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Katie Van Ark
Passion on the page

Summer Reading #4: Natalia Sylvester’s Breathe and Count Back from Ten

9/5/2022

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What are holiday weekends for if not one last summer beach read? Breathe and Count Back from Ten is a little outside my usual romance wheelhouse, a YA novel with a romantic thread as opposed to a YA romance novel. (Yes, I loved the Harry Potter series but you know I was waiting the whole time for Hermione and Ron to finally get together because who couldn’t see those sparks!) However, the cover flap copy drew me in: “Verónica has always dreamed of being a mermaid.” Mermaid Cove, the fictional place in the book where Verónica dreams about performing as a mermaid, is based on a real place, Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida. I confess to having this dream, too, albeit on a much farther back-burner than Verónica. Like her, however, the water was a place where I felt at home during my childhood and early teen years. For Verónica, it’s because she can move freely there despite her hip dysplasia. For me, it was a place where I could keep up with other kids even though I was overweight. (Although I also had hip dysplasia, mine was corrected with a brace when I was a baby.) I never wanted to get rid of my legs, but getting paid to wear a sparkly fin and play pretend sounded awesome.
Verónica’s journey to become a mermaid, though, is about so much more than just scoring the job. Through this story of a disabled immigrant teen’s dreams and wishes, Sylvester makes you think about so many issues including bullying, ableism, slut shaming, and consent - both sexual and medical. Her love interest, Alex, is on his own journey combatting depression, and his art is very cool. Ultimately, my favorite character was Geoff and his @Phin journey - hooray for merpeople. Pick this one up when you’re looking for something beautifully real and relevant.
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Summer Reading #3: Always Never Yours, by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

9/2/2022

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I first fell for this husband and wife writing team when I picked up Time Of Our Lives, a sweet and beautiful story of Fitz and Juniper meeting up on their college tours. This summer, Always Never Yours was the perfect follow-up to Nicola Yoon’s Instructions for Dancing. I needed something that WASN’T going to make me cry, and this fresh and funny novel was perfect.
Always Never Yours is the debut novel for Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka (#Wibbroka), and it’s an ode to the shared passion for Shakespeare that brought them together. My own first high school crush involved swooning over an English classmate during Romeo and Juliet trivia challenges, and I brought the story into my own work, too, so I definitely approve. It did take me a few chapters to get into this one, but once I hit the comparison between heroine Megan and the often-overlooked Romeo and Juliet character of Rosaline in chapter 4, I fell hard. The book didn’t leave my hands after that until I hit the last page. Like Rosaline, Megan is the “before” girl. The girl guys date before they find the one. The #Wibbroka team does something truly special developing that idea, leading Megan on a wholly satisfying journey to find self-love along with true love. This is also another title with excellent banter, and a side dish of just enough drama. Highly recommended.
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    Reflections on Writing

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    I love few things better than a bottomless to-read list of books and firmly believe the world has room for all the stories we want to share. This blog is intended to provide resources and spark discussion about improving writing. Opinions are my own and not intended to discredit anyone else's work, only to open conversation. Thanks for reading!

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