Monday Book Review: Skipping the Scales, by Pete Tarsi

Skipping the Scales, by Pete Tarsi
(Flipping the Scales, Book 2)
Published July 2017

About the Book:

Meredith, Marina, and Hailey's wildest dreams could be coming true.

Two weeks in the ocean changed Meredith's life and career goal. Now studying marine biology, she lands a summer internship at a local aquarium. Her aquatic intuition impresses her mentor, but how would the mermaids feel about holding fish captive in the name of science?

Marina has returned ashore to seek out her missing mother. A curious and cryptic painting leads to other clues, but the search through her mother's past reveals more questions than answers. Could her parents have left the ocean harboring a deep, dark secret?

Meanwhile, Hailey keeps Marina's tail safe and lives her lifelong dream to be a real mermaid. The experience is exhilarating, until the leader of the school suspects she is a human. If she gets caught, would it leave her friend forever marooned on land?

When second-guessing, mystery, and danger threaten to sink their dreams, will they skip out? Or will they work together and swim through the rough waters ahead?

My Take:

This second book in this delightful middle grade/young YA mermaid series continues the stories of Marina, Meredith, and their friends as they navigate mysteries both above and below the ocean's surface.

Marina is an orphaned orange tail mermaid in search of answers and her long lost mother, both of which she thinks she will find on dry land. Needing someone to guard her mermaid tail, she turns to the human friends she made the previous summer and finds a willing helper in Hailey, who has always dreamed of being a mermaid. Hailey's cousin Jill, and Jill's best friend Meredith, once again get roped into the adventures that ensue. After all, Meredith was the one who got to live as a mermaid the previous summer, which led her to pursue an internship in marine biology at the local aquarium.

Now Hailey can't wait for her turn exploring the undersea world.

But nothing is ever as easy as it seems, and there are more mysteries surrounding Marina's background than any of the girls could've imagined. Twists and turns are interlaced with tidbits of marine factoids as the story thickens both above and below the surface. Chapters alternate the action between the mers and the humans until the two stories collide... But I can't get into that without spoiling the story.

Pete Tarsi weaves an interesting tale, with all the girls skirting the edges of right and wrong and realizing things are never just black or white. There's a little bit of head hopping among the minor characters that I mention only because its on my pet peeve list, but otherwise this is a delightful, lighthearted story, perfect for any mermaid fans, or really any middle grade reader despite the ages of the main characters.

Grab a copy on AMAZON.

Friday Feature: Mermaid Review! FLIPPING THE SCALES by Pete Tarsi

About the Book (from Goodreads):

Meredith and Marina’s lives have been flipped upside down.

When the translucent skirt that straight-A-student Meredith finds hidden on the beach gets wet, it transforms her legs into a mermaid tail. Despite the evidence in front of her, she insists that becoming a mythical creature isn’t scientifically possible.

Marina is allowed to experience one day per moon cycle among the humans. After hiding her tail on the beach that morning, she takes her first timid steps on land. When she returns at sunset to find it missing, she is left stranded and alone.

For the first time in her life, Meredith doesn’t have all the answers. As she searches for a way to return to normal before the next full moon, she makes waves among the school of mermaids. Meanwhile, Marina uncovers information about her past, and for the first time in her life, she must stand on her own two feet and take the lead on her own adventure.

As Meredith senses her human side slipping away, a forbidden way to change back entices her. But it comes with a consequence: Marina wouldn’t be able to return to the ocean.

MY TAKE:

Flipping the Scales is a switching places fantasy aimed at young adult readers. Although the characters are 17, the situations and language are very tame and suitable for ages 10 and up.

Meredith is a studious 17 year old, going into her senior year of high school and focused on getting into a good college. She doesn't spend a whole lot of time having fun, and packed mostly books in her suitcase for a two week summer vacation.  Her best friend Jill wants her to relax and have fun, to go with the flow at least for vacation at her cousin Hailey's house on a resort island.

Marina is also a 17 year old who is quiet and serious, with a best friend named Lorelei who tries to get her to lighten up and have fun on the same resort island. The difference is that Marina and Lorelei are mermaids, and their adventure entails transforming their tail into legs for one day during the full moon. Unfortunately, Meredith finds Marina's tail and mistakenly tries it on, transforming into a mermaid. Both are stuck impersonating the other until the next full moon when they can safely switch back.

Neither girl is familiar with the other's world, but with lots of help from their friends, this might just be the adventure of a lifetime.

It was fun to read another author's take on the mermaid world, and watch how his mermaids view the human world. Tarsi has fun with mermaid language, giving us teenage mer-slang as well as showing us there are still mean girl cliques under the sea, too.

Meredith is such a serious student that she describes things in textbook ways, or examines processes down at the scientific levels. Those parts made me chuckle as I know the author is a high school science teacher by day (mermaid author by night!)

My only critique would be the head hopping (a personal pet peeve), as the points of view are sometimes loose and interwoven. But all in all a solid debut from a new author with a fun new take on the mermaid world. I look forward to reading more books in this series, and totally recommend this for a fun, light read... and great for a beach read! 5 stars (in spite of the head hopping.)

Friday Feature: Chatting with author Pete Tarsi, about his new YA, FLIPPING THE SCALES

Today my guest is Pete Tarsi, with his debut YA novel FLIPPING THE SCALES. Yes, a mermaid book! He's an interesting guy, and I can't wait to dive into his new book (pun intended!)

