Verónica is a Peruvian-American teen dealing with painful hip dysplasia and her overbearing immigrant parents in this beautifully written young adult novel.

In Breathe and Count Back from Ten, Natalia Sylvester builds a tense world where Verónica struggles to stand up for herself. Her parents care for her well-being and live in great fear of all the mistakes they’re sure she’ll make. And they won’t let her live down the one she already made: she got caught in the pool with a boy whose hand was cupping her bottom as he whispered into her ear how weird it felt while laughing. Despite his cruelty, Verónica found it hard to pull away from him. Frozen, she realized she’d lost her voice and autonomy regarding her own body.

Verónica’s family lives in a small Florida town known for its Mermaid Cove. Here, skilled swimmers dance for audiences underwater, enticing viewers into a magical world where gravity doesn’t bear down on painful joints and walking is useless. Here, Verónica can only dream of how it would feel to be admired for her body, not viewed with curiosity or sympathy.

Introduced to swimming as a form of physical therapy for her hip, Verónica grew to love the feel of the water on her skin. It becomes her second home. She’s a skilled swimmer who secretly hopes to audition for a mermaid role one day. And one day comes sooner than she ever imagined. As Verónica pursues her dream, she also begins to reclaim her voice and body. As a disabled teenager whose parents are the ones doctors speak to, she’d always felt like she didn’t own her own body. Her pursuit of being a mermaid is not about the fantasy of living in a weightless, underwater world. It’s about reclaiming her voice and her body as her own.

Her hip dysplasia amplifies Verónica’s struggle as a child of immigrants, and her parents need to control her every move because they believe it’s the only way to keep her safe. Sylvester writes this relationship with keen insight, bringing readers into the characters’ family dynamics. She also gives voice to an often overlooked demographic: disabled teens. Teens often feel they can’t speak for themselves or have limited autonomy, adding a physical disability to the equation and self-actualization feels nearly impossible.

Verónica’s story is relatable in more ways than one and is sure to please readers of all backgrounds.