Ingo (novel) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids  |
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| Author | Helen Dunmore |
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| Cover artist | Getty Images |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Ingo |
| Subject | Fantasy life in the sea (Ingo) |
| Genre | Children's Novel |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
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Publication date
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5 September 2005 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 328 pp |
| ISBN | 0-00-720487-6 |
| OCLC | 63134578 |
| Followed by | The Tide Knot The Deep The Crossing of Ingo |
Ingo is an exciting adventure novel written by English author Helen Dunmore. It was first published in 2005. This book is the first in the popular Ingo series. The story continues in The Tide Knot, The Deep, The Crossing of Ingo, and Chronicles of Ingo: Stormswept.
Contents
What the Story is About
The story of Ingo follows a girl named Sapphy. She lives near the sea and is very close to her family.
The Mystery of the Missing Father
Sapphy remembers her father, Mathew Trewhella, telling her a special story. It was about the Zennor mermaid. This mermaid fell in love with a human man. He swam away with her and became a Mer person. The story says an angry human hurt the mermaid a long time ago.
Sapphy's father disappears one day after an argument with her mother. He doesn't come back from the cove. Many people think he ran away or died. But Sapphy and her older brother, Conor, refuse to give up hope. They secretly promise to keep looking for him.
Conor's Disappearance and a Strange Discovery
About a year later, Conor also disappears. Sapphy worries the same thing happened to him as to her father. She goes to the cove to search for him. There, she finds Conor talking to a mysterious mergirl named Elvira in the water. Sapphy waits until the girl suddenly vanishes.
When Sapphy asks Conor about the girl, he acts as if she was never there. He is shocked when he realizes hours have passed. He thought he had only gone for a "quick" swim.
Meeting Faro and Entering Ingo
The next day, Conor goes to the cove again after their mother leaves for work. Sapphy follows him. She hears a beautiful voice singing a song her father used to sing. She calls out for her father, and the singing stops.
Suddenly, Sapphy sees a boy sitting on a rock. At first, she thinks he is wearing a wetsuit. But then she realizes he has a seal's tail instead of legs! The Mer boy, named Faro, helps her keep her balance.
When Sapphy calls him a "mermaid", Faro gets upset. He explains that he is male, so he can't be a mermaid. He also says that ideas about "scaly-tails and hair-combing mermaids" come from humans.
Faro takes Sapphy through the "Skin," which is the surface of the water. They enter the world of Ingo. It is very painful for a human at first. You have to forget about breathing air to survive there. Sapphy also learns that it hurts Mer people to go into the "Air" (the human world). If they stay too long, they will die.
After an amazing time, Sapphy leaves Ingo. She then realizes she has been gone all day, not just a few hours.
The Call of the Sea
As time passes, Sapphy feels more and more drawn to Ingo. She starts craving salt and the call of the sea. Ingo calls to Sapphy even more strongly than it calls to Conor.
Conor worries that Sapphy will "disappear" like their father. He takes her to Granny Carne, a wise old woman. Granny Carne shares her knowledge about Sapphy and Conor's Mer heritage. Granny Carne has special "earth power." She can talk to owls and bees, and maybe other animals too.
Saving Roger and Gray
Sapphire's mother starts dating a diver named Roger. Roger plans to go diving near a place called the Bawns. Sapphy learns that this is where Mer people go to die. Ingo is very protective of this area. Her father had also warned her and Conor never to go near the Bawns.
Sapphire and Conor try their best to save Roger and his diving friend, Gray. They are in danger from fierce seal guardians that protect the Bawns. Conor can hear the special song the seals sing to dying Mer. He sings their song, which calms them down.
At first, Faro and Elvira (Faro's sister) do not help. But then they see how brave Sapphire and Conor are. So, they join in to help. With Faro and Elvira's help, Sapphire and Conor get Roger and Gray back into their boat. They cover them with foil blankets to keep them warm.
That night, Roger wakes up screaming from a nightmare. He tells Sapphy's mother that he was being thrown by underwater bulls. This makes Sapphy realize that Roger still remembers the scary event.
A Father's Message
In the final scene, Sapphire is working in her father's garden. Her neighbor's dog, Sadie, is lying beside her. Suddenly, the air becomes very still. Sapphy hears her father's voice saying, "Myrgh Kerenza." This means "Dear Daughter" in the Mer language.
Sapphire now knows for sure that her father is alive and calling to her from Ingo.
