She explores the hard and beautiful places loss can take us and honors those who hold us tightly when the current wants to tug us out to sea. Or maybe - maybe, maybe, maybe - there's a third way Biz just can't see yet.ĭebut author Helena Fox tells a story about love and grief, about inter-generational mental illness, and how living with it is both a bridge to someone loved and lost and, also, a chasm. Might it be easier, better, sweeter to float all the way away? Or maybe stay a little longer, find her father, bring him back to her. Dad disappears and with him, all comfort. And Biz knows how to float, right there on the surface - normal, okay, regular, fine.īut after what happens on the beach - first in the ocean, and then in the sand - the tethers that hold Biz steady come undone. And she doesn't tell anyone about her dad. Not about her dark, runaway thoughts, not about kissing Grace or noticing Jasper, the new boy. And she has her dad, who tells her about the little kid she was, and who shouldn't be here but is. She has her people, her posse, her mom, and the twins. Will take your breath away." (Kathleen Glasgow, author of Girl in Pieces )Ī stunningly gorgeous and deeply hopeful portrayal of living with mental illness and grief, from an exceptional new voice.īiz knows how to float. How It Feels to Float is a beautifully crafted story of finding hope and love when both appear to be gone forever.A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best of the Year This is a frank story of mental illness, loss and sexual identity, and Fox responsibly concludes her story with information and support services for readers facing similar issues. In order to connect with her father, she will have to do the hard work of confronting her PTSD and unresolved grief. As she connects with a new boy at school named Jasper (whose sexual orientation is also undefined) and an older female mentor, Biz’s narration occasionally turns from prose to poetry. In this lyrical story, we follow Biz as she sets out to find her lost father. As she finds herself alone, Biz may start to understand what it’s like for her father to float, “to watch and not be seen.”
Worst of all, her father disappears one night while she’s at the beach. And when rumors about her sexuality start to spread around school, the Posse officially shuns her. She discovers that she may be attracted to Grace, but her sexual orientation is still a conundrum. But Biz also feels at home among her self-described “Posse” of classmates and with her best friend, Grace.ĭuring Biz’s junior year, her life starts to unravel. Biz, as she’s called by friends and family, finds comfort in his ghostly presence and indulges in his stories about her childhood and his love for her mother. In Australian author Helena Fox’s debut, How It Feels to Float, 17-year-old Elizabeth’s father still appears to her 10 years after his death.
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