Louisiana, in particular, has always been subject to severe weather and environmental damage. Natural disasters are unavoidable, but human-caused disasters may be more easily averted if we learn from the past. You, dear reader, and your generation will have the ongoing challenge of balancing the use of natural resources with safety for humans, animals, and the planet.
For me, the legend of Mami Wata was a perfect counterpoint to the oil spill. Mami Wata, “Mother Water,” was the name given to African water spirits in the pidgin English used by slave traders. There are countless folktale variations regarding the spiritual powers and gifts of half-fish, half-human Mami Wata.
Mermaid legends abound throughout all cultures. For me, this tale spoke of such love, loyalty, and community. Symbolically, too, it affirmed the cultural contributions, present and future, that Africans would make to American culture.
In a time of need—to save the Bon Temps community and its environment—Maddy calls upon the grace of mermaids, her spiritual ancestors.
In Maddy, I poured all my love for young people who seek, each and every day, new and better ways to care for our earth.
Sincerely,
Jewell
Acknowledgments
Deep thanks to Liza Baker, executive editorial director at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Your professionalism, challenging critiques, and support always inspired me. Special thanks, too, to Allison Moore, assistant editor, who also guided and supported me and helped bring Madison Isabelle Lavalier Johnson to life.
Thank you, thank you to Mollie Connelly, my Arizona State University research assistant (and future librarian).
Love to my husband, Brad, who always encourages me. Thank you for bringing Ripley and Gurgi, our two Australian shepherds, into our lives. Ripley and Gurgi brought me joy and kept me company while I wrote. They already knew that mermaids existed.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Map
New Orleans
Over the Hill, Through the Woods
Dewberries
Grandmère
Bear
Swamp Tour
Firelight
Firefly Tales
Sayings and Signs
Fish Tails
Missing Bear, Missing Water
New Lessons
Living My Own Tale
Triumph?
Hard Lessons
No Time to Tell
Mami Wata
Practicing
Mending
Louisiana Shrimp Boat
Shrimp Party
Absence
Healing
Dreaming True
Another Dream
This Is How It Ends
My Story
A Note from the Author
Acknowledgments
Copyright
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Interior art copyright © 2015 by Neil Brigham
Cover art © 2015 by Tim O’Brien
Cover design by Tracy Shaw
Cover © 2015 Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First ebook edition: May 2015
ISBN 978-0-316-22486-4
E3