Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning writer and author of the young adult novels Dealing in Dreams, The Education of Margot Sanchez, the middle grade novel Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit, and the forthcoming Never Look Back by Bloomsbury. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Elle, to name a few.
"PRAISE FOR BARELY FLOATING: Booklist Best Books of 2023 (Editor's Choice) Kobo Best Books of 2023 (Kids) 2024 Rise: A Feminist Book Project List (Middle Grade: Fiction) 2024 Bank Street Best Children’s Books The Latinidad List Best Latino Books of 2023 ★ “Rivera’s layered, sparkling middle-grade debut is Julie Murphy’s Dumplin’ (2015) by way of Lisa Fipps’ Starfish (2021). . . . Display this empowering novel with Esther Williams’ classic Million Dollar Mermaid.” —Booklist, starred review ★ ""Rivera brings a freshness to a conventional middle-grade story with flowing prose that effortlessly captures the complicated and often conflicting emotions of being a tween, especially one who has to face microaggressions for being fat, brown, Latina, and not rich."" —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review ★ “In laugh-out-loud, blunt prose, Rivera cultivates a touching and unapologetically positive interpretation of one tween’s desire to break the mold.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review ""A body-positive story of growing up that’s sure to make a splash"" —Kirkus Reviews"