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THORA AND HER GREEN SEA-UNICORN by Gillian Johnson

THORA AND HER GREEN SEA-UNICORN

Another Half-Mermaid Tale

by Gillian Johnson

Pub Date: May 1st, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-06-074381-9
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins

This frothy sequel to Thora: A Half-Mermaid Tale (2005) continues the whimsical adventures of Thora, aged 10 ¾, her mermaid mum, human caretaker Mr. Walters, Cosmo the peacock and beautiful sea-unicorn Shirley. Thora is able to maneuver around London because, being only half mermaid, she has legs and feet, albeit purple and scaly ones. The reason for her bizarre hairstyle is to cover a blowhole. Dreadful human-wannabe Pamela P. Poutine spies the magical, intelligent, tiny Shirley and plots to kidnap her for the sinister sea-oddity collector Mr. Oto. Thora and her entourage go to an English estate and become involved in making it a profitable venture for young Louella and her dad. Thora has no formal education so her speech is often difficult to decipher, since she uses words that sound like the right ones but are not. The whole romp reminds one of Roald Dahl and Eva Ibbotson. Line drawings reminiscent of Quentin Blake add a tremendous amount to the overall eccentricity of this quick, amusing frolic. Highly recommended. (Fiction. 8-12)