The Tail of Emily Windsnap

“It reminded me of the time we went to World of Water at summer day camp. We were in a tunnel under the water with sea life all around us. It felt as if we were really in the sea. Only now I really was! I could reach out and touch the weeds floating up through the water like upside-down beaded curtains. I could race along with the fat gray fish that were grouped in gangs, weaving around each other and me as though they were dancing.”

These lines come shortly after Emily discovers her mermaid nature and show how easily she adapts to a new part of herself, as well as how being a mermaid is intuitive for her. Though she’s never swum before, Emily takes to the water effortlessly, shown by how she races with the gray fish.

“‘Wipe their memories?’

‘Usually, yes. It’s our best defense. Not everyone knows how to do it. Mainly just sirens and those close to the king. We just use it to stop them from stealing all our fish, or finding out about our world.’ She leaned in closer. ‘Sometimes, they fall in love.’

‘The mermaids and the fishermen?’

Shona nodded excitedly. ‘There’re loads of stories about it. It’s totally illegal—but so romantic, isn’t it?’”

This conversation between Emily and Shona happens upon their first meeting. This passage foreshadows the truth about Emily’s parents, as well as how Emily will fight to reunite her family and win her dad’s freedom so he can be with her mom again. This is part of a larger discussion in which Kessler explains how merfolk culture works in the world of the novel.

“I tried to imagine what it was like inside. Just Mr. Beeston, all by himself, rattling around in a big empty lighthouse. Footsteps echoing with emptiness whenever he climbed up and down the stone spiral stairs. Sitting alone, looking out at the sea. Watching the light. What kind of a life was that? What kind of a person could live that life? And why hadn’t the light come back on?”

Away from the excitement of learning about merfolk culture and civilization, Emily’s fears of her mermaid nature being discovered resurface. Emily’s questions foreshadow the revelation that Mr. Beeston is a half merman who is spying on Emily’s family for Neptune. Emily ends the quotation asking what kind of person could live like Mr. Beeston does, which shows she questions the story he’s told her about his background and life.

“‘Where’s all this stuff from?’

‘Things fall into the sea—or get thrown away. We make use of it,’ she said as she pulled herself onto one of the bikes. She perched sideways on it, letting herself sway backward and forward as the spring swung to and fro.”

Prior to this exchange between Emily and Shona, the girls have been playing in a playground made of human objects that have sunk to the bottom of the sea. Rather than being inconvenienced or endangered by these objects, the merfolk use them, showing the potential for waste products to be reused and recycled. Shona’s comfort among the human objects again hints at how she does not disapprove of humans, as well as how much time she’s spent around sunken items.

“Not a huge amount is known for sure about the wreck of the The Voyager, but what we do know is that a group of mermaids who called themselves the Siren Sisters were responsible for its great sinking. Through skillful manipulation and careful luring, they managed to distract the entire crew for long enough to bring the great ship down.”

This passage is part of the lecture in Shona’s history class. This is the first mention of The Voyager, foreshadowing both how Emily and Shona find the ship and its significance to Emily’s family history. These lines also reveal more about how the merfolk world is different from human society. For humans, the sinking of a ship is seen as a great tragedy because both lives and a carefully crafted vessel are lost. To the merfolk, the sinking of The Voyager is described as a great success.

“A few mergirls and boys sat on mushroom-shaped spongy seats in front of long pieces of scratchy paper that hung from the ceiling. They wound the paper up or down, silently moving their heads from side to side as they examined the sheets.

‘What are they doing?’ I whispered.

Shona gaped at me. ‘Reading! What do you think they’re doing?’

I shrugged. ‘Where are the books?’

‘It’s easier to find stuff on scrolls.’”

Shona and Emily have returned from their first visit to The Voyager. Emily recognized the ship from her mom’s dream, and the girls go to the school to do research, showing a similarity between merfolk and human societies. While both cultures keep records, the way the merfolk children read shows how the cultures access that information differently. Instead of books, the merfolk keep knowledge on scrolls, which they can then unroll and hook in place, so the natural ebb and flow of the sea doesn’t take them away.

“‘He did a very good impression of love, for a while. He certainly didn’t want to fool around with cars anymore.’

‘I thought you said he liked bikes.’

‘Cars, bikes—whatever.’”

Emily gathers the courage to ask Mr. Beeston about her dad, and Mr. Beeston’s lies are meant to discourage Emily from continuing to seek information. Mr. Beeston’s story aligns with how he later describes his own father and his abandonment of Mr. Beeston because of his merman nature. Mr. Beeston’s inability to keep details straight hints that he’s lying, but he covers it up well with his dismissive anger. This shows he is practiced at fooling people and foreshadows the truth of his association with Neptune.

“Shona’s eyes had that wide shiny look they always did when she talked about Neptune.

‘Some merfolk say he can turn you to stone with his trident. His palace is filled with stone animals. I heard that they were all animals who had disobeyed him at one time. And he can make ships disappear, just by waving it at them—or produce a feast for a hundred merpeople, or create volcanoes out of thin air.’”

