The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea

by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Kate Rudd (Read by)

Overview

In a world divided by colonialism and threaded with magic, a desperate orphan turned pirate and a rebellious imperial lady find a connection on the high seas.

Aboard the pirate ship Dove, Flora the girl takes on the identity of Florian the man to earn the respect and protection of the crew. For Flora, former starving urchin, the brutal life of a pirate is about survival: don’t trust, don’t stick out, and don’t feel. But on this voyage, Flora is drawn to the Lady Evelyn Hasegawa, who is headed to an arranged marriage she dreads. Flora doesn’t expect to be taken under Evelyn’s wing, and Evelyn doesn’t expect to find such a deep bond with the pirate Florian. Neither expects to fall in love.

Soon the unlikely pair set in motion a wild escape that will free a captured mermaid (coveted for her blood) and involve the mysterious Pirate Supreme, an opportunistic witch, double agents, and the all-encompassing Sea herself.

Deftly entwining swashbuckling action and quiet magic, Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s inventive debut novel conjures a diverse cast of characters seeking mastery over their fates while searching for answers to big questions about identity, power, and love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781799731177
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	05/05/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 6.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Maggie Tokuda-Hall has an MFA in creative writing from the University of San Francisco and a strong cake-decorating game. She is the author of the Parents’ Choice Gold Award–winning picture book Also an Octopus, illustrated by Benji Davies. The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is her debut novel, which she started when working as a children’s bookseller. Maggie Tokuda-Hall lives in Oakland, California, with her son, husband, and dog. Her dog is objectively perfect; thank you for asking.

Read an Excerpt

PROLOGUE
 
Long after the sun had set, when the passengers were nestled neatly in their cabins, the crew gathered on the deck of the Dove. ­They’d been at sea for a fortnight, playing the role of any passenger vessel crew — all “yes, sirs” and “no, miladys”— seeing to the needs of the stiff-legged landsmen with exaggerated obsequiousness. But no more.
Rake stood at the helm, just below the Nameless Captain, as was his place. ­ e ragged crew below them were the captain’s men, chosen for their savagery, their drunkenness, and their predilection for thievery and murder. But it was Rake they answered to at sea.
“It’s time,” Rake said, and the men scattered belowdecks.
Sleep-fogged passengers were pulled roughly from their bunks and dragged, questioning and sputtering, to the foredeck. ­The captain scoffed; even their nightwear was finery, silks with careful stitching.
As was ritual, the strongest man was pulled from the ranks of the passengers and forced to his knees. On this particular voyage, he was a spice merchant named Mr. Lam, headed to the Floating Islands without his wife and his children to see about the famous marketplace there. He could be no more than twenty-five.
“Come on, then, Florian,” Rake said. “Time to earn your britches.”
It had been Rake’s idea: ­The name change. The men’s clothes. Being a slip of a girl may have been tenable in Crandon, but it wasn’t here on the Dove. Not among these men. In taking this man’s life, Flora could start a new one. Her life as Florian. ­
The cost was simple. Rake slipped Florian a dagger.
“Show them,” Rake whispered. Not just the passengers, as was Florian’s official charge, but the other sailors aboard the Dove. They needed to see who this child was, the man this girl had become. Rake could tell from the solemn nod Florian gave that he understood Rake’s words exactly. ­
The child stepped forward, and though he was small-boned and skinny from strict rations, the passengers fell silent. ­The long, silver dagger in Florian’s hand shone like the moon in an otherwise black night. ­
The Nameless Captain cleared his throat, all theater and cruelty. “It gives me no great pleasure to announce to you fi ne people that the Dove is no passenger vessel. She is a slaver. And all of you aboard are now her chattel.”
Sobs and cries of dissent rippled through the passengers. One foolish old man even cursed at the captain. A blow from Rake across the man’s chin crumpled his aged and spindly legs for him, and he hit the deck with a crash of bone on wood. ­The scuffle only caused more shouting and wailing until the captain raised his pistol into the air and fired once.
Silence returned, save for the sound of the sea lapping against the Dove.
“If any of you are thinking of mutiny, I can promise you”— he motioned to Florian, who slipped behind the trembling Mr. Lam, dagger poised —“we don’t take kindly to mutineers.” ­
Though the man begged for clemency at a whisper, Florian dragged the dagger across his throat. Lam’s blood spilled down the front of his nightshirt, and his thick, muscled body fell to the deck. Two of the crewmen hauled the dying man up by the armpits and held him for passengers to witness how the last shudders of life left him. Florian wiped the blood from the blade on his sleeve.
With the passengers now sufficiently terrified, the captain had them locked into the slave quarters, in the hold of the ship. ­ e Dove’s spacious cabins would be used henceforth by the crew, who until then had been taking turns in the hammocks strung up in the stores.
Belowdecks, the passengers wept.
Abovedeck, the crew chanted, “Florian, Florian, Florian, Florian!”
He was a captain’s man now — Rake had seen to that. As safe as he could be among his peers. ­The child had competently changed stories more than once, and swiftly, too. Rake had seen it happen. What was one more seismic shift? From child to adult. Innocent to murderer. Girl to man.
And Florian, who still had Mr. Lam’s blood on his sleeve, smiled into the darkness.

