Miri Attwater and All That Glitters by E.S. Ivy- A Review

Several months ago, I wrote a review for the first book in the Miri Attwater series: Miri Attwater and The Ocean's Secret by E.S. Ivy. Well, I am excited to bring to you the second book in the series: Miri Attwater and All That Glitters.

Age Level: 8 and up / Grade Level: 3 and up / Series: Miri Attwater, Mermaid Princess Adventures

(If you haven't read the first book, stop reading because there will be spoilers. Check out my review of the first book.)

The story begins as Miri continues to adjust to life under the sea. While the rest of her friends are at summer camps up on land, she is spending the summer in Kai Kaona, an underwater mermaid world. The adjustment for Miri, as you might imagine for anyone who just found out she is a mermaid after living her entire life thinking she just had a strong affinity for salty foods, has been strained. Her birth mother, who she is visiting this summer and just so happens to be a Queen, shows little to no interest in developing a relationship with Miri. She also has to attend Huikela classes, which is like synchronized swimming for mermaids. Learning to dance in unison with other mermaids who have known about their fins their whole lives is hard enough, but she soon finds that friendships with girls deep in the see can be as cliquey and petty as those up on land. Luckily, she finds some true friends along the way to help her swim through these troubles. She has Fisk Gillespie, a mer-boy, who is a true friend to her. And, she also makes friend with a servant girl named Giselle. Together the three of them embark on adventure and fun as they try to find out who stole the crown that was to be used in the coronation and replaced it with a fake.

The second book in this series, I felt, was a much quicker read. However, I think it was partly because the masterfully laid out mystery in the book had us quickly turning pages wanting to find out just who stole the crown. Just as in the first book, E. S. Ivy uses her scientific background to weave real science seamlessly into the storyline. This is an especially attractive feature of this book because the storyline of a girl finding out she is a mermaid princess will draw any young girl in, and the science in the story will reassure her that science is fun.

One of our favorite parts of the book is when Miri thinks she is seriously ill because her skin starts turning green. Her friend Fisk assures her it is just algae growing up her skin and takes her to where all the fish get the algae removed from the surface of their bodies. This part will have you giggling, just as Miri was giggling in the book. It had us wondering if fish really do need help to keep them from growing algae on their scales? This started a discussion with my daughter about the ecosystem that lives deep beneath the ocean. I would love to see companion books to go with this series, much like the Magic Treehouse series, that explains the science principles that inspired these books.

We are looking forward to the next book in the series. These books offer a welcome respite from typical princess stories that focus on the girl finding her prince. They are funny and engaging without having to include violence or love story lines. This makes them the perfect books to share with my daughter knowing that the age appropriate stories with resonate with her completely.

Check out more about Miri Attwater at E.S. Ivy's blog: Miri Attwater's World.

I received my an advanced copy of book two as a newsletter subscriber. You can be the first to find out what will happen next for Miri by subscribing to the newsletter at http://www.miriattwater.com/. 

 Miri Attwater, a children's fantasy science series - Mermaids aren't real, are they?

E.S. Ivy's Author Blog
Miri Attwater's World -series website and blog