Nat Luurtsema

Funniest book I’ve read in a LONG time! I was laughing so hard in public that I had tears streaming down my face, with people staring and starting to laugh themselves.

Lou (short for Louise) has had one goal in life: make the British team to train for the Olympics in swimming. Today is the trial to be selected for the High Performance Training Camp. Today is not a good day--she comes in last. Failure has never happened before. Her best friend, Hannah, does amazingly well and will be show more leaving Lou to attend the Training Camp in a town three hours away. For the first time, Lou is without her best friend and will attend school alone. She’s never cared about school and quickly discovers that she is uneducated and has no friends. Operation get friends ensues. Her attempts to answer questions in class are amusing.

Lou lives with her family, and they all have a great sense of humor. Her parents are divorced, but her dad lives in their tiny home because he lost his job and needs a place to live. Be prepared for puns and a funny family dynamic. Because her family is supportive and humorous, Lou has a pretty good sense of who she is. She knows who is popular, who is mean, and who isn’t worth one’s time. She is who she is and just needs to find some people with whom to enjoy being friends. Three handsome boys end up hiring her to teach them synchronized swimming in order to audition for Britain’s Got Talent. Being seen with these guys will help her gain some good notice (usually when she’s noticed it is because of her clumsiness) and she’ll earn some money. As Lou coaches the boys, she finds friends yet worries about Hannah who seems to be too stressed at the Training Camp.

There are so many hilarious scenes. The author is a stand-up comic and is also a screenwriter. It shows. You’ll see these scenes in your head and know that a movie would be awesome. It’s so nice to read a well-written, hilarious book about a family that gets along and cares about each other and others outside the family. Stop NOW and read this novel! show less

I thoroughly enjoyed Goldfish. Lou is a wonderful mix of strong and awkward, with a quick wit and a self-deprecating tone. Her relationship with her sister and parents was fun and believable, and her angst in returning to school without her best friend and as a "normal" student for the first time (as a non-swimmer) was palpable and cringe-worthy at times.

The storyline was outrageous and fun (and for the disbelievers, yes, a synchronized swim team did compete on Britain's Got Talent in 2012, show more so none of this is out of the realm of believability). Having a child play a competitive sport, the response of Hannah's parents was equally realistic (and unfathomable).

I admit, I struggled with why she would have to quit what sounded like the school swim team when she didn't qualify for the performance school, and at times, the wording felt a bit bi-polar, as if some of the wording was edited for a US reader (but leaving some British slang and terminology).

What a fun read for young adults (and this grown up) alike! I'll be recommending this on my blog as a great pick for summer reading

Disclosure: I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. show less

Although the cover looks too juvenile, the story is appreciated by 7th grade & up, especially by but not limited to swimmers or sports-oriented teens. Lou[ise] struggles with who she is after she's no longer identified as a swimmer. It has a funny, fast-moving plot.

I received a free copy of Goldfish from the Goodreads Giveaway. I normally don't read YA and I don't think I realized that this book was in that genre when I signed up for it, but I am glad I did. What a hysterically funny, clean book! Lou is a teenage girl who fails to place in a swimming meet that will earn her a place to train for the Olympics. Tall and not at all popular, she coaches three teenage boys in a choreographed underwater dance routine. What follows is a series of mishaps but show more somehow Lou manages to come out on top. Definitely an entertaining read for teens and adults! show less