Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings (Unabridged)

First zit. First crush. First...mermaid's tail? Fourteen-year-old Jade feels like a freak-of-nature when she finally gets her first period while trying on an XL tankini at the mall. It gets worse when she runs into handsome Luke Martin in the feminine products aisle while her dad Googles 'menstruation' on his BlackBerry. But 'freak-of-nature' takes on a whole new meaning when raging hormones bring on another metamorphosis - complete with scales and a tail. When Jade learns she's inherited her mermaid tendencies from her late mother, it raises the question: if Mom was a mermaid, how did she drown?