When sixteen-year-old Sadelyn Hanson washes up on the shores of Windwaithe Island, her beauty and the strange marks on her wrist make superstitious locals suspect she is a mermaid. Feigning amnesia, Sade hides a far worse secret: she was sailing to her own murder trial when she was thrown overboard by the real killer, the cunning and cruel Captain Westwood.
Published: July 15th, 2015
When sixteen-year-old Sadelyn Hanson washes up on the shores of Windwaithe Island, her beauty and the strange marks on her wrist make superstitious locals suspect she is a mermaid. Feigning amnesia, Sade hides a far worse secret: she was sailing to her own murder trial when she was thrown overboard by the real killer, the cunning and cruel Captain Westwood.
Sade’s quiet effort to rebuild her life on the island is threatened when she meets an actual young merman. Unable to speak his language, Sade still longs for the warm companionship he offers, despite the locals’ dire legends about merfolk and their dark magic. But her confused feelings for the impossible boy become the least of her problems when Captain Westwood’s ship docks at Windwaithe. With nowhere to escape, Sade must trust in the one person who doesn’t fear the merfolk. A woman who had dealings with them herself—years ago.
AUTHOR's INTERVIEW
Your newest book, Shadow in the Sea is a follow-up to the mermaid novel, Forbidden Sea, published by Scholastic Press. Do you have to read Forbidden Sea first in order to enjoy Shadow in the Sea?
Shadow in the Sea is more of a companion novel rather than a true sequel to Forbidden Sea. I knew this book would be the first time visiting Windwaithe Island for many readers—so I wrote Shadow in the Sea as a stand-alone. If readers decide they like Shadow in the Sea, they can always go back and read Forbidden Sea to find out what happened before.
Why mermaids? Or should I say, mermaids and mermen—since one of the main characters in Shadow in the Sea is a handsome merprince.
I was first introduced to Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairytale, The Little Mermaid, as a child. My family had an illustrated version of the story and I used to look at the pictures in it again and again. I hated the whole lose-the-guy-and-turn-into-sea-foam-ending—so I would imagine my own mermaid stories to go along with the pictures. Ones with much better endings.
After I became a children’s librarian, I noticed that many girls who came in asked for mermaid books. We didn’t have a lot of them so the kids left looking very disappointed. I thought to myself, Someone needs to write more mermaid stories. That’s when I realized that person could be me. When I finally got around to writing my mermaid stories, I found myself revisiting some of the things I’d first imagined about mermaids back in my elementary school days.
Do you think there are real mermaids out there in the ocean somewhere?
You would be surprised how often I get asked that question. I, myself, am a complete skeptic, though, nothing would make me happier than to be proven wrong. I will say this—while doing my research for Shadow in the Sea I discovered there are a lot of people who strongly believe in mermaids—both in present day and historically. In fact, the Orkney Islands have an extensive history when it comes to mermaid sightings. (Try Googling “Deerness Mermaid” sometime and see what you find!)
What part of Shadow in the Sea did you enjoy writing most?
The Sea Prince, Araedyn, was the most complicated (and enjoyable) character to write in Shadow in the Sea. Because he speaks only merlanguage, I had to find other ways to communicate his story and personality to the main character, and the reader. As an author, I know a great many private details about my characters. Some of this information can’t be fit into the final story. In the first book, Forbidden Sea, I didn’t have time to flesh out Prince Araedyn the way I wanted to. Shadow in the Sea finally gave me a chance to bring the mysterious merprince front and center, the way I’d been dying to from the start.
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Sheila never did figure out what she wanted to be when she grew up. She graduated from college with a BFA in illustration, has worked as a children's librarian for over eighteen years, and would eventually like to be a full-time author. Why pick one career when you can have many? Sheila lives with her two pets, a goffin cockatoo and a tiny toy poodle. She was born and raised in California but has come to also love her adopted home in Utah where she currently resides.
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