ANIANA DEL MAR JUMPS IN, by Jasminne Mendez, Dial Books, March 14, 2023, Hardcover, $18.99 (ages 8-12)
Aniana del Mar Jumps In, by Jasminne Mendez follows a 12-year-old Dominican American swimmer who is diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
Aniana del Mar belongs in the water like a dolphin belongs to the sea. But she and Papi keep her swim practices and meets hidden from Mami, who has never recovered from losing someone she loves to the water years ago. That is, until the day Ani’s stiffness and swollen joints mean she can no longer get out of bed, and Ani is forced to reveal just how important swimming is to her. Mami forbids her from returning to the water but Ani and her doctor believe that swimming along with medication will help Ani manage her disease.
What follows is the journey of a girl who must grieve who she once was in order to rise like the tide and become the young woman she is meant to be. This is a story about chronic illness and disability, the secrets between mothers and daughters, the harm we do to the ones we love the most—and all the triumphs, big and small, that keep us afloat. —Synopsis provided by Dial Books
A novel-in-verse, Aniana del Mar Jumps In is a beautiful exploration of family dynamics, intergenerational trauma and bodily autonomy.
Jasminne Mendez’s verse has a gentleness to it while still hitting a punch. Her pauses, phrasing and use of different poetic forms — concrete/shape, Haiku, Tanka — echo the ebb and flow of the water Ani so desperately wants to swim in. The current that runs through them is accessible and electric. And young readers will especially be drawn to the words that quite literally take shape on the page.
Ani’s story unfolds in first-person, giving readers an intimate look at her vulnerabilities as well as her strengths. Her personal growth and the growth of her family members are experiences worth reading.
Aniana del Mar Jumps In is well worth your time.
*Aniana del Mar Jumps In is a Cybils-nominated book. This review is my opinion and not the opinion of the middle-grade fiction panel as a whole.
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