Aquamarine

Rating:
Summary: A gem of a little book
Review: A book about two best friends about to be separated by miles and time is a definite catch for me to read. And it's an unforgettable read. When the two girls discovered a mermaid at the bottom of a pool, the girls (Claire and Hailey) did everything they could to help Aquamarine meet her true love, a boy named Ray.

It is a whimiscal & delightful read. It's a wonderful little book to add to everyone's library. Hoffman turns an old legend into modern day prose ~~ but the reader will fall in love with the characters and the siren song of the mermaid.

Rating:
Summary: Nice
Review: A sweet little coming-of-age novel (check that, NOVELETTE), is a nice read and good diversion, by the author of Oprah Book Club "Here on Earth" (though I doubt anyone reading this book will care diddly). Though a bit too short and a bit too shallow, it's sweet.

Twelve-year-old neighbors Hailey and Claire have been best buddies all their lives, but this summer is the last they will be able to hang out together. Claire will be moving to Florida, and this hangs a pall over their fun. A nearby club will also shut down at the end of summer, a place that they know and enjoy.

But what happens when a mermaid is washed ashore? Aquamarine is not your typical Little Mermaid type, being both cranky and lovelorn. Despite the fact that land-based life will destroy her, Aquamarine falls in love with a local boy (I didn't see his charm, personally). Hailey and Claire manage to smuggle her about in a wheelchair -- but how can they help her survive, if she doesn't want to go back?

It's a nice little book, with excellent descriptions of the local areas. Unfortunately, Aquamarine was the only truly interesting character, as Hailey and Claire are typical book-kids who could be lifted from any other book. Their bright spot is the separation anxiety, which is often reserved mainly for parents. But things simply happen, with little insight into the characters' thoughts.

I also found the shortness of this novel distracting -- there are a fair number of pages, but there are very few lines per page, and the omniscient voice of the narrator destroys some opportunities to initiate more character development (telling us stuff about Aquamarine's background rather than having HER tell Claire and Hailey and US).

I advise younger kids to read this book, but middle grade and older readers will find themselves severely frustrated.

Rating:
Summary: Aquamarine
Review: Alice Hoffman has transferred herself into the genre of young adult literature. Her magical tones are present in this novel as they are predominantly throughout her others.
Although her characters are twelve year old girls, the language is a bit heightened and the action takes some time to start.
The girls are getting ready for some big changes to come about at the end of the summer, the city is going to tear down the Capri Beach Club and Claire and Hailey are going to be torn apart as friends as one of them is planning on moving away. They are friends at opposite ends of the spectrum with one thing in common, they are both enamoured with Raymond, the teenaged boy who runs the Capri Beach Club gift shop. Then one evening the girls are provided their last great adventure of the summer and their childhood lives, a magical creature comes out of the storm and into the old raggedy swimming pool at the beach club. It becomes the girls quest to return the creature to the sea. However, the girls run into several road blocks and are faced with one of the biggest problems in adolescence, keeping a promise that could hurt someone.

Rating:
Summary: Aquamarine -- a romantic fantasy
Review: Alice Hoffman is one of the greatest writers alive today; I adore her books because of their richness of plot and character. This book offers the promise of more, but it doesn't deliver because it is so economical with its text.

This is a fine romantic short story, washing over the reader with beautiful language, but I don't think many children will choose it on their own.

Rating:
Summary: Aquamarine
Review: Alice Hoffman, the talented adult storyteller, whose novels combine magic with drab everyday life, makes a disappointing crossover into children's literature. Her vivid characters, her enchanting stories would seemingly make her an ideal writer of childrens' literature. However, Aquamarine, is not characteristic of her eloquent adult novels.
The problem lies with the author's failure to adequately develop the plot or her characters. The book centers around two girls who spend their last summer together before one will move away with her grandparents. They visit the dilapidated beach club they grew up going to each and every year which will close at the end of the summer. There they meet a mermaid who is living in the pool after she was transported there during a storm.
The plot of the story is weak and unbelievable and though most of Hoffman' novels have supernatural plots, her writing and her strong characters make them work. The author fails to generate enough feeling for these characters. There is not enough character development and the reader therefore does not care what happens to them.
One thing Hoffman does manage to do is create an excellent setting for this otherwise weak story. She vividly describes the beach club which "every day was hotter and hotter until the asphalt in the parking lot began to bubble." Her vibrant imagery creates the perfect atmosphere for one of her enchanting stories, only this she fails to deliver. It is suitable for readers ages 10-12.

