Nat is an amazing swimmer, and the pool is her favorite place to be. She’s not afraid to boast about it, or even challenge the older boys to swim races, but she has to be loud and proud. She’s a fat Latina in an sport known for its skinny white athletes. One day, she learns about a local artistic swimming team (formerly known as synchronized swimming). She had no idea that swimmers could not only be strong and fast, but glamorous and creative. Nat adores her fashion magazines almost as much as she adores swimming, so she becomes intent on joining the L.A. Mermaids. The problem is her parents. Nat loves her progressive, activist parents. But they don’t approve of her love of the fashion world, and even though she presents a compelling argument to join the L.A. Mermaids, her mother ultimately shoots her down, believing the sport emphasizes presentation and looks too much to be worthy of her daughter’s time. So Nat secretly joins the Mermaids, ensnaring her cousin Sheila as her ride with some light blackmail. But as Nat’s lies pile up and threaten to blow apart her scheme, she learns that she’s not the only one who could be hurt by her lies.
I love this book. What starts out as a fairly straightforward sports story becomes an incredibly nuanced look at what it is to be Latina, fat, and a girly feminist, all at the same time. The conflicts of the book are presented to kids without talking down to them, and the author juggles almost as many topical themes as Nat juggles fibs (but to a much more successful effect). The book is RICH for discussion for a middle school book club, depicting class struggles, homophobia, fatphobia, and parent/child relationships neatly and maturely in a short, impactful book. Plus, artistic swimming is a pretty niche sport, and my tween book group loved watching the videos of the Olympic team, and especially loved learning how swimmers coat their hair in gelatin for stability.
The most refreshing aspect of the tale is Nat’s relationship with her parents. While many books about fatphobia portray unsupportive parents, this is not Nat’s problem. Her parents are extremely progressive, but they tend to steamroll their kids with their own beliefs. Nat’s mother is very fat-positive, but she is fairly limited in her perception of feminism, and doesn’t know how to encourage Nat’s self-confidence beyond “every body is beautiful.”
Highly recommended!