Editorial Reviews

04/13/2020

Set in a fantastical world devastated by imperialism, Tokuda-Hall’s YA debut follows a diverse array of characters as they journey across a conscious and omnipotent sea. After her family falls on hard times, 15-year-old Imperial noble Evelyn Hasegawa is shipped off to a forced marriage in the colonized Floating Islands. Aboard passenger ship the Dove, she is assigned a guard, Florian, who has worked as a crew member for the past few years, hoping to afford a new start with his brother. As Evelyn takes to Florian, teaching him to read, he struggles to keep two secrets: gender-fluid Florian is also known as Flora, and the Dove is actually a slaver that will soon turn on its passengers, imprisoning and selling Evelyn and the other Imperials. When the crew captures a mermaid to be vended for her blood, Florian vows to free both the creature and Evelyn, but their attempt to escape exposes them to other dangers, truths, and betrayals neither had imagined. Tokuda-Hall aptly explores themes of gender identity and misogyny while illustrating colonialism’s horrors, in which even children must steal from and harm each other to survive. Interstitials by the sea lend a global viewpoint that ripples through the story without disrupting the narrative. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Careful prose juxtaposes gentleness and brutality, contrasting the tender emotions between Flora/Florian and Evelyn and the violence of a pirate’s life. Set against the backdrop of colonial expansion, this nautical fantasy goes beyond mere swashbuckling to examine the impacts of imperialism and misogyny on a diverse cast of varying ethnicities, sexualities, and gender identities. Witches, mermaids, and secret operatives add layers of magic and intrigue to the queer romance at the heart of this book...Absolutely enthralling.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

This intriguing premise blooms into an enchanting, complex tale that explores politics, piracy and the magic of storytelling itself...Queer and gender nonconforming characters are everywhere, and their normalization within the world of the book is remarkable and praiseworthy. A strikingly original and accomplished debut, The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea reads like an undiscovered classic with impressively modern flair.
—BookPage (starred review)

Maggie Tokuda-Hall (Also an Octopus) has crafted a brooding, magical adventure with a healthy dose of intrigue. Her prose is delightful, by turns delicate and brutal, as her plot demands. At the heart of this tale about learning when to stand out and when to blend in, lies the importance, imparted by first mate Rake, of "know[ing] your truth, not your story."
—Shelf Awareness for Readers (starred review)

“The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea will take you on the journey of a lifetime. Maggie Tokuda-Hall has created characters I’ve never seen before, then put them in an adventure that feels more real than real life and twice as unpredictable. I wanted to live in the world of this book forever, and I can’t stop obsessing about the rich tapestry of pirates, mermaids, witches, and conniving nobles who inhabit it. The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea might just remind you of why you fell in love with adventure in the first place and change how you think about the genre forever. I envy anyone who’s getting to experience this incredible book for the first time.”
—Charlie Jane Anders, author of the Nebula Award–winning novel All the Birds in the Sky

“An utterly romantic and breathless adventure that wouldn’t let me sleep until I’d devoured every last word. It’s a journey of love, magic, and self-discovery unlike any I’ve ever read.”
—Dahlia Adler, author of Under the Lights and editor of His Hideous Heart

"Arrrrr you ready for the swashbuckling, gorgeous, action-packed world of The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea? I’ve been in love with Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s writing for a long time, and I’m thrilled that you get to fall in love with it, too. A stunning fantasy that breaks all the rules—and hearts—in the best of ways."
—Sara Farizan, author of Here to Stay and If You Could Be Mine

“The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is a beautiful confrontation of a book. Maggie Tokuda-Hall explores the cost of violence from every conceivable angle, trusting the reader to follow her intricate story and the complicated characters who inhabit it. Everything has a price, and every adventure takes its toll. The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea asks what parts of ourselves we’re willing to sacrifice, and who we’re willing to sacrifice them for.”
—Sarah Gailey, author of Magic for Liars and When We Were Magic

