Like Water

July 15, 2017
When Savannah Espinoza's dad was diagnosed with Huntington's disease three years ago, her small-town New Mexico life went stagnant.Paralyzed by a secret fear that she, too, has inherited the hereditary disease, Vanni, a Latina, has abandoned her dreams of swimming on a college team and isolated herself from her friends. She now plans to spend the summer after graduation hooking up with boys and working at her family's Mexican restaurant. Things are stirred up when she meets pugnacious Leigh Clemente, a white girl, who's recently moved to New Mexico and wants nothing more than to leave. A turbulent relationship blossoms between the two, both of whom have their own reasons for feeling stuck. While Leigh's character shines, Vanni's personality is hard to pin down, which leaves the first-person, present-tense narration somewhat flat. Still, Vanni's well-crafted arc ends powerfully when she makes a hard choice in order to finally take charge of her life. Also well-handled are Leigh's genderqueer identity and Vanni's bisexuality, through which Podos affirms that identity is something people come to in their own time, on their own terms. Additionally, the author richly and authentically describes the culture of a small New Mexico town, while welcomingly unitalicized Spanish enriches Vanni's interactions with friends and family. A worthwhile addition to collections of contemporary romance with depth. (Fiction. 14-18)

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September 1, 2017

Gr 8 Up-Vanni is stuck in small-town New Mexico, dreams of college dashed by her father's diagnosis of a chronic condition that will soon render him unable to care for himself. Loyal to her parents and their hard-earned family business (and fearful of whether this genetic condition has been passed down to her), she has resigned herself to a life of restaurant-work drudgery, flings with local boys, and watching her friends go out into the world without her. When she meets Leigh and Lucas, twins who have recently relocated from the northeast, things shift for Vanni in ways she never expected. Initially drawn to Lucas, she soon realizes that Leigh fascinates her more than any boy she's ever met. The two young women soon fall deeply in love, leading Vanni question her sexual identity. Leigh is mischievous and daring, pushing Vanni out of her comfort zone (and sometimes into trouble, like getting fired from the local water park where she played a mermaid). She is also critical of Vanni's resignation and insists that she, Leigh, will be leaving New Mexico the moment she turns 18. Their relationship is passionate and rocky, but ultimately life-changing for Vanni. A strong coming-of-age story, if at times just slightly predictable for sophisticated readers, this book should have wide appeal for teens who feel trapped by their circumstances and family obligations. VERDICT A good selection for most YA shelves.-Nora G. Murphy, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, CA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 Vanni Espinoza's plans to escape her tiny New Mexico town come to a screeching halt when her dad is diagnosed with Huntington's disease. Instead of attending college, she's working at her family's restaurant and amusing herself by fooling around with any guy she's fleetingly interested in. She's shaken out of her routine, however, when she finds herself drawn to surly, genderqueer Leigh. As Vanni and Leigh's relationship gets more intense, Vanni struggles to maintain her aloof attitude, especially when Leigh's own demons become harder to ignore. Podos perfectly captures the comforting yet cloistering feeling of living in a rural town, particularly for Vanni, who also feels stuck by the possibility of a debilitating illness. While Vanni's character ultimately seems a bit amorphous, Podos nevertheless offers a refreshing change of pace: Vanni's realization about her bisexuality is satisfyingly matter-of-fact, and her relationship with Leigh faces realistic teenage troubles. As much about self-discovery as it is about love, this moving coming-of-age tale is an ideal choice for fans of Nina LaCour's We Are Okay (2017).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
The summer after graduation, Vanni Espinoza is feeling adrift in her small New Mexico town; she's also surprised to find herself falling for another girl, Leigh. Vanni's relationships with Leigh and with her own family (including her father, recently diagnosed with Huntington's disease) are richly textured. Spanish words are incorporated naturally into English conversations. Readers will likely be invested in the characters' stories--and their futures.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 1, 2017
Before her father's Huntington's disease diagnosis, ?Savannah ("Vanni") Espinoza thought her life was on track: leave her small New Mexico town, maybe swim for a Division II college. Now it's the summer after graduation, and Vanni is feeling adrift. She's working at the family restaurant, hooking up with guys, and trying not to think about the medical test she can take now that she's eighteen that can predict whether or not she has inherited her father's Huntington's genetics. At her second job as a "mermaid" at a nearby water park, she meets handsome Lucas and his prickly sister Leigh--and is surprised to find herself falling for Leigh. Their relationship is satisfyingly complex, both in times of tenderness and moments of self-destruction (both characters can be real jerks). The relationships between Vanni and each of her parents, too, are richly textured, while Leigh's brother Lucas is the best older sibling a person could ask for. Spanish words and phrases (unitalicized) are incorporated into the English conversations in a natural-seeming way. The writing style can be uneven, occasionally straining for metaphor and lyricism ("Every time I lied to my friends or let them lie to me, it felt like I was carving pieces out of myself to give to them") alongside the mundane or vulgar ("If Santa Cruz Lake was cold, Mermaid Cove at the Lost Lagoon is icy as a Viking's balls"). But readers will likely be invested in the characters' stories--and their futures. elissa gershowitz

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)