num_pages: 32
description: Sukey's new step-pa is a mean, bossy man. Every day Sukey wakes at dawn to work in the garden. All her step-pa ever does is watch her and yell if she so much as stops to fan herself. Sukey's ma calls him Mister Jones. Sukey prefers the name "Mister Hard-Times."  Son one day, Sukey runs away to her secret place by the ocean. There, she calls up Mama Jo, a beautiful black mermaid. Mama Jo's got a surprise for Sukey; a magical kingdom beneath the sea without time or pain. But it's also without people. Is it really better than the world above?
language: English
title: Sukey and the Mermaid
titlecomplete: Sukey and the Mermaid
genres: Fiction, Family, Picture Books, Folk Tales, Childrens, Mermaids, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Folklore, African American
ratings_count: 347
awards: awardedAt: 788947200000
name: South Carolina Book Award
category: Children's Book, awardedAt: 725875200000
name: Coretta Scott King Book Award
category: Illustrator Honor
publisher: Aladdin