A young man learns to accept love and loss.

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I liked the idea of Daniel finding the mermaid's key and how he finds a purpose on the island rescuing birds. Daniel becomes part of the island's community and learns about his family's tragic past. I wish Rylant had added more scenes with the mermaid. ( )

Genre: Fiction
The loss of Daniel's family: loneliness. Living with his grandfather on a remote island: loneliness. Until he meets the mermaid that gives him a special key with special powers that he uses to help others and animals in need. Despite students hurts or loneliness they can acquire strength to overcome anything. ( )

“The mermaid must have known that she could trust me. She must have known I had only a grandfather who taught me to read and write and then left me to my own education as he returned to the alder wood he carved for a living.
And read I did, every day and sometimes all night long, and I knew things most boys didn’t know and was ignorant of things most boys are sure of. I knew why heroes sometimes fall and why wise men sometimes do terrible things and where in the world one might actually get a glimpse of heaven. But I could not multiply by seven and did not guess, ever, that stars had names” (Rylant, 1998, p. 4).

Daniel is a lonely boy living with his grandfather on a remote and sparsely populated British Columbia island. Daniel makes a wish to the sea for a friend, and soon after, finds a mermaid’s comb. When the mermaid emerges, she speaks speaks only one word before disappearing: “Daniel,” but Daniel sends her simple, pleading messages in bottles, and she answers them by sending him a magical key. Daniel wears the key around his neck, and finds that it helps him sense creatures that need help – usually injured birds, but one memorable night, a lost and hypothermic girl. His abilities bring him closer to his grandfather, and help build supportive community ties. Years later, Daniel is crushed by grief and loneliness after his grandfather dies suddenly, and a simple wish and the mermaid’s key help him learn more about the tragic death of his grandfather’s young sister, and bring a lost puppy into Daniel’s life. This story is beautifully told, and like most of Cynthia Rylant’s books, is sweet and poignant, and I finished it with tears in my eyes. I am very sorry to learn that this book is out of print.

Curriculum: This would be a great book to use for a character analysis. I would have students use a Multi-flow Map (Thinking Map) to chronicle the character development of Daniel, listing significant events that happen in the narrative, and their effects on Daniel's growth as a character and a young man.

Rylant, C. (1998). The islander. New York: DK Pub.