Third Grade Mermaid and the Narwhals, written by Peter Raymundo, reviewed by Katy Golden

Summary: When outspoken mermaid Cora’s fictional narwhal story gets her an entry into the Ocean Writes contest, she is prompted to write about her “greatest adventure ever.” She struggles to decide on an idea until glamorous, self-obsessed Vivian Shimmermore insists that narwhals don’t actually exist. Cora and her friends embark on an adventure across the ocean to prove Vivian wrong and witness the narwhal migration firsthand. After stopping to get directions from giant jellyfish, being kidnapped by sea-pigs, and taking some wrong turns, Cora and her pals - and Vivian Shimmermore - finally reach the sea-caves and the narwhals.

Straight Talk for Librarians: This second installment in the series is a marked improvement on the first, and fantasy fans looking for illustrated early chapter books will love Cora and her eclectic group of sea-creature friends. Blue and black illustrations depict Cora as a pudgy, expressive mermaid, and the other characters - particularly the earless, eyeless, fingerless sea cucumber, Larry - are comical and well-drawn. Cora’s journey outside of her comfort zone and into self-empowerment is inspiring to follow, and the lessons she learns along the way - about brainstorming, the difficulties of putting your experiences on paper, and animal migration - could make for a great companion to either a writing or science lesson.