Samantha Stone and the Mermaid's Quest

A small-press published book (published by Hollywood Books International). Intended to be a series, but it's unlikely that the sequel, Samantha Stone and the Emerald Dagger, is going to come.

Ten-year-old Samantha Stone lives with her mother in New Orleans after the flood. One day, her mom is savagely attacked by an unknown force and put into a coma, resulting in Samantha being sent to live with her father, Sam Stone, a scientist traveling the seas. His boat is attacked, and Samantha has to escape again, to a fantasy world called Aerynon, where she learns that her mom is in fact the intended queen of the realm, and Samantha is the prophesied savior. So she reluctantly begins training to learn how to use her hidden powers and, she hopes, be able to fight back.

The book is Better Than It Sounds, with a brisk pace, fun characterizations, some unique ideas and a Lemony Narrator who isn't as bad as you'd think (and stops being Lemony halfway through the story).

This book contains examples of:

 * Alien Sky - When Samantha enters Aerynon, the sky is white and the clouds are blue. Not the only alien thing about the world, but the first thing she notices.
 * Bound and Gagged - For good reason:
 * Chekhov's Gun - A surprising number of them. More noticable in a second read.
 * Chosen One - Why Samantha has to save the world, and why the bad guys want to kill her.
 * Contemptible Cover - Ahhhh! Talk about GIS Syndrome! A generic picture of underwater and clip art of a mermaid sitting on the title don't make this book look appealing to anyone! (Neither does the title, which is not only childish sounding in stark contrast to the story itself, but also misleading, as the mermaid in question appears only twice.)
 * Infant Immortality - Averted.
 * Kid Hero - Samantha. But also, many teenagers who engage in battle.
 * Lemony Narrator - The narrator has plenty of comments on things in the story, but later stops being Lemony and just narrates the action directly.
 * Sequel Hook
 * Story-Breaker Power - Samantha earns one later on.
 * Story-Breaker Power - Samantha earns one later on.