Nat figures her summer will go according to plan: she and her best friend Joanne will hang out at the pool. Joanne will read manga, Nat will earn money by betting older kids that she can beat them in swimming races, and they'll make plans for the anime con they'll attend in the fall. But everything changes when Nat sees a demonstration by the L.A. Mermaids, an artistic (formerly called synchronized) swim team. The costumes, the glitter, the coordinated moves... Nat is immediately in love, but her parents are skeptical. They're of the opinion that synchronized swimming puts too much emphasis on appearances. Nat is confident in her body: she knows she's fat, strong, and fabulous. She's passed the audition for the Mermaids, and she has some money saved up. So, she decides to lie to her parents. With the help of an older cousin, she starts attending practice, and learns how much work goes into those effortless-looking moves. But she can't keep up the lie forever... I really loved the character building here: Nat's a great lead, and the secondary characters are all well fleshed out, with their own lives and problems. I do think the scope and duration of the lie was a little hard to believe, since Nat's parents are cast as being involved and interested in Nat's life. However, I was willing to suspend disbelief for the sake of the story, and I found it well-plotted and paced. Recommended to readers of middle-grade realistic fiction. (read less)

Nat figures her summer will go according to plan: she and her best friend Joanne will hang out at the pool. Joanne will read manga, Nat will earn money by betting older kids that she can beat them in swimming races, and they'll make plans for the anime con they'll attend in the fall. But everything changes when Nat sees a demonstration by the L.A. Mermaids, an artistic (formerly called (read more)