A dazzling story full of heart about how one twelve-year-old channels her rage into synchronized swimming dreams fromThe Education of Margot Sanchezauthor Lilliam Rivera.

Natalia De La Cruz Rivera y Santiago, also known as Nat, was swimming neighborhood kids out of their money at the local Inglewood pool when her life changed. The LA Mermaids performed, emerging out of the water with matching sequined swimsuits, and it was then that synchronized swimming stole her heart.

The problem? Her activist mom and professor dad think it’s a sport with too much emphasis on looks–on being thin and white. Nat grew up the youngest in a house full of boys, so she knows how to fight for what she wants, often using her anger to fuel her. People often underestimate her swimming skills when they see her stomach rolls, but she knows better than to worry about what people think. Still, she feels more like a submarine than a mermaid, but she wonders if she might be both.

Barely Floatingexplores what it means to sparkle in your skin, build community with those who lift you up, and keep floating when waters get rough.

Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning writer and author of the young adult novelsDealing in Dreams,The Education of Margot Sanchez, the middle grade novelGoldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit, and the forthcomingNever Look Backby Bloomsbury. Her work has appeared inThe Washington Post,The New York Times, andElle, to name a few.

• Publisher: Kokila (August 29, 2023)
• Language: English
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• ISBN-10: 0593323122
• ISBN-13: 9780593323120
• Reading age: 9 – 12 years
• Grade level: 4 – 7
• Item Weight: 1 pound
• Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.59 x 8.25 inches