Something Rich and Strange

This is a small sea-story by Patricia A McKillip, who writes fantasy. Megan and Jonah live near the beach somewhere in modern-day USA, running a shop full of sea-treasures like drawings (done by Megan) and fossils (found by Jonah). One day a stranger appears, offering them jewellery to sell in the store; luring them into the sea, so that Jonah is seduced by a siren and disappears, and Megan’s drawings begin to contain worlds she never knew existed. That part is good, but when they get down into the sea, it turns into an environmental message (pollution of the ocean/they’re sent back to bear witness) which really feels at odds with the rest of the book, and brings it down to a children’s morality tale. However, the writing is very beautiful, and the first part so mesmerising that you feel desperate to drop everything and go directly to the beach.