A Comb of Wishes

Ages 8 to 12, Grades 3 to 7

Set on an invented Caribbean island, Lisa Stringfellow’s magical and emotionally resonant middle grade debut tells the tale of grieving twelve-year-old Kela, who unwittingly forms a connection to a fearsome mermaid who has the power to bring Kela's mother back to life. This Top Ten Indies Introduce title is now in paperback! 

Lisa Stringfellow’s spellbinding middle grade debut tells of a vengeful mermaid and a girl mourning her mother’s death and will enchant readers who loved Kacen Callender’s Hurricane Child or Christian McKay Heidicker’s Scary Stories for Young Foxes.Ever since her mother’s death, Kela feels every bit as broken as the shards of glass known as “mermaid’s tears” that sparkle on the Caribbean beaches of St. Rita. So when Kela and her friend Lissy stumble across an ancient-looking comb in a coral cave, with all she’s already lost, Kela can’t help but bring home her very own found treasure. Far away, deep in the cold ocean, the mermaid Ophidia can feel that her comb has been taken. And despite her hatred of all humans, her magic requires that she make a bargain: the comb in exchange for a wish.But what Kela wants most is for her mother to be alive. And a wish that big will exact an even bigger price…

About the Author

Lisa Stringfellow writes middle grade fiction and has a not-so-secret fondness for fantasy with a dark twist. Growing up, she was a voracious reader, and books took her to places where her imagination could thrive. She writes for her twelve-year-old self, the kid waiting to be the brown-skinned hero of an adventure, off saving the world. Lisa’s work often reflects her West Indian and Black southern heritage. She received the inaugural Kweli Color of Children’s Literature Manuscript Award for an earlier draft of A Comb of Wishes. Lisa is a middle-school teacher and lives in Boston, MA, with her children and two bossy cats.