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Summary
Summary
~Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for the best LGBT YA novel of 2017~
An unforgettable story of two girls navigating the unknowable waters of identity, millennial anxiety, and first love, from the acclaimed author of The Mystery of Hollow Places.
In Savannah Espinoza's small New Mexico hometown, kids either flee after graduation or they're trapped there forever. Vanni never planned to get stuck--but that was before her father was diagnosed with Huntington's disease, leaving her and her mother to care for him.
Now she doesn't have much of a plan at all: living at home, working as a performing mermaid at a second-rate water park, distracting herself with one boy after another.
That changes the day she meets Leigh. Disillusioned with small-town life and looking for something greater, Leigh is not a "nice girl." She is unlike anyone Vanni has met, and a friend when Vanni desperately needs one. Soon enough, Leigh is much more than a friend.
But caring about another person threatens the walls Vanni has carefully constructed to protect herself and brings up the big questions she's hidden from for so long.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-Vanni is stuck in small-town New Mexico, dreams of college dashed by her father's diagnosis of a chronic condition that will soon render him unable to care for himself. Loyal to her parents and their hard-earned family business (and fearful of whether this genetic condition has been passed down to her), she has resigned herself to a life of restaurant-work drudgery, flings with local boys, and watching her friends go out into the world without her. When she meets Leigh and Lucas, twins who have recently relocated from the northeast, things shift for Vanni in ways she never expected. Initially drawn to Lucas, she soon realizes that Leigh fascinates her more than any boy she's ever met. The two young women soon fall deeply in love, leading Vanni question her sexual identity. Leigh is mischievous and daring, pushing Vanni out of her comfort zone (and sometimes into trouble, like getting fired from the local water park where she played a mermaid). She is also critical of Vanni's resignation and insists that she, Leigh, will be leaving New Mexico the moment she turns 18. Their relationship is passionate and rocky, but ultimately life-changing for Vanni. A strong coming-of-age story, if at times just slightly predictable for sophisticated readers, this book should have wide appeal for teens who feel trapped by their circumstances and family obligations. VERDICT A good selection for most YA shelves.-Nora G. Murphy, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, CA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
When Savannah Espinoza's dad was diagnosed with Huntington's disease three years ago, her small-town New Mexico life went stagnant.Paralyzed by a secret fear that she, too, has inherited the hereditary disease, Vanni, a Latina, has abandoned her dreams of swimming on a college team and isolated herself from her friends. She now plans to spend the summer after graduation hooking up with boys and working at her family's Mexican restaurant. Things are stirred up when she meets pugnacious Leigh Clemente, a white girl, who's recently moved to New Mexico and wants nothing more than to leave. A turbulent relationship blossoms between the two, both of whom have their own reasons for feeling stuck. While Leigh's character shines, Vanni's personality is hard to pin down, which leaves the first-person, present-tense narration somewhat flat. Still, Vanni's well-crafted arc ends powerfully when she makes a hard choice in order to finally take charge of her life. Also well-handled are Leigh's genderqueer identity and Vanni's bisexuality, through which Podos affirms that identity is something people come to in their own time, on their own terms. Additionally, the author richly and authentically describes the culture of a small New Mexico town, while welcomingly unitalicized Spanish enriches Vanni's interactions with friends and family. A worthwhile addition to collections of contemporary romance with depth. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Vanni Espinoza's plans to escape her tiny New Mexico town come to a screeching halt when her dad is diagnosed with Huntington's disease. Instead of attending college, she's working at her family's restaurant and amusing herself by fooling around with any guy she's fleetingly interested in. She's shaken out of her routine, however, when she finds herself drawn to surly, genderqueer Leigh. As Vanni and Leigh's relationship gets more intense, Vanni struggles to maintain her aloof attitude, especially when Leigh's own demons become harder to ignore. Podos perfectly captures the comforting yet cloistering feeling of living in a rural town, particularly for Vanni, who also feels stuck by the possibility of a debilitating illness. While Vanni's character ultimately seems a bit amorphous, Podos nevertheless offers a refreshing change of pace: Vanni's realization about her bisexuality is satisfyingly matter-of-fact, and her relationship with Leigh faces realistic teenage troubles. As much about self-discovery as it is about love, this moving coming-of-age tale is an ideal choice for fans of Nina LaCour's We Are Okay (2017).--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2017 Booklist
