July Book Event + Giveaway
[ID: A pink book with a Latina teen swimming on the cover. She has a scar on her hip and her shadow looks like a mermaid. Another book lies open on the title page with a signature and a doodle shaped like a mermaid fin. The books sit on a gray wooden floor surrounded by light pink carnations. Above the books are a line of scrabble tiles that spell out “giveaway”.]
This July our book club is reading BREATHE AND COUNT BACK FROM TEN by @NataliaSylv, a YA contemporary about a Peruvian American teen with hip dysplasia who auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park, all while navigating first love and learning to feel safe in her own body.
We will be hosting a special author Q&A with Natalia Sylvester on July 27th at 6pm EST to discuss the book. At the end of July we will be having a private group discussion via IG group chat over the weekend. Comment here or send me a DM if you would like to join our group!
[ID: A photo of a Latina woman with brown hair in a white shirt on an off white graphic repeating the information for the event on July 27th. The book club logo is an open book with a spoon.]
When: July 27th at 6pm EST
Where: @libraryofdreaming’s Instagram
I’m so honored that Natalia Sylvester chose to join our book club this month and I can’t wait to talk all things disability representation, writing process, and BREATHE AND COUNT BACK FROM TEN with her.
Have any questions you’d like me to ask Natalia Sylvester? Leave them in the comments of this post or on Instagram.
[ID: A pink and blue book cover of a Latina teen in a red swimsuit swimming in a pool with a wave of white bubbles behind her. Her shadow is in the shape of a mermaid.]
Breathe and Count Back From Ten by Natalia Sylvester
Genre: YA contemporary
Representation: Hip dysplasia (own voices)
Content Warnings: sexism, sexual harassment, internalized ableism, a fade to black sex scene.
Discussion Date: Author interview on July 27th & private group chat the final weekend in July
Synopsis:
“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.”
Want to win a copy of BREATHE AND COUNT BACK FROM TEN? See here.
Thanks to the generosity of our book club member @theritareads, I am hosting an international giveaway for TWO copies of this book! There will be a winner from the USA and a winner from outside the USA so please go check it out my original post on Instagram for instructions to enter!