Rating:
Summary: Her adult fiction is better
Review: Alice Hoffman, the talented adult storyteller, whose novels combine magic with drab everyday life, makes a disappointing crossover into children's literature. Her vivid characters, her enchanting stories would seemingly make her an ideal writer of childrens' literature. However, Aquamarine, is not characteristic of her eloquent adult novels.
The problem lies with the author's failure to adequately develop the plot or her characters. The book centers around two girls who spend their last summer together before one will move away with her grandparents. They visit the dilapidated beach club they grew up going to each and every year which will close at the end of the summer. There they meet a mermaid who is living in the pool after she was transported there during a storm.
The plot of the story is weak and unbelievable and though most of Hoffman' novels have supernatural plots, her writing and her strong characters make them work. The author fails to generate enough feeling for these characters. There is not enough character development and the reader therefore does not care what happens to them.
One thing Hoffman does manage to do is create an excellent setting for this otherwise weak story. She vividly describes the beach club which "every day was hotter and hotter until the asphalt in the parking lot began to bubble." Her vibrant imagery creates the perfect atmosphere for one of her enchanting stories, only this she fails to deliver. It is suitable for readers ages 10-12.

Rating:
Summary: Aquamarine
Review: Am I the only reader who was disappointed in this title? As a long-time fan of Hoffman, I was expecting something lyrical and original; I found Aquamarine rather pedestrian. I am a YA librarian and I doubt my students will be enthusiastic about Hoffman's first venture into this market.

Rating:
Summary: An Original Take on Friendship
Review: Aquamarine by Alice Hoffman is an enchanting tale written for children between the ages of nine to twelve. After reading the story I think that it is best suited for the lower end of that range as it maybe boring for the older twelve year old.
Claire and Hailey are best friends who have always lived next to each other. They are especially close this summer because it is their last together, Claire is moving to Florida. Their favorite spot, the Capri Beach Club, is also closing at the end of the summer.
One afternoon following a terrible summer storm the girls discover Aquamarine, a mermaid, living in the bottom of the Capri's pool. She has fallen in love with the snack bar attendant and refuses to leave until she can meet him. The girls go to great lengths to arrange this and in the end realize that Aquamarine would rather have known Danny for one night and be separated then never to have known him at all. This parallels with the pain they are experiencing in their fears of separation. The girls realize that true friendship like true love is never lost.
Alice Hoffman is known for weaving fantasy with reality and I thought this was a well written, charming story that most young girls can identify with and will enjoy reading.

Rating:
Summary: Aquamarine
Review: Aquamarine is a very good book. It makes the reader want more. This book is very short. It is about these two best friends Hailey and Claire. They are both twelve years old and lived next door as long as they remember. They went to this club which was called the Capri Beach Club. That would be the last summer there because Claire would soon be moving to Florida.

The club would be torn down to so that was their last time there. One day there was a storm and the club was a mess. There was seaweed and jellyfish in the pool the pool was also fogy. Hailey saw something in the deep water she couldn't see it clearly. Then she saw a tail, and she saw a mermaid. When Aquamarine surfaced Her voice was a cool and fresh as bubbles rising from the ocean. Her hair was pail and silvery and her nails were shimmering blue and she had webbing in between each finger like webbing that u would find on a duck. Aquamarine has a crush on Raymond the guy those woks at the snack bar. The girls found that any mermaid out of the sea for seven days she would die and turn in to dust. She that she wouldn't go until she got to meet Raymond. So one day the girls had a plan. Claire had a wheel chair and Hailey had old clothes that might fit Aquamarine. They took Aquamarine to dinner with Raymond. The next day they had a party for the club because they were going to tare it down the next day. Aquamarine was getting pail and dusty so they had to take her back into the ocean or poof she would be gone forever. They let her go and they were very sad because they don't know when they will see her again. Then Claire would be moving to and they wouldn't be able to see each other for a while.

Rating:
Summary: Aquamarine
Review: Aquamarine is a very good book.It makes the reader want more. It is a very short book. It is about these two best friends Hailey and Claire. They are both twelve years old and lived next door as long as they rember. They went to this club which was called the Capri Beach Club. That would be the last summer there because Claire would soon be moving to Florida.

The club would be torn down to so that was their last time there. One day there was a storm and the club was a mess. There was seaweed and jellyfish in the pool the pool was also fogy. Hailey saw something in the deep water she couldn't see it clearly. Then she saw a tail, and she saw a mermaid. When Aquamarine surfaced Her voice was a cool and fresh as bubbles rising from the ocean. Her hair was pail and silvery and her nails were shimmering blue and she had webbing in between each finger like webbing that u would find on a duck. Aquamarine has a crush on Raymond the guy those woks at the snack bar. The girls found that any mermaid out of the sea for seven days she would die and turn in to dust. She that she wouldn't go until she got to meet Raymond. So one day the girls had a plan. Claire had a wheel chair and Hailey had old clothes that might fit Aquamarine. They took Aquamarine to dinner with Raymond. The next day they had a party for the club because they were going to tare it down the next day. Aquamarine was getting pail and dusty so they had to take her back into the ocean or poof she would be gone forever. They let her go and they were very sad because they don't know when they will see her again. Then Claire would be moving to and they wouldn't be able to see each other for a while.