Aniana Del Mar Jumps In

Jasmine Mendez's Aniana Del Mar Jumps In is a sensitive and perceptive look at a topic too often overlooked in juvenile literature—chronic illnesses in childhood. It also touches on the further effects that parental attitudes can have.
Aniana sees herself as a dolphin. She lives to swim. She's a medal winning member of a swim team. She and her father have to keep this aspect of her life a secret. Her mother, whose brother drowned in childhood would never allow it.
Aniana begins to experience painful, debilitating symptoms. She tries to hide them. But when she can't get out of bed she's taken to a doctor who can't make a diagnosis. After a long, frustrating round of specialists it's determined that she has an auto-immune disease, juvenile idiopathic arthritis. It can't be cured once and for all. She must learn to manage it.
Meanwhile her mother has learned about the secret. She feels betrayed by her daughter disobeying her and her husband enabling her to do so. She has forbidden swimming even though Aniana's doctor says it would be beneficial. Aniana fears that, in addition to coping with pain and limitations, she'll have to give up the activity that makes her feel most free, most alive.
Mendez herself lives with a chronic auto-immune disease, scleradoma. She remembers the difficult adjustments it forced her to make. She hopes that other people learning to manage a chronic illness or disability will seee themselves in its pages.