Breathe and Count Back from Ten

A Pura Belpré Honor Book * A Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book for Teens

In this gorgeously written and authentic novel, Verónica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body.

Verónica has had many surgeries to manage her disability. The best form of rehabilitation is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool, but not just to strengthen her body.

Her Florida town is home to Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks . . . and Verónica wants to audition. But her conservative Peruvian parents would never go for it. And they definitely would never let her be with Alex, her cute new neighbor.

She decides it's time to seize control of her life, but her plans come crashing down when she learns her parents have been hiding the truth from her--the truth about her own body.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Clarion Books
Published: 10/03/2023
ISBN: 9780358697305
Pages: 352
Award: Pura Belpre Award - Honor Book
Award: Schneider Family Book Award - Honor Book
Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 518369 / Breathe and Count Back from Ten
Reading Level: 5.3 / Interest Level: Upper Grade / Point Value: 12