Sea change

Turtle, fifteen, is a Mer; she has both lungs and gills from a not-quite-legal "gen-mod" experiment. Gen-modding to cure disease is par for the course in this near-future world, but "boutique" and "transhuman" mods are sometimes illegal and generally looked down upon. The Mer are outsiders in the coastal Texas community of Spoonbill Island (though their difference is useful given increasing flooding due to climate change) and live separately on a refurbished cruise ship. But Turtle, whose biological parents evaded orders at first to hand her over to authorities when she was a child, is drawn to the Normal world -- especially after she meets a Normal hottie and learns that her sister still lives on the island. When doctors offer a chance to "reset" to a gill-less life, Turtle makes the Change. With it brings a chance at reconnection with family -- including perhaps her father, rumored to have returned after his escape from jail -- and a potential boyfriend (or two), as well as the challenges of ostracism from the Mer; letdowns in love; and the ethical considerations of genetic modification. Turtle has a strong, self-aware voice as she navigates her new normal. The romantic elements are as compelling as the philosophical and scientific questions throughout the text, and Turtle's efforts to slow down and observe the world make for moments of beautiful prose. An author's note shares the fairy-tale and scientific inspirations for the story and provides recommendations for further reading. Monica de los ReyesJuly/August 2025 p.95 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

What happens when well-intentioned parents genetically modify their children? On Spoonbill Island, Texas, which is flooding due to climate change, 15-year-old Turtle lives with her pod of Mer on the shipMermaid. Mer children were an experiment in genetic modification; the aim was to give them more lung capacity but instead they were born with gills as well as lungs. Shunned by Normals, the 97 Mer children were taken by the government and brought up together on theMermaid. When the chance arises to have an operation to remove their gills, Turtle takes it, in part because she's in love with a Normal boy, Kai, whom she saved from drowning while they were scavenging items from houses that are now underwater. She also dreams of being with her family--and maybe even traveling the world someday. In this riff on "The Little Mermaid," Turtle, who reads white, moves in with her pregnant sister, Grace, and brother-in-law, Rav Mehta. But life without the Mer is lonely and confusing, especially when she begins to doubt Kai's commitment. Meanwhile, dangerous anti-Mer agitation is on the rise; Turtle, who knows both worlds, could help. Focusing on tribalism, othering, and the moral ambiguities of genetic modification, this disturbing, even-handed, and skillfully executed story presents a grim view of human carelessness when it comes to both the environment and biology. Engrossing, disturbing, and thoughtfully written. (author's note)(Science fiction. 12-16) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.