THE MERMAID'S THREE WISDOMS

This slacker than usual Yolen speaks in her usual hushed tones of the relationship between Melusina, a mermaid who is punished for appearing to a human by being cast onto shore with her tail turned to legs, and Jess, the deaf girl who finds her and becomes her friend as the two learn to talk to each other with their hands. Melusina finally dives back into the sea (and an uncertain fate), but not before she has told Jess of the merefolks' Three Wisdoms—"have patience, move with the rhythm of life around you, and know that all things touch all others"—which helps the land girl to live with her deafness. Melusina also leaves behind a crystal mermaid's tear—a typically precious Yolen image, to which Rader's breathless, mannered drawings are attuned.