Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC.

Book about being okay with being different. One young man with cerebral palsy and another struggling with sexual identity. Good YA novel.

Caterpillars Can’t Swim…but they do eventually morph into beautiful butterflies just as the relationship between three high school boys changes from ugly and awkward into something beautiful that breaks down barriers and saves a life in the process.

Wheelchair-bound Ryan becomes a local hero when he pulls an unconscious Jack out of a river and saves his life, but what could have been an ending is only the beginning as Ryan becomes entwined in Jack’s secretive, unhappy life.

Liane Shaw deftly handled issues such as homophobia, physical disability, depression, and suicide and portrayed them in a way that was gripping without being preachy or clichéd. Her characters were fresh and managed to escape so many of the stereotypes that are usually present in books about high schoolers. Cody could have easily been a one-dimensional jerk, but he had layers that were at times chopped right off to reveal surprising truths about himself. He was abrasive and rude and charming and even sweet in his own way. It’s rare that a reader wants to hug and slap a character all in the same paragraph, but Cody was definitely refreshing and believable in his reactions to Jack. I also liked Ryan from the start. He was snarky and funny and genuine. He was a perfect mix of someone who had accepted his disability and someone who occasionally got completely pissed off about being stuck in a wheelchair. His discomfort and uncertainty about Jack were palpable and made him real to me.

The lack of an insta-friendship was a welcome change. I enjoyed seeing the friendship between Ryan and Jack build over time. Their comradery required honesty and a slow-building trust which wouldn’t have been credible if it had been rushed. And I loved the ending. Jack’s problems didn’t just disappear with a new friendship. Everything wasn’t neat and tidy. The ending was scary and messy and let the reader know that Jack has a long road ahead of him, but that road just might end in a happier place.

Caterpillars Can’t Swim is not your typical YA story, and that is something I really enjoyed about it. This was my first Liane Shaw book, but her writing style and her approach to topics that can be difficult to write about in a fresh, non-stereotypical fashion really appealed to me, and I look forward to reading more of her work.

The book begins with Cerebral Palsy sufferer Ryan rescuing schoolmate Jack from drowning in a river. Due to the nature of the incident things start off rather awkward between them, but Ryan finds himself inviting Jack to attend Comic Con with him and his best friend Cody. It’s this that leads to an exploration of friendships, stereotypes and stigmatisation. For some reason I thought that the book had a male/male romance and so I was a little disappointed when this didn’t turn out to be the case (there is a gay main character though). Regardless this was a rather lovely read but unfortunately was far too short and could have done with another hundred pages or so in order for it not to end so rapidly. I enjoyed Ryan’s sarcastic/dry voice and his tendency to say the first thing that comes into his head, but wasn’t so keen on Cody and couldn’t quite bring myself to forgive his behaviour/comments. I felt Ryan’s portrayal of having CP struck the perfect balance between getting on with his life as ‘normal’ and the extra challenges he has to face. The Comic Con adventure was ok but served more as a character development opportunity than being about the convention itself. The book had the potential for a higher rating but sadly the quick ending let it down. Warnings for homophobia and attempted suicide.

Thank you very much for allowing me to read this title; I am trying to read as widely as possible ahead of the Carnegie/Greenaway nominations and awards for 2018 and your help is much appreciated.
As a Carnegie/Greenaway judge, I'm not allowed to comment about my opinions on specific titles so I can't offer an individual review on any title as I stated on my profile.

I was given the opportunity to read an electronic copy of Caterpillars Can't Swim. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Confined to a wheelchair most of the day because of cerebral palsy, which has left him limited use of his lower legs and feet, Ryan Malloy feels free and happy when he is swimming with the high school team. After Ryan saves a fellow student from drowning, he soon realizes that there is more to life than just swimming. As his eyes open up to the world around him, will Ryan become more than he thought possible?

Looking beyond yourself and helping others is not often the subject of a YA novel featuring a young man as the main character, so I was pleasantly surprised by Caterpillars Can't Swim. Ryan is a strong, determined teenager whose life gets thrown a curve ball after he saves another student. Cody, Ryan's best friend, is portrayed as a typical jock teenager, but even he has layers to him. Both help Jack in different ways, which makes the book seem more realistic. Caterpillars Can't Swim is a well written novel with great characters. I would recommend it to other readers, especially teens who are struggling or who know others who may be. This book will help open a dialogue, not only between parents and teens, but can also be a helpful tool for educators, counselors, or other professionals.

