Reviewed by: Thora Timnah Card Johnson, Gillian Thora; written and illus. by Gillian Johnson. Tegen/HarperCollins, 2005229p Library ed. ISBN 0-06-074379-4$16.89 Trade ed. ISBN 0-06-074378-6$15.99 R Gr. 4-6 The product of a human-mermaid marriage, Thora has the lower body scales and top-of-the-head blowhole of a mermaid but the legs of a human. A prophecy by the Sea Shrew dictates that in order to survive, Thora must live for ten years between the worlds of land and sea, and in her tenth year she must return to the land. Accordingly, Thora, her mother, Halla, and their human friend, Mr. Walters (Thora's dad was lost at sea), travel by houseboat around the globe for ten years while Halla wins every competition swimming medal there is. In the meantime, a rapacious land developer named Frooty de Mare is buying up all the property in Thora's dad's hometown, opposed only by the Greenberg sisters, owners of an art-film movie house. When Thora arrives in town to begin her life on land, she is just in time to prevent—with the help of a few local children and Mr. Walters—the subversion of an entire village to one man's maniacal vision (in the process discovering some long-lost relatives and effecting a mermaid rescue). In this Australian [End Page 22] import, Thora is Pippi Longstocking with a blowhole, her mad antics and wordplay offering the oppressed local children a chance at freedom while she gleefully evades all adult attempts to button her up. Her happy-go-lucky meandering in the houseboat (and the corresponding looseness of plot) affords her the background and character development Pippi lacks, deepening her relationships with friends and family. The scribbly, black-and-white illustrations display an edgy, kinetic line reminiscent of Quentin Blake's work. Hints of depth in the prose notwithstanding, this is a frothy, boisterous tale of insurrection that fans of Roald Dahl will find familiar and welcoming. Copyright © 2005 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois