Breathing Underwater

Focused and driven 17-year-old competitive swimmer Tess Cooper has worked hard to “construct the Jenga tower of my life with perfect precision,” and the forthcoming summer is no exception. Tess plans to lifeguard at the local pool while training for the race that will determine whether she secures a college athletic scholarship and cement her future swimming career. Instead, a seizure sidelines Tess with an unexpected diagnosis of epilepsy, and shifting dynamics at both home and the pool test her resolve. While Tess’s parents argue about what epilepsy means for her future, best friend and swim teammate Mac withdraws. Tess finds herself reluctantly confiding in Charlie, her hot new neighbor who replaces Tess on the lifeguard stand. Romance adds tension to watertight plotting in this fast-paced, compelling novel from Nash (Lifeline), but it’s the sensitive explorations of life with an invisible disability that anchor this empathetic story. With help from a support group, Tess reconciles her ambition and her diagnosis, and makes space for her emotions, surfacing with a more balanced sense of self that drives the narrative toward a hopeful, satisfying conclusion. Nash’s acknowledgments address the author’s experience with epilepsy. Main characters read as white. Ages 14–up. (Mar.)