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Breathing Underwater

by Abbey Lee Nash

Swimming, identity, and a changed summer

Regular price $17.09 USD
Regular price $28.49 USD Sale price $17.09 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

Swimming, identity, and a changed summer

Swimming has shaped Tess’s routines and sense of herself, so an epilepsy diagnosis changes more than her place on the team. Her summer shifts to medical appointments, missed practices, and a counter job while someone new takes the lifeguard chair she has held in past seasons. The story brings together questions of access in student athletics, the strain of a changing friendship, and Tess’s effort to find her way back to herself. A developing connection with Charlie sits alongside those concerns, within a portrait of a teenager negotiating health, belonging, and independence.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Teen and young adult readers interested in swimming and water sports
  • Readers seeking YA fiction that addresses epilepsy and inclusion in athletics
  • Readers interested in stories about friendship, love, and self-acceptance

Themes

Epilepsy and identityInclusion in student athleticsChanging friendshipsCommunity and loveSelf-acceptance

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

With one word, Tess's world could be completely undone:
Epilepsy.


Tess lives for swimming: the feel of the pool's rough edge on her toes, the snap of cold water on her skin, and the push of her limbs ever forward. In the water, she's truly alive.

Until tragedy strikes. And Tess is left navigating a summer of doctor visits, missed swim practices, a newly distant best friend, and a job stuck behind a counter--not sitting high in the lifeguard chair like every season before.

Instead, her spot goes to new guy Charlie. Although his messy hair and laid-back demeanor catch Tess's attention, this isn't really the time. She's got to focus on getting back in the pool--and on getting back to herself.

Lyrically and sensitively written, Breathing Underwater is a slice-of-life story with depth, exploring topics like epilepsy, inclusivity in student athletics, changing friendships, and the power of love and community. With warmth and wit, Abbey Lee Nash has crafted a moving portrait of a teen girl's journey to self-acceptance and life on her own terms.

Named to the YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults List
A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
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