Books vs. Looks Read online

  A Fin-tastic Finish

  THAT NIGHT, BACK IN HER dorm room, Kiki started writing a letter to her brother Yuta.

  Dear Yuta,

  I miss Mom, Dad, and everyone else, but I miss you most of all.

  Guess what? I loved your idea about the book club so much that I started one here at Trident Academy. A girl named Pearl also started a beauty club.

  Kiki held her orange sea pen over her letter. Should she tell Yuta how Pearl had tried to start a club war? Kiki decided not to. After all, in the end it was Pearl’s idea to have a fashion show to raise money for the library.

  “Kiki!” Wanda was suddenly in Kiki’s doorway. “Come look!”

  “What’s wrong?” Kiki said.

  “You aren’t going to believe what Pearl’s done now!” Wanda said. She waved Kiki toward the hallway.

  Kiki left her letter and swam with Wanda to the front entrance of Trident Academy. What had Pearl done this time? Had she rented a troupe of dancing dolphins for the next Bubbling Beauty Bunch meeting? Or maybe she’d hired a chef to prepare honeycomb worm scones or a merstylist to give everyone fancy haircuts. What if she got the most famous boy band in the ocean to perform? Kiki would love to see the Rays again herself.

  But when Kiki and Wanda got to the front hallway, it was none of those things. Wanda pointed to a small sign by the door.

  NOTICE:

  PEARL’S BUBBLING BEAUTY BUNCH IS NO MORE!

  PLEASE JOIN KIKI CORAL’S BOOK CLUB INSTEAD.

  Kiki shook her head. Were her eyes playing tricks on her?

  She looked at Wanda and asked, “Why?”

  Wanda shrugged. “I don’t know. I just saw the sign and came to tell you.”

  Kiki thought back to the library and how she’d told Pearl she was lonely. Could it be that Pearl just might have a heart after all?

  “What are you going to do now?” Wanda asked.

  Kiki smiled. “Right now, I’m going to finish a letter to my brother. I have a lot to tell him. And tomorrow, I’m going to give Pearl a big hug!”

  Kiki’s Guide to Starting a Book Club

  ASK A TEACHER OR PARENT if you can use a space for your club.

  Ask your classmates to join.

  You can even put up posters to let others know. Be nice and let everyone join.

  Take turns picking the books to read or draw titles from a box.

  Whoever chooses the book can bring a snack and organize a craft to match the book.

  Everyone could bring questions about the book to the meeting.

  It might be fun to name your group.

  Everyone could read their favorite part of the book aloud, or explain why one character is their favorite.

  An adult may want to help you. Be sure to get permission for whatever you do!

  Pearl’s Guide on How to Start a Bubbling Beauty Bunch Club

  ASK A TEACHER OR PARENT if you can use a space for your club.

  You can even put up posters to let others know. Be nice and let everyone join. Be sure to ask permission to put up the posters!

  Read beauty tips from MerStyle magazine like:

  “A smile is the best addition to any outfit,” Tyra Baybanks says.

  Stacy Loggerhead tells us, “A mermaid should always shimmer!”

  “Don’t be afraid of bright colors. Have fun!”—Mackerel Jacobs

  Get the best snacks you can. It would be great to take turns so one person doesn’t have to do it all!

  Try new hairstyles with ribbons.

  Invite a fashion expert or clothing store owner to visit.

  Name your group something fashion forward.

  You might even want to have a fashion show with everyone’s favorite outfit and give away the shells to a good cause.

  An adult may want to help you, but be sure to get permission for whatever you do!

  Scenes of Symbiotic Relationships

  THE WHALE SHARK AND THE REMORA

  by Shelly Siren

  The scene I drew shows the big whale shark and the small remora fish. Why doesn’t the whale shark eat the remora? The remora gets to eat scraps of food from the shark’s meal, but it also cleans the shark’s body. This type of symbiotic relationship is called mutualism.

  THE MEAN BARNACLE AND THE POOR CRAB

  by Echo Reef

  I drew a scene with mean barnacles hurting a crab. Because the barnacles hurt the crab, this is called parasitism. That’s why I don’t like barnacles.

