Short but powerful. I'm not sure I could have taken this in a longer format. It was so difficult to imagine being in this situation. I felt it was uplifting in the end. Grateful to have found this on a reading list of authors of color. ( )

The first story I've read with a Black mermaid. I could stare at this cover for hours! Normally I'm not one for people on covers because I like to imagine the characters as they're created in my mind by the author's words as opposed to the artist's eye/vision. But, in this case for instance, the smile on little Eja-keke's face allowed me to immerse even further in the story because I could really see her all-knowing look in various scenes when Aduke wasn't sure what Eja-keke was up to.

4 stars
(And I'll be looking for Elliott's 20-some other books. How am I just now hearing about her?!) ( )