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booksnorkel's review
4.0
What a wonderful tale. A mermaid child is fun and silly she likes to jump through the waves but one day she is seen, and banished.
A young girl who is hearing impaired feels like she isn't part of the hearing community or the deaf community and is ashamed to have to use sign language. One day while rowing out to her friend who is a hermit who lives near a lighthouse she sees a mermaid.
When she is washed on shore she has no idea how to walk and she can't speak. Her gills are gone and now there is this girl trying to communicate with her using sounds, under the water all they use are signs. Will the girl who has problems hearing learn to accept who she is, and help the mermaid get back home?
For anyone though 5th grade and under will appreciate it the most, or anyone learning sign, or any child who is different. Sweet and wonderful this book is worth finding.
A young girl who is hearing impaired feels like she isn't part of the hearing community or the deaf community and is ashamed to have to use sign language. One day while rowing out to her friend who is a hermit who lives near a lighthouse she sees a mermaid.
When she is washed on shore she has no idea how to walk and she can't speak. Her gills are gone and now there is this girl trying to communicate with her using sounds, under the water all they use are signs. Will the girl who has problems hearing learn to accept who she is, and help the mermaid get back home?
For anyone though 5th grade and under will appreciate it the most, or anyone learning sign, or any child who is different. Sweet and wonderful this book is worth finding.
kypo's review
5.0
We got this book from the library when I was seven. My mom read it to me after I had surgery. Years later I remembered the story but couldn’t recall the title until one day I happened across an old library copy on ebay. When my mom was 63 she had surgery and I took my turn reading it to her.
leigh_ann_15_deaf's review
4.0
Deaf reader approves.
The author is fairly true to the deaf/hard of hearing experience. I honestly wasn't expecting much out of a book published by a hearing author in 1978! I was pleasantly surprised. Yolen captures the linguistic and social anger and frustration of the deaf child, raised as hard of hearing (or hearing impaired). It's actually a bit close to my own experiences, though I never was exposed to sign language or deaf culture until adulthood.
I liked that Jess and Melusina cannot comprehend or use the central languages of each other's worlds and must create a pidgin sign language to communicate with one another. Captain A tells Jess that this makes her deafness a gain, not a loss or a burden, which is an excellent message.
Overall, a cute and meaningful story.
Link to ranked list of deaf characters in fiction: https://modcast.blog/2022/12/17/ranked-deaf-characters-in-fiction/
The author is fairly true to the deaf/hard of hearing experience. I honestly wasn't expecting much out of a book published by a hearing author in 1978! I was pleasantly surprised. Yolen captures the linguistic and social anger and frustration of the deaf child, raised as hard of hearing (or hearing impaired). It's actually a bit close to my own experiences, though I never was exposed to sign language or deaf culture until adulthood.
I liked that Jess and Melusina cannot comprehend or use the central languages of each other's worlds and must create a pidgin sign language to communicate with one another. Captain A tells Jess that this makes her deafness a gain, not a loss or a burden, which is an excellent message.
Overall, a cute and meaningful story.
Link to ranked list of deaf characters in fiction: https://modcast.blog/2022/12/17/ranked-deaf-characters-in-fiction/
ineffablebob's review
4.0
This is a short fairy-tale book about friendship between a deaf girl and a mermaid. Jess - the "landgirl" - is 12 years old and the book feels about right for readers around that age.
Don't confuse this with The Little Mermaid of Disney fame - other than the idea of a mermaid who ends up on land, the two stories have little resemblance. This one is about friendship rather than romance, and learning the lesson of remembering that your actions have consequences for more than just yourself.
I don't know any hearing-impaired people very well myself, but it certainly seems to me that The Mermaid's Three Wisdoms did a good job of making Jess' struggles come alive. She spends much of her time alone, feeling like a misfit, and angry at her mother and the world at large. Her experience with the mermaid, whose inability to speak on land puts her in a similar situation, helps Jess to be more accepting of her abilities and limitations.
If you're looking for a book for a young reader, this is a fine choice.
Don't confuse this with The Little Mermaid of Disney fame - other than the idea of a mermaid who ends up on land, the two stories have little resemblance. This one is about friendship rather than romance, and learning the lesson of remembering that your actions have consequences for more than just yourself.
I don't know any hearing-impaired people very well myself, but it certainly seems to me that The Mermaid's Three Wisdoms did a good job of making Jess' struggles come alive. She spends much of her time alone, feeling like a misfit, and angry at her mother and the world at large. Her experience with the mermaid, whose inability to speak on land puts her in a similar situation, helps Jess to be more accepting of her abilities and limitations.
If you're looking for a book for a young reader, this is a fine choice.
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