I am having a difficult time with Young Adult novels these days. Most of the time I find them too cheesy and not believable and this is why I usually keep my hands off them. Only when a blurb really piques my interest do I pick it up. "Caterpillars Can't Swim" was one of those novels.

Ryan and Jack can't be more different: Ryan sits in a wheelchair and swims successfully for the school's swimteam. Jack on the other hand is a loner and the kid everyone picks on, since the school is full of rumors about his sexuality. When Ryan saves Jack from drowning, their lives become connected, whether they like it or not. Ryan keeps his promise to Jack and doesn't tell anyone about that day, although he knows that Jack needs help. In an attempt to do so, he invites Jack to accompany him and his best friend Cody to Comic Con. Now the three will get the chance to defy society's stereotypes.

With "Caterpillars Can't Swim", Liane Shaw addresses some very important subject matter and disability is one of those. Due to a medical condition, Ryan is tied to a wheelchair. Although he can't walk, he is still able to compete in swim competitions for his school. Because the novel is told in Ryan's POV, the reader learns a lot about being in a wheelchair in general, being the only person in town with such a disability and how people react to a person in a wheelchair. Ryan doesn't want to be pitied or get privileges because of his disability, he wants to be treated like everyone else. He is not always happy with the fate that is his life, but he still makes the best of it and handles it with a great amount of self-confidence. Despite all the self-confidence, he still wonders why some people treat him like he has a contagious disease.

"Some people seem afraid of me, like they'll catch whatever I have and forget how to walk or something."

The other important subject matter Shaw addresses is homosexuality. In the book, the kids at Ryan's high school assume that Jack is gay. They call him names, bully him and make his life miserable in general, even though they don't know for sure whether Jack is gay or not. They just do it because it's cool and Jack is an easy target. I don't think one can generalize Jack's situation in the book. I'm certain that there are many positive stories out there in this world about homosexual kids or homosexual adults, but I'm also certain that there are many stories that are just like Jack's or very similar. And that fact alone makes me upset and sad. Why are people so malicious? There's nothing wrong with being gay. What's wrong is the people who make them feel they are not worth a dime.
Shaw's story about Jack was moving and she conveyed his fears and anxiety perfectly. It's the kids who suffer most from it. People shouldn't try to fix them, they should accept and most of all love them for what and who they are.

"No one cares if it's a boy or a girl.
It's just a caterpillar that changed into a butterfly.
And it's okay and right and normal."

Besides the important subject matter, the story was nice and solid. I enjoyed reading the story from Ryan's POV. He had a fun sense of humor and a fun way of seeing things. Although he felt uncomfortable at first, he handled Jack's situation perfectly.
The ending, however, was not what I expected. It was abrupt and left me with many questions. I don't know if the reader should make up his or her own mind about the ending or if Liane Shaw plans a sequel to this book. If she doesn't plan a sequel, I would've wished for a better conclusion.

From the outset, it is clear that this book is going to contain LESSONS for the reader about having TOLERANCE for and not making ASSUMPTIONS about people with a different life experience than their own. I suppose that's part and parcel of the YA genre and maybe having that intent so in your face is part of why I skipped over that genre even when I was a young adult. Then again, maybe it was just boring to be given lessons in things that were already second nature.

Looking at current political leadership in much of America, accepting differences and spurning prejudices are clearly lessons many Americans have thus far failed to learn. They'd do well to pick up [author:Liane Shaw|2973083]'s Caterpillars Can't Swim which has a realness to it that's more graceful than gritty.

The main conflict in the story has to do with Jack, an unpopular and troubled schoolmate of Ryan through whose eyes the story is told. Ryan lives life in a chair and as he is the only one in his school in a wheelchair, the challenges he has in socializing - especially with girls - are unique to him. Jack, on the other hand, is perpetually being harassed and bullied for being gay - though he hasn't come out to anyone. Jack doesn't seem certain of many aspects of his identity (sexual, gender) but the one thing he's sure of is that life itself is becoming too much of a burden to bear.