Hi, Pete! Tell us a little about yourself and what kind of books you like to read and write.

Hi, Katie! Thanks for featuring me on your blog! I’m a high school science teacher by day, and the school’s drama director by night. I’m also a father of three bright, lovely, fun daughters. Somewhere in there, I find time to write—mostly Young Adult stories since I feel I’m in tune with that age group, seeing that I’ve been teaching them for 19 years now. Besides my new book Flipping the Scales, I have a short play called Tracks published through Dramatic Publishing.

As for reading, the school where I teach has a 15-minute per day silent reading period, and teachers are encouraged to participate also. I’ve read a diversity of books, sometimes taking recommendations from my students. Because of them, I read The Hunger Games series and found my all-time favorite book A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. Other favorites include Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Jane Eyre, Great Expectations, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, The Harry Potter series, Dan Brown’s latest Robert Langton book Inferno, Thirteen Reasons Why, and The Fault in Our Stars.

What's your favorite part of being an author?

I’ve been writing since middle school. Sure, my stories back then were only a few pages long and were merely premises with dialogue. I’ve always had ideas for stories, and I’ve got notebooks and computer files with lists of ideas or half-planned outlines. During my senior year of high school, I became a member of my hometown’s cable access channel and filmed some of those short stories into an anthology TV show. If only YouTube were around in the 80s!

I’ve always enjoyed creating worlds, characters, and plots. Sure, it’s fun, but it’s such a thrill being able to share stories with others. And it’s surreal when people—particularly people I don’t know—comment on how much they enjoyed the story.

 

What’s the best piece of advice someone offered you about being a writer?

A writing professor of mine in college said, “A story is never written; it’s rewritten.” I’ve really used that as my mantra ever since. Though I start writing with an outline and a clear ending in mind, I don’t know every single detail. Sometimes, the characters end up doing some unplanned things which may affect whatever I’ve already written. Also, as an author, you know what everything you wrote means, but readers might not. It’s important to have others read your drafts  and give some feedback so you know what may need to be removed, revised, and/or rewritten.

 

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

Shape-shifting. It would be kind of fun to hide in plain sight with a new appearance like that, but it would also be cool if the ability wasn’t limited to human form. Maybe I’m saying this because I just wrote a book about a girl transforming into a mermaid and vice versa. I actually enjoy reading and writing stories like that. Losing control of one’s own form is an intriguing conflict and can be used metaphorically. I like that.

Tell us about your new novel, FLIPPING THE SCALES

Here’s the blurb:

Meredith and Marina’s lives have been flipped upside down. 

When the translucent skirt that straight-A-student Meredith finds hidden on the beach gets wet, it transforms her legs into a mermaid tail. Despite the evidence in front of her, she insists that becoming a mythical creature isn’t scientifically possible. 

Marina is allowed to experience one day per moon cycle among the humans. After hiding her tail on the beach that morning, she takes her first timid steps on land. When she returns at sunset to find it missing, she is left stranded and alone. 

For the first time in her life, Meredith doesn’t have all the answers. As she searches for a way to return to normal before the next full moon, she makes waves among the school of mermaids. Meanwhile, Marina uncovers information about her past, and for the first time in her life, she must stand on her own two feet and take the lead on her own adventure. 

As Meredith senses her human side slipping away, a forbidden way to change back entices her. But it comes with a consequence: Marina wouldn’t be able to return to the ocean.

This is the first part of a planned trilogy, and the main story in part one is about these two characters discovering something about themselves. Meredith has always relied on book knowledge, so she needs to learn how to dive right in to new experiences. Meanwhile, Marina has always been somewhat of a follower, so she needs to learn to stand on her own two feet. Oooh, metaphors!

The sequel Skipping the Scales is in the works, and it’s fun writing about these characters grown up a little and pursuing their dreams but facing new conflicts and consequences.

Why mermaids?

Why not? ;-) I’ve always been interested in the folklore of mermaids. They’re one mystical creature that appears in legends all over the world. They also seem more versatile as characters than some other magical beings. They can be alluring, playful, friendly, curious, even deadly.

But most importantly, my daughters love them. I wanted my first published book to be something they’d enjoy. So far, so good.

Okay, if you’re casting the movie of your book, who would play the main characters?

This was a challenging question, Katie! My daughters want to be in it, but they’re not in the Screen Actors’ Guild yet. There are many talented young actresses that either are teens or can still convincingly play one. Ariel Winter plays a smart, over-achiever on Modern Family, and I think she’d be perfect to play Meredith. Based on her work in movies like Bridge to Terabithia and Soul Surfer, Anna Sophia Robb is no stranger to fantasy and water, and I think she’d be outstanding as Marina.

Wow, now that I thought about it, I want to see them in this movie!

Where can readers find your book and where can they find you online?

FLIPPING THE SCALES can be found at major online retailers. In paperback at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and as an eBook at both of those places along with Apple, Smashwords, Kobo, and others.

I can be found online at Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/AuthorPeteTarsi

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeteTarsi

Or at my blog: http://petetarsi.com/

Thanks for visiting with me today, Pete! You forgot to mention the book has it's own website, with excerpts and character descriptions - check it out here:

http://flippingthescales-thebook.com/

I'm grabbing a copy of your book for my Kindle right now!