Washoe County Library System

When Sophie Swankowski surfaces from the freezing waters, she finds herself in an ancient castle in Polandand in the center of an ages-old battle. Even with her magic powers, the strength and wisdom she learns from her companions in Warsaw, and the help of her gruff mermaid guardian, Syrena, how can one thirteen-year-old from scrappy Chelsea Massachusetts, really save the world? Luckily, Sophie wont be alone. As she connects to other girls around...

"Everyone in the broken-down town of Chelsea, Massachusetts, has a story too worn to repeat--from the girls who play the pass-out game just to feel like they're somewhere else, to the packs of aimless teenage boys, to the old women from far away who left everything behind. But there's one story they all still tell: the oldest and saddest but most hopeful story, the one about the girl who will be able to take their twisted world and straighten it out....