Pages: 240
Published by Feiwel & Friends on June 7th 2016
Genres: Young Adult
Lou Brown is one of the fastest swimmers in the county. She’s not boasting, she really is. So things are looking pretty rosy the day of the Olympic time-trials. With her best mate Hannah by her side, Lou lines up by the edge of the pool, snaps her goggles on and bends into her dive…
Everything rests on this race. It’s Lou’s thing.
… or it was. She comes dead last and to top it all off Hannah sails through leaving a totally broken Lou behind.
Starting again is never easy, particularly when you’re the odd-one out in a family of insanely beautiful people and a school full of social groups way too intimidating to join. Where do you go from here? Finding a new thing turns out to be the biggest challenge Lou’s ever faced and opens up a whole new world of underwater somersaults, crazy talent shows, bitchy girls and a great big load of awkward boy chat.
Lou Brown guides us through the utter humiliation of failure with honesty, sass and a keen sense of the ridiculous. This girl will not be beaten.
Today I have the author Nat Luurtsema, of the new YA book, Goldfish here to answer one very important question. Why she would (or would not) make a great Olympic contestant. Thanks so much for being here at Book Briefs today Nat.
Why you (Nat) would or would not make a great Olympic contestant
I have it on very good authority that I would NOT make a good Olympic contestant because I actually tried, and failed, to become one! At 14 I was swimming for the school team and for my county and was prit-ty convinced I was Ol Whizzy Mc Fastlegs in the water. And I remember going for a times try-out (in GOLDFISH I have re-imagined it as a try-out for an Olympic Training Camp but I’m sure mine wasn’t so impressive) and I was left trailing behind everyone else, eating dust. Wet dust.
So I’m clearly not fast enough. And I don’t think the years since then, when I have been experimenting with Nutella and bacon fried sandwiches, have made me a faster athlete.
Plus, to be an Olympic contestant you have to be so dedicated to your training. Training training, every single day. Now, I am a dedicated writer. I write every single day because I love it, but the difference is that I can sit up in bed, pull my laptop and kitten towards me, prop them both on my knees, and begin! No wet ears, no aching muscles.
I’m pretty good under pressure though, I think that would be my one asset. Seven years of stand-up comedy and a dad who taught me to drive by saying “go on then, drive!” means I am fearless. And I know the airbags in my car DEFINITELY work.
Come see if author of #Goldfish, @NatLuurtsema thinks she would be a good #Olympic Contestant @FierceReads @BookBriefs Guest Post Share on X
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