Merrow by Louise Cooper

This book was one of the finalists for the Hampshire Book Award that myself and Mrs Voyce participate in with year 8 students. Many of our readers placed it sixth out of six, so it wasn’t that popular; but, having spent time in the Falmouth and Newquay area myself, whilst at university, I loved this book!

It is a sinister tale of surfing, shattered friendships, sexual awakening...and ghosts. Kiran, Jay and Robyn have been best mates for years, hanging out together in their idyllic hometown on the Cornish coast. Now that they've turned sixteen, they have one last summer before they have to get serious about the rest of their lives. But their lives change for ever when Kiran attempts to save a stranger from drowning and fails. Robyn is determined to help Kiran over his apparent 'breakdown', but soon both she and Jay are having their doubts as to whether the ghost girl, the Merrow, as they call her, exists after all, and all three are drawn into a sinister and nightmarish search for the truth...

Perhaps it was the references to places I know, or maybe it was the clever love triangle that I liked about it, but this story is definitely worth a read.

Miss Robinson