  CLEANER SHRIMP AND SHARP-FANGED EELS

  by Rocky Ridge

  Cleaner shrimp are so cool! They’ll even swim in the mouths of sharp-fanged eels! I forgot what it’s called, but both of them like it because they both get something out of it. The shrimp get food and the eels get clean! Did I tell you I once had a cleaner shrimp clean my mouth? Oh, I remember. That type of relationship is called mutualism.

  THE PORCELAIN CRAB AND THE ANEMONE

  by Pearl Swamp

  I did a report on porcelain crabs before, and I learned that they like to live around anemones. The porcelain crab coats itself with anemone snot so it won’t get stung! Have you ever heard of anything so disgusting? Anyway, this is mutualism, because the crab keeps the anemone clean and the crab has a safe place to live.

  GRAY WHALES AND BARNACLES

  by Kiki Coral

  I decided to draw a scene showing a gray whale with barnacles for commensalism, a kind of symbiosis where only one creature gets something. Can you believe that sometimes one whale can have as many as one thousand barnacles? The barnacles are protected by the whale’s body and get to enjoy the same food as the whale, but they usually don’t hurt the whale.

  REFRAIN:

  Let the water roar

  Deep down we’re swimming along

  Twirling, swirling, singing the mermaid song.

  VERSE 1:

  Shelly f lips her tail

  Racing, diving, chasing a whale

  Twirling, swirling, singing the mermaid song.

  VERSE 2:

  Pearl likes to shine

  Oh my Neptune, she looks so fine

  Twirling, swirling, singing the mermaid song.

  VERSE 3:

  Shining Echo f lips her tail

  Backward and forward without fail

  Twirling, swirling, singing the mermaid song.

  VERSE 4:

  Amazing Kiki

  Far from home and f loating so free

  Twirling, swirling, singing the mermaid song.

  Author’s Note

  BECAUSE I HAVE MOVED A lot, I know how Kiki feels. Sometimes it is hard to make friends in a strange place, but clubs are a great way to meet new people. Maybe you’d even like to start up a book club like Kiki or a beauty club like Pearl. If so, they have a few suggestions for you.

  Have fun,

  Debbie

  P.S. Check out my website, debbiedadey.com, for fun mermaid fashion tips in MerStyle magazines and for ways to start a Mermaid Tales club.

  Glossary

  ANEMONE: This creature attaches itself to surfaces and grabs food with its stinging tentacles.

  ATLANTIC MACKEREL: This fish has a torpedo-shaped body and can swim very fast.

  BALLOONFISH: The porcupine fish is sometimes called a balloonfish or blowfish. When it is afraid it will swell up so that it looks like a spikey basketball.

  BARNACLE: Adult barnacles spend their whole lives attached to rocks or another surface.

  BARRACUDA: Barracudas like to eat shiny fish. In fact, they have been known to try to eat shiny things on divers!

  BLOBFISH: The poor blobfish was once voted the world’s ugliest creature. It looks like a blob! It lives in very deep waters near Australia.

  CANDY-STRIPE FLATWORM: This flatworm is cream colored with reddish stripes and likes to live in rocky areas.

  CAYENNE KEYHOLE LIMPET: If you ever see a pattern in the algae on rocks in or near the ocean, it could be the trail a limpet has left behind.

  CLEANER SHRIMP: The s
carlet skunk cleaner shrimp has red-and-white stripes down its back.

  CLOWN FISH: Clown fish can be many colors, including yellow, orange, or black. They usually have white stripes or patches.

  COCONUT: Coconuts are the round fruit of the palm tree. Inside the hard fruit is a seed, which is part solid and part milk. Sometimes coconuts fall into the ocean.

  CONCH: Conchs have beautiful spiral shells. For years people have collected them, and now they are endangered.

  CORAL: This creature lives in groups that fix themselves to the ocean floor. Daisy coral actually looks a bit like a daisy flower.

  CUTTLEFISH: Cuttlefish are related to squids. They can change colors to hide themselves and squirt ink when afraid.

  DOLPHIN: The Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin gets its name from the hump beneath its dorsal (back) fin.

  GRAY HERON: This tall bird grabs fish out of the water with its long, sharp beak.

