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

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.