A review by readtotheend
Aniana del Mar Jumps in by Jasminne Mendez

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

A wonderful middle grade novel in verse about a Dominican American girl who loves to swim and her new juvenile idiopathic arthritis diagnosis.  The mother-daughter relationship is complex in this one and some of the challenges Aniana faces in terms of having autonomy over her body as an adolescent and dealing with immigrant parents and how they see her new diagnosis definitely reminded me of Breathe and Count Back From Ten by Natalia Sylvester.  I think it's a great middle grade appropriate book on chronic illness and wonderful representation all around.