Real Mermaids Don't Sell Sea Shells

Real Mermaids Don't Sell Sea Shells by Helene Boudreau, 2014 Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

     Jade and her friends have, once again, saved mer-kind and it's time for some fun in the sun. Her parents have, thanks to Mr. Charmichael, gotten the official paperwork to get married - for real. To get away from the gossips in their small town they decided to enjoy their new freedom to get married in the Caribbean.
     Jade and her best friend go along to help out with the last minute details of wedding planning - only to find that nothing is going according to plan! Their reservations are taken y famous celebrities, the catering fell through, the venue was taken, and their officiant has vanished. With Cori and Jade's help, the happy couple rush to recreate their dream wedding before their vacation is over and the rest of their guests arrive.
     As they're making plans and the girls explore the island Jade runs across a strange sight: someone dumping a body from the porthole of a passing cruise ship. With everything that's happened in the last couple of months, Cori thinks Jade's mermaid senses are over-reacting. But when their new acquaintance goes missing it doesn't hurt to check things out.
     Jade's parents enjoy their pre-wedding honeymoon while the girls discover there's more to the local scene than the tourists see. With their relationships with the boys back home on questionable ground, Jade and Cori are stoked to meet new friends and possibly solve a mystery or two, because things can't keep from getting fishy for this mermaid and her friends.
     In this new setting, Jade learns to trust her instincts and that different cultures have different rules. The fourth installment in Jade's story takes readers along as once again Jade steps out of her comfort zone and learns it's always best to be yourself. Real Mermaids Don't Sell Sea Shells is intended for middle grade and young teen readers.

Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels

Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels by Helene Boudreau, 2013 Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

     Jade Baxter and her best friend have managed to save the tide pool where mers can transition into human form. Cori is officially dating Luke's brother, Trey, and Jade is officially dating Luke. The friends are enjoying typical high school exploits and looking forward to the Fall Formal.
     Except, Jade is terrified of the dance: she's got two left fins. The formal becomes the smaller of her problems when the Mer Council orders all Webbed Ones back into the ocean. Jade finally got her mom back and she certainly isn't willing to let her boyfriend go back into the ocean.
     The friends are busy with their school work: Cori has an internship, Luke and Trey have work and water polo, and Jade has joined the underwater hockey team. To top it all off, Selena has been enrolled as a foreign exchange student at her school - and Jade is not keen on playing tour guide to the mer-girl.
     Jade tries to prepare for Mer-mageddon all while trying to prevent the building underwater war and trying to find the perfect dress for the dance. When they can't keep the Webbed Ones out of the water Cori, Trey, Jade, and their human adult supervision take to the water. Following the "call" back to the Mer Council leads Jade to new secrets and challenges. If the fourteen-year-old can prevent civil war in the mer-world, finding a good dress and learning to dance should be a cake walk.
     The Real Mermaid series is aimed at middle grade and younger teen readers. The girls experience budding romantic relationships with all the emotional ups and downs in a clean romance. This is the third of four novels featuring Jade and her friends.

Real Mermaids Don't Hold Their Breath

Real Mermaids Don't Hold Their Breath by Helene Boudreau, 2012 Jabberwocky

     A month after her fourteenth birthday Jade is still reeling from her mermaid-ness, the knowledge that her mother didn't drown in the lake last year and is a mermaid too, and the kiss from mer-boy Luke at her best friend's party earlier in the summer.
     Jade deals with the struggles of being fourteen--does Luke really like her, or was he just playing with her emotions; will her father allow her to date him if Luke does like Jade; and what is going on with her mom?
     Jade and her dad have been searching for her mother since Jade helped her to escape the freshwater prison where she was trapped in mermaid form. When she finds her mom in a tidal pool about to be bulldozed Jade does everything in her power to protect the pool and release her mother.
     Jade is a normal teen dealing with the usual woes while she is anything but a normal teen, living between the human world and the mer-world. Her tensions rise from the conflict between who she knows she is and who she is learning she is. It is a universal adolescent problem and relates to pre-teen readers.

Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings

Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings by Helene Boudreau, 2010 Jabberwocky

     School is almost out and that means pool parties and other summer adventures, but first Jade has to make it to the end of the year. When she has her first period and her father suggests Epsom salts as a cure for cramps no one expects Jade to come out of the bath with a fish's tail.
     It turns out Jade's mother, who mysteriously drowned last summer, was a mermaid and Jade has inherited the mermaid gene. But if she was a mermaid, how did she drown?
     With all the chaos of discovering her tail, finding out her mom has been held prisoner for the last year, and a new attraction to a familiar face, Jade's relationship with her best friend seems to crumble. Can Jade keep it all together in time for everything to get back together?
     With the exception of her tail, Jade is just like any other teen--trying to fit in while dealing with the changes life brings--and like other teens she learns to adapt to the changes. Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings is aimed at younger teens, fans of the paranormal in reality will enjoy the book.