you like super heroes, romance and fantasy this is a
story you'll never forget.
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