  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 03/01/2019 Eleven-year-old Anthoni Gillis (“Gills”) and her mother, Carrie, have had a clear plan, complete with action steps, for years: work diligently up the Beauty & the Bee multilevel marketing ladder to Queen Bee, whereupon they will finally visit Carrie’s childhood lakeside vacation spot, the Showboat Resort. When things don’t work out as planned, they decide to head to the resort anyway and regroup. They find the resort in a shambles and out of use, and reluctantly rent a cabin from the eccentric elderly owner, Charlotte Boulay. Just when Gills resigns herself to a summer of disappointment, she finds evidence that Charlotte may actually be the famed Boulay Mermaid from her family’s bygone vaudeville act. As Gills gets to know potential true-blue friends who are staying at the lake, she finds surprising common ground and develops a genuine bond with Charlotte, too. This impressive debut ultimately settles in realism with a refreshingly mischievous wink. An offbeat, earnest novel for those who believe in magic and those who wish they did. - Copyright 2019 Booklist. Loading...
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