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OLDER FICTION
Fletcher, Susan

Sea Change

352 pp. | Abrams/Amulet | June, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9781419773921 $19.99 | Ebook ISBN 9798887072982 $17.99
(2) YA Turtle, fifteen, is a Mer; she has both lungs and gills from a not-quite-legal "gen-mod" experiment. Gen-modding to cure disease is par for the course in this near-future world, but "boutique" and "transhuman" mods are sometimes illegal and generally looked down upon. The Mer are outsiders in the coastal Texas community of Spoonbill Island (though their difference is useful given increasing flooding due to climate change) and live separately on a refurbished cruise ship. But Turtle, whose biological parents evaded orders at first to hand her over to authorities when she was a child, is drawn to the Normal world—especially after she meets a Normal hottie and learns that her sister still lives on the island. When doctors offer a chance to "reset" to a gill-less life, Turtle makes the Change. With it brings a chance at reconnection with family—including perhaps her father, rumored to have returned after his escape from jail—and a potential boyfriend (or two), as well as the challenges of ostracism from the Mer; letdowns in love; and the ethical considerations of genetic modification. Turtle has a strong, self-aware voice as she navigates her new normal. The romantic elements are as compelling as the philosophical and scientific questions throughout the text, and Turtle's efforts to slow down and observe the world make for moments of beautiful prose. An author's note shares the fairy-tale and scientific inspirations for the story and provides recommendations for further reading.
Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2025

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