⇒ Download Free Holding My Breath edition by Susan Soares Children eBooks

Holding My Breath edition by Susan Soares Children eBooks

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Holding My Breath edition by Susan Soares Children eBooks

I’m a fan of mermaids, and I’m a fan of author Susan Soares. Naturally, I’d be excited about any new book from her, but a book about mermaids? Yeah, I’m diving in.

Towards the summer before her sophomore year of high school, Shelby is about to move so her conservative mother can start a new job. Naturally, she’s upset about it because she’s lived in the same small town all her life, close to her best friend forever Leyla. Sure, the two will keep in touch via email, social media, and video calls—they won’t be that far away from each other—but like most teens, Shelby is afraid of the impending change.

While her mother is away preparing for the job/move, Shelby attends an end-of-summer costume party and dresses in a way that her mother would disapprove: she dresses as an alluring mermaid. She rents the costume from an odd little shop and receives a bizarre warning from the strange man who owns the shop: DON’T FALL ASLEEP IN THE COSTUME.

We all know how fiction works. When such a warning is issued, the characters are either going to (a) deliberately ignore it, (b) actively doubt it, or (c) get distracted and forget about it. Well, (b) and (c) happen and something really bizarre happens. Shelby wakes up the next morning stuck in the mermaid costume. She can still walk—well, waddle—but the fabric has somehow melded to her skin. She can’t peel it off or cut it off. Frustrated, she returns to the shop and learns that this isn’t just a standard wardrobe malfunction. She’s slowly become a mermaid…and she’s not the first.

The shopkeeper is harboring three other mermaid/girls in a big inflatable pool in the basement. They all had big changes going on at home, and they all rented the costume and fell asleep at it. Now, they’ve lost their memories and lounge in the pool without worries of their previous lives. Within the week, the same will happen to Shelby unless the shopkeeper and his swoon-worthy nephew Ryan can save her.

Like in her previous works, Soares excels at first-person narration. Shelby is a likeable narrator right from the start, and it’s easy to relate to her apprehension to the upcoming change in her life. The reader is fully immersed in the description of what’s happening to her as the costume constricts around her legs and ultimately envelops her feet. Even more impressive are the shifts in narration when Shelby’s mind is pulled under by the costume’s spell.

Also, I love stories that have a “ticking clock” element to them. Having that deadline really ratchets up the tension and allows the story to naturally build to the climax. Shelby’s body and mind are changing, but is that as bad as her address changing? The final tagline in the book description reads: “What’s worse? Moving away from everything you’ve ever known, or never even remembering those you’d be leaving behind?” It’s a great statement and a great theme. Thus, the mermaid transformation becomes a deep symbol for a life transformation. You either find a way to deal with the change, or you’re stuck floundering.

My only quibble with the story is the “rules” of the costume aren’t fully realized and the cure seems somewhat arbitrary. Soares skirts around this issue through the first-person narration of Shelby not fully knowing or understanding it all—it’s mostly left to the old shopkeeper. But this quibble is coming from a male forty-something-year-old reader/fellow-author. I’m far from the book’s intended audience of upper middle grade and young adult girls. That target pre-teen audience will love this book.

And there’s a lot to love in the book. It’s an adorable fantasy populated with fun, realistic characters, and its message is strong. I’m holding Holding My Breath in high esteem with FOUR AND A HALF STARS.


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Holding My Breath edition by Susan Soares Children eBooks Reviews

Cute mermaid story. Wish it ended different than it did.
It was really good! Very descriptive and I felt Shelby. I felt it was all real,
Shelby lives an ordinary life any 15-year-old would, but she has NO idea how it is going to change quickly.

She and her BFF, Leyla walk into a magic shop one day, looking for a costume to wear to a party, the shop owner warns her not to sleep in it, and, as always, the main character NEVER listens. (Fyi, the main character wouldn't even be in whatever situation he/she is in if they would only LISTEN!) Turns out, when you sleep in the costume, bad things happen, (DUN DUN DUN!) It is stuck to your body, can't take it off, can't cut it, can't take it off, EVER. Then Shelby meets the sweet, (and CUTE!) Ryan, aka, shop owners nephew, SPOILER, AVERT YOUR EYES! Turns out, THEY FALL IN LOVE! Like, almost EVERY mermaid book is a love story. Ugh. That was the ONLY thing I had a problem with. Anyways, Shelby has 7 days, (always a deadline) to figure out HOW to fix this till she's with fins 4 life. Now, the writing was good, and story line, PERFECT! Detail, acquired, 5/5 stars. )
I’m a fan of mermaids, and I’m a fan of author Susan Soares. Naturally, I’d be excited about any new book from her, but a book about mermaids? Yeah, I’m diving in.

Towards the summer before her sophomore year of high school, Shelby is about to move so her conservative mother can start a new job. Naturally, she’s upset about it because she’s lived in the same small town all her life, close to her best friend forever Leyla. Sure, the two will keep in touch via email, social media, and video calls—they won’t be that far away from each other—but like most teens, Shelby is afraid of the impending change.

While her mother is away preparing for the job/move, Shelby attends an end-of-summer costume party and dresses in a way that her mother would disapprove she dresses as an alluring mermaid. She rents the costume from an odd little shop and receives a bizarre warning from the strange man who owns the shop DON’T FALL ASLEEP IN THE COSTUME.

We all know how fiction works. When such a warning is issued, the characters are either going to (a) deliberately ignore it, (b) actively doubt it, or (c) get distracted and forget about it. Well, (b) and (c) happen and something really bizarre happens. Shelby wakes up the next morning stuck in the mermaid costume. She can still walk—well, waddle—but the fabric has somehow melded to her skin. She can’t peel it off or cut it off. Frustrated, she returns to the shop and learns that this isn’t just a standard wardrobe malfunction. She’s slowly become a mermaid…and she’s not the first.

The shopkeeper is harboring three other mermaid/girls in a big inflatable pool in the basement. They all had big changes going on at home, and they all rented the costume and fell asleep at it. Now, they’ve lost their memories and lounge in the pool without worries of their previous lives. Within the week, the same will happen to Shelby unless the shopkeeper and his swoon-worthy nephew Ryan can save her.

Like in her previous works, Soares excels at first-person narration. Shelby is a likeable narrator right from the start, and it’s easy to relate to her apprehension to the upcoming change in her life. The reader is fully immersed in the description of what’s happening to her as the costume constricts around her legs and ultimately envelops her feet. Even more impressive are the shifts in narration when Shelby’s mind is pulled under by the costume’s spell.

Also, I love stories that have a “ticking clock” element to them. Having that deadline really ratchets up the tension and allows the story to naturally build to the climax. Shelby’s body and mind are changing, but is that as bad as her address changing? The final tagline in the book description reads “What’s worse? Moving away from everything you’ve ever known, or never even remembering those you’d be leaving behind?” It’s a great statement and a great theme. Thus, the mermaid transformation becomes a deep symbol for a life transformation. You either find a way to deal with the change, or you’re stuck floundering.

My only quibble with the story is the “rules” of the costume aren’t fully realized and the cure seems somewhat arbitrary. Soares skirts around this issue through the first-person narration of Shelby not fully knowing or understanding it all—it’s mostly left to the old shopkeeper. But this quibble is coming from a male forty-something-year-old reader/fellow-author. I’m far from the book’s intended audience of upper middle grade and young adult girls. That target pre-teen audience will love this book.

And there’s a lot to love in the book. It’s an adorable fantasy populated with fun, realistic characters, and its message is strong. I’m holding Holding My Breath in high esteem with FOUR AND A HALF STARS.