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by Venus Bradley (Author)
Jesse Bolier has built his life around two things-water polo and secrets.
At sixteen, he is a star athlete at his private Catholic school, finally safe with the family who adopted him out of foster care. No one needs to know about the years before. Not about juvenile hall. Not about his drug addict mother. Not about the version of himself he is trying so hard to forget.
But when Jesse is forced to come to terms with his past, he finds everything rising to the surface. As painful truths come to light, Jesse is forced to confront questions he has spent his whole life avoiding: Why didn't his mom love him? What can he do to not be like her? What does it mean to be family? Will he ever be better?
Caught between championship dreams and a past that refuses to stay silent, Jesse must decide whether he should keep treading water or swim towards the future.
A powerful coming-of-age story about identity, forgiveness, friendship, and learning that surviving your past is only the beginning.
