A girl with a secret she can’t control finds herself torn between a new life, a new love, and the waves that keep calling her home.
Kate Marchant’s Float, Volume 1 is a young adult graphic novel that perfectly captures the essence of a summer romance, making it a great fit for readers aged 12 to 16. The story follows seventeen-year-old Waverly Lyons, who is sent to Florida to live with her aunt after her parents’ difficult divorce. Trading the Alaskan cold for sun-drenched beaches, Waverly is determined to start fresh, but she’s hiding a major secret: she doesn’t know how to swim. Her aloof lifeguard neighbor, Blake Hamilton, discovers her secret and agrees to teach her. This arrangement sparks a slow-burn romance filled with friendship and tension, as Waverly navigates new social dynamics and confronts her fears.
For educators looking to support reluctant readers or English language learners, Float is an excellent resource. The graphic novel format makes the story immediately approachable, as C. J. Joaquin’s vibrant, anime-inspired illustrations carry much of the narrative weight. These visuals help students decipher character emotions and plot developments, reducing the cognitive load of reading dense text. The language is intentionally accessible, relying on simple sentence structures and everyday vocabulary with very few idioms, which ensures the dialogue-driven story flows smoothly. Praised by Kirkus Reviews for its “engaging characters and appealing, nostalgic artwork,” the book’s high-interest themes of romance and self-discovery, combined with its low-readability design, make it a strong choice for building reading confidence and engagement in any classroom library.
