A Stranger Came Ashore is a 1975 young adult novel written by Scottish author Mollie Hunter.

[1][2] Set in the Shetland Islands in the north of Scotland, the plot revolves around a boy called Robbie Henderson, his family and a mysterious stranger named Finn Learson.

The Hendersons trust and help him, except the youngest child, Robbie, his Old Da (grandfather), and his dog Tam, who are suspicious of Finn.

Robbie begins to fear for his elder sister, Elspeth, who is golden-haired, very beautiful and entranced by Finn Learson.

Finn, revealed as the Great Selkie, flees back into the sea in his seal form.