Mermaid School: The Clamshell Show
Lucy Courtenay, illustrated by Sheena Dempsey
Andersen Press

We’re back at Lady Sealia Foam’s Mermaid School where Marnie Blue is now well settled in and has two special friends Pearl and Orla (her enemy when Marnie started school).

Marnie is eagerly anticipating the forthcoming Clamshell Show particularly as it was there that her famous singer aunt, Christabel got her big break.

Now both Marnie and Orla are going to audition for the leading role of Queen Maretta.

Enter new pupil Gilly, she of the amazing voice. She too has set her sights on the star part and is prepared to resort to some tricky tactics to get what she wants. She also speaks fluent octopus and has a brother at a nearby educational establishment.

When Gilly learns that Christabel Blue is Marnie’s aunt things really start to hot up, so much so that it seems as though the long awaited Clamshell Show might not even take place at all.

Then who is the mysterious Arthur that Christabel is writing to when Marnie visits her recording studio?

There are plenty of twists and turns to keep young readers immersed in the undersea world of Mermaid Lagoon to the very last page of this second exciting adventure. Added to the fun are Sheena Dempsey’s drawings that bubble up on every spread.