The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.2005, Side 40

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 59 #4
Book Reviews
Written and Illustrated by
Thora
A Half-Mermaid Tale
By Gillian Johnson
Reviewed by Carole Mackintosh
Harper Trophy Canada,
ISBN9780006393863
Soft cover, $15.99
Mermaid - n. (in folklore) a female
marine creature having the head, torso and
arms of a woman and the tail of a fish.
Thora, a Half-Mermaid Tale written
and illustrated by Gillian Johnson is a
whimsical, fun-filled adventure story, set in
Grimli, a seaside town. A delightful pro-
logue poem sets the stage.
“If you produce a child
Half of the land and sea
It will have to live on both
In order to be free.”
How will Halla the mermaid, Thora’s
mother, fulfill this order? Will Frooty de
Mare, the local entrepreneur, be able to buy
the Allbent Cinema owned by the three
Greenberg sisters, Lottie, Dottie and
Flosssie? Will he buy the lease on the Loki,
the last remaining lease at the pier? Will his
new Tooty Frooty Hotel & Seafood
Emporium and the Mermaid Cinema (with
a surprise feature) force the Greenberg sis-
ters and their arty-farty theatre out of
town?
Johnson has created marvelous charac-
ters like Frooty de Mare, his daughter
Holly, Mrs. Honey Grubb, Mr. and Mrs.
Rukle and their children Ricky and Lynne,
Mr. Walters, the Greenberg sisters, Mr.
Mason, Cosmos the pet peacock, Halla and
Thora - good and evil. Frooty de Mare is a
ruthless schemer and overall baddie. The
Mayor’s wife, Mrs. Honey Grubb wearing
her yellow pantsuit, rubber gloves and a
surgical mask is a meanie. Mr. Rukle, the
foster parent, is a bully. Then there are the
warm and caring Greenberg sisters. They
provide milk for the non-fish eating infant
Thora, a soft gray and yellow blanket, an
ancient-looking blue bunny rabbit and a
silver rattle. Why do the Greenberg sisters
have these baby things? The sisters are a
quiet yet powerful force in the novel. Jack
Walters “sailor, swimmer, coach, poet,
journalist and cricket commentator
becomes Thora’s Guardian Angle”. Thora
is a perfectly fitting half-mermaid with
scales on her legs and purple toes rather
than a tail and a blowhole on the top of her