Goldfish

After coming in last at an Olympic qualifying swim meet, British teen Louise resigns herself to a dull year. Then three boys desperate to win a TV talent competition recruit her to train them in synchronized swimming. Things come humorously to a head at a local aquarium. Lou's voice is irreverent and self-deprecating, and the way Luurtsema explores body image is refreshing.

Louise's Olympic dreams are dashed when she comes in dead last at a qualifying swim meet. Her best friend Hannah takes what Lou thought would be her spot at a prestigious swim training institute, and Lou dejectedly goes back to school, where her teammates won't speak to her and her coach tells her she's done. Lou resigns herself to a dull year, and then three boys desperate to win a TV talent competition recruit her to train them in synchronized swimming. Lou scrambles to learn about the sport, and things come humorously to a head when the group decides to rehearse in the fish- and marine mammal-filled tanks at a local aquarium. Rarely, if ever, in YA do you see a friendship among three boys and a girl where there is no romantic melodrama (a crush does develop, at a slow burn, between Lou and one of the boys). Lou's voice is irreverent and self-deprecating, and the way Luurtsema explores body image -- with Lou grappling with her perceptions about her athletic, decidedly-not-hourglass shape and trying to decide if she even cares whether boys look at her a certain way or not -- is refreshing. That, and the fact that Lou is biracial and suffers no identity crisis about it, sets her apart. If the premise of this British import feels somewhat unrealistic, and Lou's swim coach seems unnecessarily, impossibly cruel, Goldfish makes up for it with a protagonist who really acts and sounds her age. sarah hannah gómez