Girl Out Of Water by Nat Luurtsema

Lou's a swimmer. It's been her life since she was a little girl, so she's never had time to worry about school, boys or a social life. When her only friend moves away and Lou suddenly has to give up swimming, she finds she's terrifyingly poorly prepared for the treacherous waters of school. Mean girls baffle her and cool boys ignore her. No one wants to talk to the unusually tall girl with a weird affinity for fish. Her family (all beautiful, all bonkers, none of them with anything useful to say about how to escape being unpopular) don't really understand.

Then she receives a bizarre request — a group entering Britain's Hidden Talent want her to coach them in a souped-up version of synchronized swimming. They are boys and they are cool, and although they stop short of acknowledging they know her when in public, they do agree to pay her. Lou is unused to rebellion, but soon she's stealing giant tanks, breaking into aquaria and having alarming encounters with giant fish. It can only get weirder, and it does.

This book made me laugh so much. It's brilliant on the pressures of being in your early teens and the importance of friendship and individuality, but most of all it's just really funny. Nat Luurstema has used her skills as a stand-up comic to write a warm, character-driven book full of jokes and insight. Read it and be cheered up.

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