  HONEYCOMB WORM: This little creature makes big tubes of sand that look like honeycombs.

  JELLYFISH: There are many kinds of jellyfish, but the box jellyfish is the most dangerous. Its sting is extremely painful. It lives near Australia.

  KELP: Kelp is large, brown seaweed.

  KILLER WHALE: Killer whales are the biggest of the dolphins. They are also known as orcas.

  LOGGERHEAD TURTLE: The loggerhead turtle is the second largest marine turtle, after the leatherback.

  ORANGE SEA PEN: This creature likes to live in the sand or mud and looks very much like an old-fashioned quill pen.

  PLANKTON: Tiny creatures that float with the ocean currents and live near the surface are called plankton. Some plankton glow!

  PORCELAIN CRAB: This crab can regrow a claw if one is hurt.

  REMORA: Remoras are also called suckerfish because of the suckerlike organs they use to attach to other sea creatures.

  SEA CUCUMBER: The deep-sea cucumber crawls along the ocean floor, eating what it finds.

  SHARK: The whale shark is the largest fish in the world.

  SHARP-FANGED EELS: Eels have long, slender bodies like snakes.

  SPOON WORM: The spoon worm hides its body between rocks. The male is parasitic on the female.

  WARTY FROGFISH: This fish is also known as the clown frogfish. It looks like it is covered with warts.

  WHALE: Gray whales are often covered with barnacles that make their backs look like crusty rocks.

  FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS IN THE NEXT . . .

  Splash-a-riffic

  ISN’T THAT THE MOST FIN-TASTIC purse ever?” Pearl Swamp squealed. She pointed to the cover of a MerStyle magazine with her gold tail fin.

  Her best friend, Wanda Slug, moved closer to see the adorable scotch bonnet shell purse. “Ooh, I’m going to ask for one of those for my birthday!” Wanda exclaimed. “I wonder if it comes in pink?”

  “Hey, watch out!” Pearl snapped as another third-grade student bumped into her, causing her to drop the magazine.

  “Sorry, but I can’t be late to class again,” Rocky Ridge said. “Or Mrs. Karp will make me shark bait!”

  Pearl shook her head and watched Rocky zoom across the huge entrance hall of their school, Trident Academy. He zipped between some chatting sixth graders and a group of fourth graders tossing a puffer-fish ball. It was still a few minutes before school started, and it was unusual for Rocky to hurry to class.

  “That Rocky is so rude sometimes,” Wanda said, scooping up the magazine and handing it to Pearl. “But he’s kind of cute, too.”

  Pearl giggled. As she turned back to MerStyle, she overheard something that made her tail spin. She swirled around to listen to a group of mergirls from her class.

  “I can’t believe the wedding is in less than one week!” Kiki Coral squealed.

  “Who’s getting married?” Pearl whispered to Wanda.

  Wanda shrugged. “I don’t know, but weddings are wave-tastic! I was a flower girl in my cousin Detrella’s wedding, and it was a splash.”

  Pearl sighed. She had always wanted to be a flower girl, ever since she’d attended her own cousin’s wedding when she was a small fry. But so far, no one had asked her.

  “Let’s check with Kiki,” Wanda told Pearl. “Maybe the bride is someone we know!”

  Wanda swam up to Kiki and said, “We heard you talking about a wedding. Who in the great wide ocean is getting married?”

  Pearl couldn’t believe Kiki’s answer!

  Mr. Fangtooth’s Surprise

  MR. FANGTOOTH, THEIR school’s grumpy cafeteria worker, was the last merperson in the ocean that Pearl expected to be getting married. Even though he had once saved Pearl from a great white shark, he was still the biggest grouch in Trident City.

  After the conch bell sounded to start the school day, Pearl sat at her desk and thought, Who would want to live the rest of their merlife with a cranky old merman?

  Before class began, Kiki had told Pearl that she, Echo, and their friend Shelly were going to be flower girls in Mr. Fangtooth’s wedding. They would get to float down the aisle before the bride, carrying big bunches of flowers. They would probably wear beautiful gowns, too, and maybe even flower crowns. It wasn’t fair that they were going to be in a wedding and Pearl was not!

