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.