Lana Prentis is 17 years old and has some unusual physical challenges: she has white hair, silver eyes, milky-white skin and webbed fingers and toes. She lives on Safe Harbor Island off the Coast of North Carolina. Her father (Cole Prentis) is the lighthouse keeper and also the keeper of many secrets. He told Lana that her mother drowned when Lana was only three years old, and he never allows her in the water. But when Lana's P.E. Teacher (Miss Rose Perry) secretly gives Lana swimming lessons, it sets off a chain of events that leads Lana to discover the truth about herself and her mother. Lana learns her true life's purpose, that her heritage is as rich and deep as the sea - and that her future lies beneath it.

A young girl learns she’s half mermaid and plunges into a scheme to reunite with her father in this entrancing, satisfying tale that beckons readers far below the waves. For as long as she can remember, twelve-year-old Emily Windsnap has lived on a boat. And, oddly enough, for just as long, her mother has seemed anxious to keep Emily away from the water. But when Mom finally agrees to let her take swimming lessons, Emily makes a startling discovery — about her own identity, the mysterious father she’s never met, and the thrilling possibilities and perils shimmering deep below the water’s surface. With a sure sense of suspense and richly imaginative details, first-time author Liz Kessler lures us into a glorious undersea world where mermaids study shipwrecks at school and Neptune rules with an iron trident — an enchanting fantasy about family secrets, loyal friendship, and the convention-defying power of love.