while playing the ukulele, he does not stutter. He has two known relatives: his mother and an uncle named Sylvester. Mr. Henri Beauchamp: An elderly neighbor of Keeper's, who is an expert on mermaid stories. He is the owner of a one-eyed cat named Sinbad. He had owned many flowers, one of them being a night-blooming cereus, and they were all knocked over and destroyed when Sinbad was being chased by BD. He is from Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. Long ago when he was 15, he met the merboy Jack before sailing across the ocean with around 20 circus ponies. BD: A dog owned by Keeper and Signe. He is friends with a seagull named Captain. In the book, BD goes with Keeper to help find her mother. His name is short for "Best Dog". Too: A little dog owned by Dogie. His name was originally "Best Dog Too". He is also known as a Storm Prognosticator. He can also predict trouble. Jacques de Mer/Jack: A merman and a lover of Mr. Beauchamp's. He might be the son of Yemaya, as she demands a gift after someone makes a wish whenever she appears. Sinbad: A one-eyed cat owned by Mr. Beauchamp. He usually taunts the dog and is very old. Mr. Beauchamp claims that Sinbad comes from a "long line of pirate cats". Captain: A resident seagull. He had crashed through the window of Keeper's home one stormy night with a broken wing five years before the events in the book. It was Signe who nursed him back to health. He is friends with BD. His favorite food is watermelon. Watermelon taught him to fly again, because Captain was on the second story with his broken wing while Signe left watermelon for him on the first story, Meggie Marie: The mother of Keeper, Meggie Marie had vanished seven years prior to the events in the book. According to a later chapter in the book, Meggie Marie had been told to leave by Signe after the former had almost drowned Keeper on her third birthday (if it was intentional is not known). She was first thought to be a mermaid, but then Keeper finds out that she was not. The house that she, Keeper, and Signe lived in belonged to her grandmother. External links Keeper at goodreads.com Keeper at fantasticfiction.com Appelt's website References 2010 American novels American children's novels Children's fantasy novels Mermaid novels