Middle Grade Monday and ARC Review: Barely Floating by Lilliam Rivera

Image: Penguin Random House

Barely Floating by Lilliam Rivera. 240 p. Kokila/ Penguin Young Readers, August 29, 2023. 9780593323120. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)

Happy Monday! I spent a lovely weekend with my youngest sister up in her home in the Berkshires. It was lovely family time filled with good food and lots of walks and talks. Middle Grade Monday features Barely Floating by Lilliam Rivera. Twelve-year-old Natalia de la Cruz Rivera y Santiago goes by Nat and is unapologetically fat. She's also athletic. She uses people's assumptions about her size to her advantage in a side hustle at the town pool, where she challenges unsuspecting mean kids to a swim race. She's planning on earning bank this summer and reading endless manga, but when the LA Mermaids perform at the pool, she falls hard for synchronized swimming. When she asks her activist mom and professor dad for permission to join, she's dismayed to learn that they view the sport as a "pageant in water." Sure, the sport is dominated by very thin white girls, but the LA Mermaids is a mostly Black team and there's even a boy who wants to try out! So, Nat tries out secretly and, when she makes the team, talks her cousin into helping her attend practices and meets without her parents' knowledge. Surely, once her parents see her dedication, they will change their minds! Won't they?

Nat is a sassy, saucy narrator with a strong sense of self and a strong sense of social justice that occasionally gets her in trouble. Readers will find her hilarious, endearing and occasionally annoying. I loved her complicated friendships and her supportive family. She's a lucky girl. Barely Floating goes down real easy, but has depth. It releases on August 29. Put it on your radar. 

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

Image: Penguin Random House

Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~665 minutes, Holiday House/ Listening Library, February, 2021. 9780593397183. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Last time! Happy penultimate Tuesday of the 2020 - 2021 school year! The final day of school is one week away! I hope you've got your summer reading lined up! If not, be sure to check this space for recommendations all through the summer!

Teen Tuesday features Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado. Sixteen-year-old Charlotte, "Charlie" Vega is a brown girl growing up in a mostly white Connecticut suberb. She's a writer and a reader. She and her mom still miss her dad who died. She has a gorgeous, Black and popular best friend named Amelia and Charlie plays the third-wheel, fat friend role pretty amiably. Her mom used to be overweight as well, but now she has slimmed down and is constantly nagging Charlie about her weight. Charlie longs for a swoony romance of her own and is so pumped when her crush, a football player named Cal invites her to a football awards dance. Can this really be happening?

Charlie is the smart, endearing narrator of this slow-paced, thoughtful romance. Debut author Crystal Maldonado explores mother-daughter as well as best friend dynamics and issues of self-acceptance and fat-shaming as Charlie struggles to find love and her place in the world. New-to-me narrator, Carla Vega's portrayed a thoughtful Charlie in a well-paced, engaging performance. While adult-me occasionally rolled my eyes at Charlie's naiveté, teen readers will root for Charlie to go for it.

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: I'll Be the One by Lyla Lee

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

I'll Be the One by Lyla Lee. Unabridged audiobook. ~8 hours. Read by Greta Jung. HarperAudio, June, 2020. 9780063019225. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Teen Tuesday features I'll Be the One by Lyla Lee. This breezy romance is Ms. Lee's debut. Sixteen-year-old Skye Shin has been singing and dancing all her life. It's her passion and she has stuck with it despite her mother's constant discouragement, well, abuse really. Skye has always been plus-size, a fact that her mother never lets her forget. But she's fit and healthy and a fantastic dancer.

When Skye decides to audition for a K-Pop singing and dancing competition, her mother doubles down on her insults, claiming she's only trying to protect Skye from public humiliation. She nails her audition securing a spot in both categories despite the lone female judge's attempt to fat-shame her. Skye is comfortable in her skin despite societal prejudice against fat people. Ms. Lee deftly weaves in issues over weight and appearance without bogging down the narrative. 

The audio performance by new-to-me narrator Greta Jung was perfectly paced. She brought Skye's spunk as well as vulnerability to life. 

I'll Be the One is the perfect read for romance fans grade 7 & up, especially if you are a fan of Julie Murphy's Dumplin' or of K-Pop. This was a perfect way to spend a lovely summer afternoon. I am looking forward to Lyla Lee's next book.

Teen Tuesday and Arc Review: My Eyes are Up Here by Laura Zimmerman

Image: Penguin Random House*

My Eyes are Up Here by Laura Zimmerman. 344 p. Dutton Books/ Penguin Random House, June 23, 2020. 9781984815248. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)

Teen Tuesday features and wishes a happy book birthday to, My Eyes are Up Here by Laura Zimmerman. Fifteen-year-old Greer Walsh narrates this charming debut, which is at turns poignant and hilarious. Greer feels betrayed by her body, more specifically, her breasts, which have grown so large that she has named them - Mavis and Maude. She has also taken to wearing the baggiest clothes possible to cover them up and has zero interest in dating because boys tend to focus on Mavis and Maud exclusively. So she focuses on her grades and trying to find the perfect bra. She's pushed to try out for the volley ball team when she shows natural ability during a gym unit. She'd love to, but those uniforms are so skimpy! Then there's transfer student Jackson Oakes. She was tasked with showing him around by her mom, who is a corporate relocation expert. The two fall into easy banter and Greer finds herself thinking about him - a lot. 

There's some depth here, making My Eyes are Up Here more than a breezy romance. There are strong female friendships and strong female athletes who help Greer accept her body. This was a fun book with a reassuring body positive message featuring an appealing, whip-smart narrator. My Eyes are Up Here belongs in every middle, high school and public library collection. 

*There is an audiobook sample on the book's web page.