Girl at the Bottom of the Sea

by Michelle Tea, Amanda Verwey (Illustrator)

Overview

Sophie Swankowski is the hero from the stories she's been hearing all her life: she's the girl who will save the world. Or so she's been told. Now she and her unlikely guardian—the gruff, filthy mermaid Syrena—must travel the pitch-black seas from broken-down Chelsea, Massachusetts, to Syrena’s homeland in Poland. Along the way, Syrena will reveal the terrible truth about her past, and teach Sophie about the ages-old source of her newly discovered power. But left behind in Chelsea, without Sophie to protect them from the dark magic she's awakened, what will become of Sophie’s friends and family?

Girl at the Bottom of the Sea is the follow-up to Michelle Tea's beloved Mermaid in Chelsea Creek, "a refreshing breath of air in the world of YA, equal parts eerie, heartbreaking, and fantastical." (ZYZZYVA).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781940450681
Publisher:	McSweeney's Publishing
Publication date:	06/01/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Michelle Tea is the author of 4 ½ memoirs, 1 ½ novels, 2 Young Adult novels, and a collection of poetry. Her memoir Valencia is an underground classic and is currently being made into a feature film by 21 different filmmakers. She is the founder and executive director of RADAR Productions, a literary non-profit which hosts the monthly RADAR Reading Series (voted Best Literary Series by SF Bay Guardian Readers), the infamous Sister Spit Literary Performance tours, an annual poetry chapbook contest, and the Radar LAB Writers’ Retreat in Akumal, Mexico. She is a former writer of horoscopes and a current reader of tarot cards. Amanda Verwey is an illustrator based in Oakland, California by way of Racine, Wisconsin. She has self-published four original comic books and has a story featured in the Qu33r comics anthology, to be released in 2014 by Northwest Press. Her illustrations have been commissioned by the Bold Italic, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and RADAR Productions.

Editorial Reviews

"This second installment in the Chelsea Trilogy takes its 13-year-old heroine on a journey from urban blight through deep-sea magic. Sophie's adventure begins where her previous tale had ended, with her bones crushed to jelly beneath the violent, watery fist of her grandmother, the malevolent sea witch Kishka. Kept alive only by her own magic—for Sophie has inherited her grandmother's Odmience powers—Sophie is dragged into the healing depths of the ocean by her mermaid friend, Syrena. Far from the festering squalor of her home in Chelsea, Massachusetts, far from the noisy party boats kicking up a racket in Boston Harbor, Sophie begins coming into her magic at last. Together, Sophie and Syrena begin the long journey to Poland, where Sophie will have to save the world ("When I'm done with saving humanity, I am going to make my mom go on a booze cruise," Sophie promises herself)."
—Kirkus

"Tea finds an incredible balance between the gritty and brutal reality of nature/human nature and a transcendent beauty. This book shows so much love for the world and for the characters that it left me feeling ready to show more patience and kindness towards the people I love." —Tales from the Herd

Praise for Mermaid in Chelsea Creek:

"I couldn't keep still when I was reading Mermaid In Chelsea Creek. I kept standing up to pace around because I was so excited by the book and then I'd hurry back to my chair so I hadn't missed anything. The novel has everything terrific about Michelle Tea, with the grit and the wit and the girls in trouble loving each other fierce and true, and then it has all the juice of a terrific fantasy novel, with the magic and the creatures and the otherworldly sense of something lurking underneath each artifact of our ordinary lives. I can't keep still to write a blurb about it. Just read the thing, read it now." —Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket

"A radiant hybrid of piercing realism, creeping horror, and heartbreaking fantasy--but fantasy with dirt in its hair and scabs on its knees. Tea is an uncommon talent doing uncommon things and her voice tickles you, slaps you, whatever it takes to wake your ass up." —Daniel Kraus, author of Rotters

"Delicious." —San Francisco Bay Guardian

"Tea's novel is a refreshing breath of air in the world of YA, equal parts eerie, heartbreaking, and fantastical."—ZYZZYVA

"Each line carries substantive heft, emblematic of extensive research on Polish mythology, grounded by the gritty, immigrant haven that is Chelsea, Massachusetts."—SF Weekly

" The story itself braids threads of ancient myths and lore with today's world full of mixed emotions and environmental neglect. It blurs the line between fact and fiction gracefully, thereby making the impossible seem possible."—Insatiable Readers

"Mermaid in Chelsea Creek is a triumph in its own right, a stand-alone treat."—San Francisco Bay Guardian

"…the queerest young adult book I’ve ever read."—Buzzfeed

"I started reading Michelle Tea's Mermaid in Chelsea Creek on the subway this morning and was instantly hooked... can't wait to get back to it."—Emily Temple, Flavorwire Literary Editor

"If you want to read a really original book with gutsy characters, I strongly, sweary recommend you find this book…"—Sparknotes

"There’s a lot of heavy wisdom in this book, alongside the beauty and the grunge…And there’s a lot of humor too—it wouldn’t be Michelle Tea if you didn’t laugh out loud at her spot-on cultural observations, her astute sarcasm at the banalities that infiltrate our gorgeous world."—Lambda Literary

Daily Candy names Mermaid in Chelsea Creek in their "14 New Books that Save Brain Cells this Summer"

"A fun read... a classic fairy tale." —Sacramento/San Francisco Book Review

"It’s as if Chelsea is Narnia, with talking animals, mind readers, and a heroine who, instead of finding a wardrobe, makes herself pass out with her best friend, Ella."—The Boston Globe

“Lonesomely populating a chasm in books for young readers where the magic comes from the blessed gutter...” —The Globe and Mail

From the Publisher

2014-08-27
This second installment in the Chelsea Trilogy takes its 13-year-old heroine on a journey from urban blight through deep-sea magic. Sophie's adventure begins where her previous tale had ended, with her bones crushed to jelly beneath the violent, watery fist of her grandmother, the malevolent sea witch Kishka. Kept alive only by her own magic—for Sophie has inherited her grandmother's Odmience powers—Sophie is dragged into the healing depths of the ocean by her mermaid friend, Syrena. Far from the festering squalor of her home in Chelsea, Massachusetts, far from the noisy party boats kicking up a racket in Boston Harbor, Sophie begins coming into her magic at last. Together, Sophie and Syrena begin the long journey to Poland, where Sophie will have to save the world ("When I'm done with saving humanity, I am going to make my mom go on a booze cruise," Sophie promises herself). For this in-between trilogy adventure, Sophie primarily explores the richly described (if scientifically dubiously) undersea world as a warm-up for what will presumably be her epic final battle. She eats plankton and salt, wears a baby octopus in her hair and learns to control the currents. Primarily, Sophie reacts rather than acts; much of her role is to gain emotional revelations about friendship. Certainly the deep affection between Sophie and the foulmouthed, insult-flinging mermaid is apparent, if snark-filled. Much less grim than the series opener, with plenty of mermaid appeal for readers happy with lyrical but overlong musings. (Fantasy. 13-16)

Kirkus Reviews