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Informationen zum Autor Jasminne Mendez is a best-selling Dominican-American poet, educator, translator, playwright and award winning author of several books for children and adults. She has had poetry and essays published in numerous journals and anthologies and she is the author of two multi-genre collections including Island of Dreams (Floricanto Press, 2013) which won an International Latino Book Award. Her debut poetry collection City Without Altar was a finalist for the Noemi Press poetry prize and was released in August 2022(Noemi Press) and her debut picture book Josefina’s Habichuelas (Arte Publico Press, 2021) was the Writer’s League of Texas Children’s Book Discovery Prize Winner. She has translated the work of NYT Best Selling authors Amanda Gorman, Nikole Hannah-Jones, René Watson and Calribel Ortega. She is an MFA graduate of the creative writing program at the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University and a University of Houston alumni. She is the Program Director for the literary arts non-profit Tintero Projects and she lives and works in Houston, TX. Klappentext "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. Aniana Del Mar Jumps In is a poignant 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"-- Leseprobe Prologue When I Learned to Swim Before my brother, Matti, is born before I learn how to keep secrets, before I learn what my name means and how it ties me to the water, Papi teaches me how to swim. Mami is away in the Dominican Republic visiting family and friends she hasn’t seen in years. I am six and still afraid of everything. Papi knows Mami won’t like it. But he decides it’s time for me to learn. The First Time I tremble near the edge of a pool. My knees KnOcK kNoCk KnOcK against each other. A warm August wind w h o o s h e s through my tangled curls, I almost let go of my Minnie Mouse towel when–– Papi nudges me a little closer to the edge. I jUmP back as if the pool is a sinkhole of blue flames. I squeal a high-pitched trumpet tingling my tonsils: No, no, no! I don’t want the water in my eyes in my nose in my lungs. Mami says that the water . . . Sssh mi reina, no pasa nada. Papi sits me on his lap, tells me a cuento para calmarme. Papi: The first time I swam in the green rivers of el campo, the current slapped me around until my arms began to flip and my legs began to flap and suddenly I was flying underwater. Your body will know how to handle the water as long as you don’t resist it. Jumping In Papi’s big b...
