May 15, 2023
Tough-talking 12-year-old Natalia never backs down from a challenge. Whether it's a fistfight with a boy who is disrespecting her cousin or a swimming race against a much older teen at the city pool, Nat's confidence and tenacity compel her to finish anything she starts, no matter what the odds. Nat's parents, a community activist and a college professor, have instilled a strong sense of justice in her and her three older brothers. When she becomes enchanted with Black-owned synchronized swimming team the L.A. Mermaids, she knows she needs to try out--even if her fat body and Latina heritage aren't the norm for the sport. Her parents veto the idea, citing the dominance in elite synchronized swimming of thin, White girls. In an ill-conceived plan, headstrong Nat decides to join the team anyway and begins learning the sport in secret. Joining the L.A. Mermaids brings her new friends--Daniel, whose race is not specified and who is the sole boy in a female-dominated sport, and Ethiopian American Ayana, who struggles with an overzealous mom. In contrast to these blooming friendships, Nat's connection with her best friend has frayed over the summer, and she isn't sure why. She must tame her temper and learn to own her mistakes to keep her relationships with family and friends afloat. Nat's radical self-acceptance is a beautiful example for readers: Her unapologetic self-love and empathy make her a compelling character. A body-positive story of growing up that's sure to make a splash. (Fiction. 9-13)
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Starred review from June 5, 2023
Rivera (We Light Up the Stars) makes a splash with this charming novel about a fat Latinx 12-year-old who dreams of becoming a synchronized swimmer. Natalia De La Cruz Rivera y Santiago knows it’s “hard to contain a person like me,” a short-tempered hustler who spends her summer days at the public pool challenging other young swimmers to races she knows she’ll win. After watching a performance by Black-owned synchronized swimming team the L.A. Mermaids, Nat is spellbound and immediately wants to join the squad, but her hyper-activist mother forbids her from trying out, believing that the sport is anti-feminist because of its focus on costuming and traditionally slender and white beauty standards. Nat secretly joins anyway, making new friends and finding security in her fatness. But clashes with thin, affluent teammates and increasing emotional distance between Nat and her best friend sour her newfound passions. Nat is a confident protagonist whose stalwart self-acceptance makes her a character worth rooting for. In laugh-out-loud, blunt prose, Rivera cultivates a touching and unapologetically positive interpretation of one tween’s desire to break the mold. Supporting characters are racially diverse. Ages 9–12.
July 1, 2023
Gr 5 Up-Twelve-year-old Nat has never hesitated to speak her mind or to stand up for what she believes in, even if it sometimes gets her in trouble for being angry and confrontational. But when her parents forbid her from joining the L.A. Mermaids, a local synchronized swimming team, she is afraid to try to convince them. Her mother has always actively opposed any activity that is overly focused on physical appearance or traditional female beauty norms. Nat joins the team without telling her family, and although she loves the way synchronized swimming makes her feel, she is soon struggling to pay for equipment, find transportation, and juggle her practice schedule, homework, and time with her best friend. She also has to find ways to deal with people who imply that synchronized swimming should only be for thin white girls, not Latinas with curves like hers. Eventually, her secret is discovered, and Nat has to find a way to explain her feelings to her parents without damaging her relationship with them. The strength of this novel lies in its complex, believable characters. Nat loves and respects her parents, who are presented as encouraging and progressive, but she chafes against her mother's dismissal of fashion and make-up, and sometimes wishes her mother would take time away from her various political causes to be with her. She is extremely confident and self-assured, but still has occasional moments of doubt when faced with comments about her physical appearance. One subplot featuring a cousin who becomes estranged from her mother for being gay, is left unresolved at the end of the book. But it serves as a counterpoint to the complicated yet ultimately strong relationship between Nat and her mother. The novel features a diverse cast of characters from a wide range of backgrounds, and Nat's first-person narrative is sprinkled with Spanish words and phrases. VERDICT This compelling character-driven novel will leave readers wanting to spend more time with Nat and her family.-Ashley Larsen
Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from June 1, 2023
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* Nat Santiago knows she can outswim any kid at her local pool, and if they underestimate her because of her age (12) or size (fat), that's their problem. In fact, she's turned a nice profit by regularly betting her opponents that she can beat them in a race. Her focus shifts when the L.A. Mermaids perform their synchronized swimming routine at the pool to promote upcoming team tryouts. Immediately, Nat becomes obsessed with these swimmers' grace, strength, and sequined costumes, and she dives down an Esther Williams rabbit hole, emerging with the conviction that she must join the Mermaids. Unfortunately, her parents don't agree, citing the sport's unhealthy focus on physical appearance. With the help of her older cousin, Nat sneaks to the tryouts, where she makes the team but is saddled with keeping her new hobby a secret. Rivera's layered, sparkling middle-grade debut is Julie Murphy's Dumplin' (2015) by way of Lisa Fipps' Starfish (2021). Nat and her family come across as multifaceted, loving, and flawed. Her outspokenness and (mostly) unwavering self-confidence as a fat, beautiful Latina is a splendid thing to see, and her dip into the world of synchronized swimming is eye-opening. Well-integrated subplots involving a fractured friendship and a character coping with being outed add more depth to an already excellent story. Display this empowering novel with Esther Williams' classic Million Dollar Mermaid.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
September 1, 2023
Twelve-year-old first-person narrator Nat (short for Natalia de la Cruz Rivera y Santiago) is all about body positivity and female strength. She feels conflicted, however, when her mother's values around feminism clash with her own love of pretty things -- lipstick, fashion magazines, and especially the spangles on the swimsuits of the L.A. Mermaids, a synchronized swimming group that Nat is desperate to join. She blackmails her older cousin, Sheila, into covering for her and facilitating her participation on the team, but the secrets come between the two cousins and other people they care about. Nat navigates the rough waters of racial bias, fat-shaming, economic class hierarchies, and her own issues with impulse control and anger management, all while she wishes (and doubts) that her parents could be proud of her choices. By building community with her artistic swimming team, whose training Rivera describes in detail, Nat learns that she cannot win every battle, and she reconfigures her concept of what winning means. Although the novel itself occasionally succumbs to Nat's conviction that sometimes "teachable moments have to be forced," ultimately Nat as well as her mother and even ultra-feminine Sheila each grow into a new understanding of what it means to them to be a chingona -- a fearless Latina. Lara K. Aase
(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
January 1, 2024
Tween Nat (short for Natalia de la Cruz Rivera y Santiago) is all about body positivity and female strength. She feels conflicted, however, when her mother's values around feminism clash with her own love of pretty things -- lipstick, fashion magazines, and especially the spangles on the swimsuits of the L.A. Mermaids, a synchronized swimming group Nat is desperate to join. She blackmails her older cousin, Sheila, into covering for her and facilitating her participation on the team, but the secrets Nat and Sheila start to come between them and their families and friends. Nat navigates the rough waters of racial bias, fat-shaming, economic class hierarchies, and her own issues with impulse control and anger management, all while wishing (and doubting) her parents could be proud of her choices. By building community with her artistic swimming team, whose training Rivera describes in detail, Nat learns that she can't win every battle, and she reconfigures her concept of winning. Although the book itself sometimes succumbs to Nat's conviction that sometimes "teachable moments have to be forced," ultimately Nat, her mother, and even ultra-feminine Sheila grow into a new understanding of what it means to be a chingona -- a fearless Latina.
(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)