SEA CHANGE

What happens when well-intentioned parents genetically modify their children?

On Spoonbill Island, Texas, which is flooding due to climate change, 15-year-old Turtle lives with her pod of Mer on the ship Mermaid. Mer children were an experiment in genetic modification; the aim was to give them more lung capacity but instead they were born with gills as well as lungs. Shunned by Normals, the 97 Mer children were taken by the government and brought up together on the Mermaid. When the chance arises to have an operation to remove their gills, Turtle takes it, in part because she’s in love with a Normal boy, Kai, whom she saved from drowning while they were scavenging items from houses that are now underwater. She also dreams of being with her family—and maybe even traveling the world someday. In this riff on “The Little Mermaid,” Turtle, who reads white, moves in with her pregnant sister, Grace, and brother-in-law, Rav Mehta. But life without the Mer is lonely and confusing, especially when she begins to doubt Kai’s commitment. Meanwhile, dangerous anti-Mer agitation is on the rise; Turtle, who knows both worlds, could help. Focusing on tribalism, othering, and the moral ambiguities of genetic modification, this disturbing, even-handed, and skillfully executed story presents a grim view of human carelessness when it comes to both the environment and biology.

Engrossing, disturbing, and thoughtfully written.