Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist - Liz Kessler

I am bit suspicious of books that are clearly aimed at a particular demographic. They seem a tad mercenary and product-like to me. But perhaps it's wrong - after all the 'cross-over' idea also often leads to clumsy results. 'Emily Windsnap and The Castle in the Mist' is clearly a book for junior-school aged girls. The main character is 12 and the book is aimed at (and will probably appeal to) girls aged 7-12. Emily Windsnap of the title is a semi-mer, half mermaid, half human (that means mermaid in water, human on land), living with her human mother and a merman father on a semi-submerged old pirate ship on All-Points Island, going to mermaid school where she ...