Broke English teacher Penelope Schleeman is as surprised as anyone when her feminist novel American Mermaid becomes a bestseller. Lured by the promise of a big payday, she quits teaching and moves to LA to turn the novel into an action flick. But as she's pressured to change her main character from a fierce, androgynous eco-warrior to a teen sex object in a clamshell bra, strange things start to happen. Is Penelope losing her mind, or has her mermaid come to life, enacting revenge for Hollywood's violations? A hilarious and deep story, American Mermaid asks how far we'll go to protect the parts of ourselves that are not for sale.

Broke English teacher Penelope Schleeman is as surprised as anyone when her feminist novel American Mermaid becomes a bestseller. Lured by the promise of a big payday, she quits teaching and moves to LA to turn the novel into an action flick. But as she's pressured to change her main character from a fierce, androgynous eco-warrior to a teen sex object in a clamshell bra, strange things start to happen. Is Penelope losing her mind, or has her mermaid come to life, enacting revenge for Hollywood's violations? A hilarious and deep story, American Mermaid asks how far we'll go to protect the parts of ourselves that are not for sale.