Veró’s immigrant family came to the United States from Peru years ago seeking opportunities for Veró and her younger sister and better treatment options for Veró’s hip dysplasia. Now 17, Veró hates the way her immigrant parents are sometimes treated. She also sometimes hates the way they treat her, especially when it comes to sexist standards regarding her behavior. They are also overprotective, shielding Veró from medical information she wants to know. Excited to get a job at her town’s tourist attraction, Mermaid Cove—she’s dreamed of being a mermaid since she was a child—Veró doesn’t tell her parents, sure her father in particular wouldn’t approve, but can only keep her new job a secret for so long. Wonderfully developed characters and relationships propel this story culminating in a performance inspired by the Peruvian stories of Huacachina, reshaped by Veró to speak her own truth and advocate for others. Veró is confident of her capabilities, yet sometimes self-conscious about her disability; she’s an almost-adult longing for respect, even as she doesn’t always afford the same to her younger sister. This lively exploration of the complexities, and sometimes the contradictions, of Veró and her life touches on struggles of those around her as well, including her boyfriend Alex’s depression and Mermaid Cove management’s treatment of gender nonbinary Geoff, another performer. It's all perfectly weighted and a pleasure to read, thanks to the fine storytelling. (Age 13 and older)

A Pura Belpré Honor Book * A Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book for Teens

In this gorgeously written and authentic novel, Verónica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body.

Verónica has had many surgeries to manage her disability. The best form of rehabilitation is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool, but not just to strengthen her body.

Her Florida town is home to Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks . . . and Verónica wants to audition. But her conservative Peruvian parents would never go for it. And they definitely would never let her be with Alex, her cute new neighbor.

She decides it’s time to seize control of her life, but her plans come crashing down when she learns her parents have been hiding the truth from her—the truth about her own body.