Shona explains merfolk culture to Emily, focusing on Neptune, and the way she gushes about the king, even though he often does terrible things, shows the level of control Neptune has over his people. Shona is awed by what Neptune’s power and doesn’t acknowledge that many of the things she describes illustrate how Neptune has harmed other creatures. Amid these descriptions, he sometimes does good things for his people, but Shona mentions those things more as offhanded comments, showing Neptune is most known for exacting punishments. This quotation speaks directly to The Relationship Between Identity and Power and how Neptune’s identity gives him unchecked power, which he uses to harm others and remove their autonomy.

“‘Jake is my father,’ I said out loud. Of course he was.

I’d known it in my heart from the first time I’d heard his name. It just took seeing it in writing to convince my brain.”

Emily has found the files about her family hidden in The Voyager, which offer proof that Jake is her father, and that Mr. Beeston is spying on her family. By seeing the proof of her family in writing, Emily’s beliefs become facts, and she can accept the truth because it is now both in her heart and head.

“‘We’re mermaids! We can swim for miles, no problem!’

‘Maybe I can, but it’s definitely too far for you. You’re only half mermaid, remember?’

‘So you’re saying I’m not as good as you?’”

This exchange between Emily and Shona comes after the girls learn Emily’s dad is being held in the merfolk prison. Emily is determined to free him, and her determination causes her to severely overestimate her abilities, later shown when she and Shona can’t make the swim to the prison.

“‘Where are we?’ she whispered.

‘Just by the coast. I just thought it’d be nice to go out for—’

‘What is this place?’

I hadn’t actually thought about what I’d say once we got here! What would she do if she knew—not just about Jake but about me, too? What if she only half remembered? She might think we were both freaks. Maybe she’d be ashamed of us.”

Emily takes her mom to the shore near Rainbow Rocks, hoping that doing so will trigger her mom’s memories of the merfolk world and Emily’s dad. Shona said that the merfolk memory-wiping drugs only worked if humans didn’t come too close to merfolk territory, and this excerpt shows the drugs starting to wear off, proving Shona correct.

“I’d get into the prison and we’d escape. Hiding him in the boat, we’d cruise back to the pier before anyone even realized he was gone. Then Mom would come home from the meeting. Dad would be waiting in the sea at the end of the pier, and I’d ask Mom to come for a walk with me. Then I’d leave her there on her own for a minute, and he would appear. They’d see each other, and it would be like they’d never been apart. Mom would remember everything, and we’d all live happily ever after. Excellent plan.

Excellent daydream, anyhow. A ‘plan’ was something I didn’t exactly have.”

This excerpt comes shortly after Emily steals the family boat to pilot it to the merfolk prison. Her daydream about what would happen when she brings her dad home shows Emily’s hopeful side, as well as the strength of fairy tales. Emily wants to believe everything can work out like in a storybook, but deep down, she realizes this may not be the case. The last line of this quotation grounds the excerpt back in reality; while Emily knows her daydream is pleasant, she also knows the odds of it coming to pass are slim. Acknowledging this shows she is scared, but continuing on reveals her bravery and determination.

“‘I can’t bear it,’ she said. ‘I can remember everything now. How could I have forgotten him? He was taken away because he loved me, and I forgot all about him. How can I ever forgive myself?’”

Emily’s mom remembers the details of her past, including the merfolk world and Emily’s dad, speaking to the theme The Resilient Nature of Love and Identity. When she learns she was forced to forget Emily’s dad, her guilt becomes anger, which she uses to fight Mr. Beeston and, by extension, Neptune for how they’ve forced their will on her.

“‘You stole my life from me,’ she said, anger creeping into her voice. ‘You’re nothing but a thief! A nasty, rotten, scheming THIEF!’

‘Hey now, hold on a minute!’ Mr. Beeston stood up. ‘I’ve been good to you. I’ve looked after you.’”

This quotation shows the changes in Emily’s mom as she realizes the truth. Her reaction here is completely different from her previous one, showing how her guilt has transformed into anger and how the truth alters feelings. The difference between her perspective and Mr. Beeston’s illustrates how they are on different sides of the conflict. Emily’s mom rages at Mr. Beeston because he stole her memories and the chance at years with Emily’s dad. Mr. Beeston’s loyalty to Neptune and his belief that humans and merfolk can’t be together keeps him from understanding this perspective.

“Mom has never been religious, and she’s always said it’s up to me to make my mind up when I was ready. I never was before. Until then.

Without even wondering what to say, I put my hands together, closed my eyes, and prayed.”

Emily and her mom are aboard their boat home near the merfolk prison. A huge wave crests over the deck, and this is Emily’s reaction to the realization the boat might capsize. While she can survive underwater for long periods of time, her mother cannot. Further, Emily’s mom has never forced Emily to choose a particular religious affiliation, and this is a message to young readers that they should have the agency to choose their relationship with religion when they are ready—not because someone does it for them.