Not just mermaids, a witch, and the sea, Tokuda-Hall also covers pirates, double agents, and the lure of forgetting...this is a dark and creative story, laced with romance, and not for the faint of heart.
—School Library Journal

Tokuda-Hall aptly explores themes of gender identity and misogyny while illustrating colonialism’s horrors, in which even children must steal from and harm each other to survive. Interstitials by the sea lend a global viewpoint that ripples through the story without disrupting the narrative.
—Publishers Weekly

Moderate pacing and short stories peppered throughout balance out the more graphic scenes of violence and torture, which may be more appropriate for older readers. Though the romance develops quickly, readers will easily warm up to the tenacious protagonists as they grapple with identity, discover themselves, and stop at nothing short of freedom.
—Booklist

The non-Western-centric orientation is refreshing, and Tokuda-Hall’s stinging critiques of colonialism and toxic masculinity hit home. Readers willing to stick with the story will be well rewarded.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Told from the point-of-view of several characters, teachers could use this book as a springboard to talk about perspective in writing. It would also work well in a unit on fairy tales since the structure is riddled with small details and side tales that move the plot forward.
—School Library Connection

From the Publisher

04/01/2020

Gr 9 Up—Not just mermaids, a witch, and the sea, Tokuda-Hall also covers pirates, double agents, and the lure of forgetting. Evelyn, Lady Hasegawa, doesn't look forward to marriage, although the six-month sea journey to her betrothed offers her a delicious chance to be on her own. In alternating chapters, orphaned Flora, "the smallest sailor," relates why she's called Florian aboard the ship, the cruelties that Florian and the crew have perpetrated, and those they have had to endure. Florian and Evelyn strike up a friendship, and when the voyage turns especially nasty, make their escape, taking with them a mermaid who had been captured by the crew. Friendship turns to romance, and then to bitter separation, as Flora struggles with guilt over her past, Evelyn appears headed for a wedding after all, and the crew of the Dove faces their full share of retribution. This well-told tale has violence throughout: a slashed throat, a chopped finger, flogging, and torture. There are also allusions to sexual violence; for example, in what happens to mermaids who are captured. Few characters are what they seem, whether a pious Imperial noblewoman or a hardhearted, seafaring henchman. VERDICT When considering for purchase, note that descriptions of whippings and torture may distress some readers; this is a dark and creative story, laced with romance, and not for the faint of heart.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

School Library Journal

Narrator Kate Rudd creates unique voices for mysterious mermaids, powerful witches, and evil pirates in this fantasy adventure. Flora, a young woman forced to make terrible decisions to survive, works as a man aboard a pirate ship that sells unwitting passengers into slavery. When she falls for Evelyn, a passenger on her way to an arranged marriage, Flora finally fights back against the pirates. Rudd imbues her narration with a creepy menace when voicing the villains and brings the courage—and doubts—of both heroines to life. Her lilting voice is rich with the magic of stories and the rhythm of the sea. This audiobook will please listeners looking for a queer love story that celebrates female power and the diversity of gender expression. L.S. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2020 - AudioFile

★ 2020-03-01
As the Nipran Empire seeks total domination of the Sea, a genderfluid pirate and young Imperial noblewoman fall in love.

Fifteen-year-old Evelyn Hasegawa faces a long sea voyage that will end in an unwanted arranged marriage, so she jumps at the chance to make a friend when she meets Florian, the sailor assigned to guard her. Florian harbors resentment toward privileged Imperials, but Evelyn’s wit and sincerity slowly melt his cynicism, though not enough for him to reveal that Florian is also Flora and that their ship, the Dove, is actually a slaver disguised as a passenger ship. Flora is determined to earn enough money to start a new life with her brother, and it is this dream that has driven her to carry out the Dove’s cruel business up until this point. But as her relationship with Evelyn deepens, Flora’s resolve starts to crumble. Careful prose juxtaposes gentleness and brutality, contrasting the tender emotions between Flora/Florian and Evelyn and the violence of a pirate’s life. Set against the backdrop of colonial expansion, this nautical fantasy goes beyond mere swashbuckling to examine the impacts of imperialism and misogyny on a diverse cast of varying ethnicities, sexualities, and gender identities. Witches, mermaids, and secret operatives add layers of magic and intrigue to the queer romance at the heart of this book. Flora is black and uses he/she/they pronouns; Evelyn’s homeland is a fantasy equivalent of Japan.

Absolutely enthralling. (map) (Fantasy. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews