Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Emily Windsnap and the Land of the Midnight Sun
Illustrator: Natacha Ledwidge
Fiction Series
For ages 8 to 12
Candlewick Press, 2013 ISBN: 978-0763658243
A great deal has happened to Emily Windsnap in the last year or so. She has found out that she is a semi-mer (half mermaid and half human), she has had several unpleasant encounters with King Neptune, and she has even come face to…er…tentacle with a kraken. Now Emily and the other semi-mers and mermaids no longer have to hide and life is looking wonderfully rosy. Emily also has a boyfriend, Aaron, who she is crazy about. Everything is perfect.
Of course, life being what it is, everything does not stay perfect. While they are out swimming one day, Emily and Aaron are kidnapped by some of King Neptune’s servatns, and the two semi-mers learn that King Neptune is in big trouble. He is having nightmares at night that he knows have meaning. He is convinced that they are memories and that something needs to be done to prevent something bad from happening. He wants Emily and Aaron to travel to the Land of the Midnight Sun to undo some great wrong and to thus save the world from a calamity. His instructions are more than a little vague, but the young people agree to take on the mission.
Emily and Aaron don’t have many clues to help them but they do find the right place in the Land of the Midnight Sun, the place that King Neptune saw in his dreams. They also find other places that the King of the Sea saw in his dream: a glacier that looks like a giant’s tongue and a lake surrounded by mountains. Following the few clues they were given, Emily and Aaraon find a cave full of frozen mermaids, and they manage to free the captives. Or at least most of them. There is one merman who remains mostly encased in ice, and he looks exactly like King Neptune. Soon after finding the cave, the young people learn that this merman is King Neptune’s twin brother, and it soon becomes clear that he is a decidedly unpleasant character. In fact, he is determined to cause as much chaos as he can. Somehow Emily and Aaron are going to have to figure out how to stop him before it is too late. If they don’t, the world as they know it could change forever for the worse.
This fourth Emily Windsnap title takes readers on a roller coast ride adventure. Just when you think you understand what is going on, the plot takes another twist and another surprise is revealed. Full of interesting characters and edge-of-your-seat moments, this title is sure to delight readers who have been following the adventures and misadventures of Emily, her family, and her friends.