“‘Throw me a rope. I’ll see if I can tow you.’

‘But the boat must weigh a ton!’

‘Not in water it doesn’t, so long as I can get some momentum going with my tail. We do it in P.E. all the time.’”

This exchange between Shona and Emily shows their friendship and how they have learned to work together to solve problems. Towing the boat also shows more similarities between human and merfolk culture. Like humans, merfolk have physical education classes in school, but while human physical education classes typically focus on group sports that don’t necessarily have significance to all students, merfolk physical education offers useful skills for the species, such as towing ships—a key part in sending the ships away from merfolk territory.

“Sharp, spiky rocks were piled all the way up to the surface and higher, with soft, rubbery bushes buried in every crevice in the brightest purples and yellows and greens you’ve ever seen. A moving bush like a silver Christmas tree flapped toward us. Two spotted shrimp dragged a starfish along the seabed. All around us, fish and plants bustled and rustled about.”

Emily reaches the great reef wall that surrounds the merfolk prison. Though the wall is an obstacle in her mission to find her father, Emily can’t help but admire the reef’s beauty, showing how she appreciates the merfolk world even if it’s caused her suffering. The plants and animals Emily describes add to Kessler’s worldbuilding by making the merfolk world and the ocean feel more realistic. This aspect of Kessler’s writing highlights the importance of adding details that immerse the reader in the story.

“In front of me was a long tunnel attached to the main cave. It reminded me of those service stations on the highway—the kind on the median that join the two sides together. Apart from the fact that this was made of rock, that is, and it didn’t appear to have any windows, and was about fifty feet under the sea.”

This excerpt comes as Emily fights her way through the reef and into the prison where her dad is held, and it shows how Emily compares unfamiliar merfolk concepts to familiar human ones to understand her world. Emily has no frame of reference for the tunnel she describes here, so instead of trying to do so in merfolk terms, she uses the best human comparison she can think of. By doing so, Kessler bridges the gap between the human and merfolk worlds for the reader, giving them concrete examples of how to consider made-up ideas.

“‘My Penny.’ He smiled.

‘Penny?’

‘My lucky penny. That’s what I always called her. Guess it wasn’t too accurate in the end.’ Then he smiled. ‘But she hasn’t forgotten me?’

‘Um…’ How was I supposed to answer that!”

This exchange is between Emily and Jake, her father, after she finds him in the merfolk prison. It shows Emily’s conflicted emotions as she processes the situation—she has been kept from the truth her entire life, and now she has to come to terms with her new reality.

“He leaned forward to talk to the clerk, gesturing toward me. The clerk looked up at me too, then picked up one of her reeds. Poking the squid with the reed, she wrote something down in black ink. The squid shuffled grumpily on the edge of the desk and refolded its tentacles.”

As Emily enters the courtroom, she witnesses merfolk and other sea creatures going about their business. Even though this court is underwater, Emily notices similarities to human behavior, again showing the parallel between the two worlds. Here, the court clerk takes notes by poking a squid and then using its ink to write things down. This shows the ingenuity of the merfolk but also implies that the merfolk see themselves as better than other sea creatures. The squid does not appear to have a choice in being an inkwell, and the creature is visibly annoyed at being poked.

“‘Um, sir, Mr.—’

‘Do I LOOK like a sir? A Mr.? Do I?’

I flicked my tail a little, propelling myself higher than my three feet eight inches (presuming my tail was as long as my legs—I had never checked), and looked nervously around at the courtroom. ‘Your Majesty,’ I corrected myself. ‘I know this might sound weird, but, well, it’s actually kind of nice to be here.’”

The nervous way Emily begins the interaction shows she is fearful of the king and worried about her fate. Neptune’s response to being called sir or mister reveals his temper, which aligns with what Emily has heard about him. Where those descriptions made Emily afraid of Neptune before, faced with him now, she also realizes that there is no room for fear. Instead, she finally understands that she must be true to who she is and what she wants, supporting the theme Having Pride in One’s Identity.

“Neptune scanned the court. ‘And perhaps you can all tell your kinfolk that your king is not only a firm ruler, but also a just and compassionate one.’ His eyes landed on me. ‘One who will no longer punish folk merely for loving.’”

Neptune’s choice not to punish merfolk for their romantic choices anymore is a message to young readers not to be ashamed about whom they love because there is no right or wrong way for relationships to look. This quotation also supports how Neptune has used his power and influence to construct how his people view him. By asking those present to pass along that he is a firm and just ruler, Neptune continues to wield his power even over how others perceive him, speaking to The Relationship Between Identity and Power.

“I laughed. ‘Hey, guess what, Mandy? I’m not scared of you—and I don’t care what you call me. You can’t stop me being who I am.’”

Emily no longer lets how others view her dictate how she feels about herself, and she no longer feels the need to hide who she is, speaking to the theme Having Pride in One’s Identity. With her new sense of belonging among the half-merfolk, Emily feels empowered and free to be herself.