  “Today,” Mrs. Karp told her third-grade class, “we will begin studying coral reefs. Tomorrow we will go on a short ocean trip to investigate the reef here in Trident City.”

  “Totally wavy!” Echo said.

  Pearl smiled. School was okay, but it was a lot more fun to learn away from her desk. And she did like coral, especially the red coral that grew near the front door of her shell.

  “There are both soft and hard corals,” Mrs. Karp said. “Who can name a type of hard coral?”

  Kiki raised her hand and said, “Brain coral?” She blew her nose into a kelp tissue.

  “Very good,” Mrs. Karp said. “Are you feeling all right, Kiki?”

  Kiki nodded. “I’m allergic to paddle weed, which is blooming right now.”

  Pearl noticed Kiki’s red nose. If Kiki was allergic to flowers, she definitely shouldn’t be a flower girl.

  There had to be a way for Pearl to be in Mr. Fangtooth’s wedding too. After all, she was an expert on sea flowers. And she read every issue of MerStyle magazine from start to finish, especially the wedding articles. Plus, Pearl knew how to float with style.

  Pearl smiled and made up her mind. She was going to figure out a way to be a flower girl in that wedding, if it was the last thing she did!

  How to Be Nice

  BY LUNCHTIME, PEARL HAD come up with a plan. If she was really nice to Mr. Fangtooth, he would surely ask her to be a flower girl in his wedding.

  But Pearl had never been friendly to Mr. Fangtooth before. She had thanked him when he saved her from a shark in Trident Academy’s dorm, but otherwise she tried to stay far away from him. After all, who wants to be around a grouch?

  Pearl remembered that earlier in the school year Kiki, Shelly, and Echo had tried to make Mr. Fangtooth laugh with funny faces, but it had never worked. So Pearl wasn’t exactly sure how to put her plan into action. After all, it was hard to be pleasant to someone who never smiled.

  That was it! She would smile at him. As Mr. Fangtooth dished her favorite meal of black-lip oyster and sablefish stew into her shell bowl, Pearl flashed him a huge grin.

  Mr. Fangtooth looked startled. He frowned even more deeply. “Is something wrong with the food?” he asked.

  “No,” Pearl said. She showed all her teeth in the biggest smile she could muster.

  “Then stop looking at me that way,” Mr. Fangtooth grumbled. “You’re giving me a headache.”

  Pearl’s smile disappeared. “Well, of all the mean things to say!” she snapped, then slammed her mouth shut. She was trying to make him like her, and fussing wouldn’t help.

  Pearl sat down at her table and watched Mr. Fangtooth. He frowned at every merstudent in the food line . . . except for Echo. He actually smiled at Echo! What had Echo done to make him sto
p scowling? Pearl had to find out!

  Acknowledgments

  To Becky Dadey and her friend Kiki Mullikin, a real live Kiki!

  Debbie Dadey is the author and coauthor of more than one hundred and sixty children’s books, including the series The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids. A former teacher and librarian, Debbie and her family live in Sevierville, Tennessee. She hopes you’ll visit www.debbiedadey.com for lots of mermaid fun.

  Aladdin

  SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Debbie-Dadey

  Also by

  Debbie Dadey

  MERMAID TALES

  BOOK 1: TROUBLE AT TRIDENT ACADEMY

  BOOK 2: BATTLE OF THE BEST FRIENDS

  BOOK 3: A WHALE OF A TALE

  BOOK 4: DANGER IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA

  BOOK 5: THE LOST PRINCESS

  BOOK 6: THE SECRET SEA HORSE

  BOOK 7: DREAM OF THE BLUE TURTLE

  BOOK 8: TREASURE IN TRIDENT CITY

  BOOK 9: A ROYAL TEA

  BOOK 10: A TALE OF TWO SISTERS

  BOOK 11: THE POLAR BEAR EXPRESS

  BOOK 12: WISH UPON A STARFISH

  BOOK 13: THE CROOK AND THE CROWN

  BOOK 14: TWIST AND SHOUT

  Coming Soon

  BOOK 16: FLOWER GIRL DREAMS

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.