Ryan, Jack, and even Ryan's friend Cody, all must sort out for themselves how they're going to face the challenges of BEING DIFFERENT from someone else, whether that difference is found in themselves, in a friend, or in a complete stranger.

It's a good book, entertaining and well-written. I suspect that it's mostly going to serve as a feel good story for readers who already have learned the lessons the story contains. It doesn't strike me as the sort of book that people with closed minds are likely to pick up and read.

This book is about so much more than friendship, or the difficulties of being in a wheelchair, or being gay. It is about acceptance - self-acceptance and acceptance from others. The characters each struggle with who they are and how others view them. I really liked the boys and felt deeply their struggles with life's most difficult situations. Well done.

It's more like 3.5/5.

I really enjoyed the book at the beginning, but I ended it with a total indifference, it was not what I expected and I felt the story needed more pages to finish it the way it deserved. But what I did like is that Ryan is an unique/diverse character from all the YA books I'm used to read. Not only because he's in a wheelchair, also because his story is more about friendship than romance (and that is something that I seriously appreciate).


The first part of the story was truly good. I enjoyed reading Ryan's POV and the implications of saving Jack. Reading about his life and what it means for him to live in a wheelchair and stand annoyance and questions. It was a completely addictive reading, I wanted to know more and more about how the story would finish.

But, at the end, I was a bit dissappointed about how the Jack's problems were handled. Not only for the thing about the bridge, but also his kinda-strange friendship with Ryan. I felt he needed a better ending and a better explanation, that was the most weak issue in the book.

Idk, it's a book I enjoyed but I found it kinda simple in some things. But I would recommend it for three reasons:
a) The GLBT+ theme and the diversity. And for how Jack could made a friendship with Ryan, even though Ryan is a ""normal guy"".
b) Ryan suffers from a illness I had never read in other book before. And I was very curios to know more about it and investigate more about that illness.
c) It's an easy read. And I notice the writer's effort to creater a story that breakes the “mold”.

It's a decent book, and pretty realisic. But the realism made the main character really unlikable. I actually kind of hated him.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this for review.

Caterpillars Can't Swim is an upcoming YA contemporary about wheelchair-bound swimmer Ryan who saves a class mate from drowning and the challenges that follow. This book incorporated great diversity - LGBTQIA+, mental health and disability.

I thought the author did a fantastic job of representing a main character with Cerebral Palsy and I appreciate this as I do not see this enough in YA literature. Furthermore, as someone with CP themselves, I could really emphasise with the challenges Ryan faced, emotionally and socially, due to his physical disability.

Unfortunately, not all the characters were likeable, but I think that was the point. I especially appreciate how Ryan's best friend viewed him as an individual, rather than being defined by his disability.

Would of loved to see the ending fleshed out a bit more - I thought this was a bit too short. I definitely won't hesitate to pick up anything else from this author.

(I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

Ryan is a star swimmer on the school swim team and gearing up for a trip to Comicon with his best friend Cody. He’s never had a real girlfriend and his little brother’s the typical pest. One day, as he wheels to the river like usual, his life completely changes – he rescues Jack from drowning. Now, he’s the town hero (the boy in the wheelchair saves someone’s life!), but what if Jack didn’t want to be saved? Ryan must navigate a new friendship and a dark truth.

As a 9th grade teacher, I’m always on the lookout for new fiction to add to my classroom library. Shaw checks a lot of boxes with this one – a diverse cast of characters, big questions about gender and sexuality, and an excellent portrayal of bullying. And yet, she does all of these things without being pedantic, and shares amazing insight from 20 years in education.

I LOVED this book.

-It was a fun story, and I especially loved the portrayal of Comicon. Shaw really captured the experience, all the way down to there being nowhere to sit down at lunchtime!

-I loved Ryan as a character. He is /good/, but sometimes better than his friends want him to be. He also does an amazing job of showing the Good Face, even while fighting his own emotions. I really like that, because it shows that Goodness is a thing that we can all learn and work towards in every situation, and that people aren’t just magically Good without trying.

-I was skeptical about a book with three male characters carrying the show (Ryan, Jack, and Ryan’s best friend, Cody) because, hello, Bechdel Test? Admittedly, this book does not pass the BT, BUT it has a few stand-out moments with a well-developed secondary character, Claire. I can’t tell you more without spoilers, but she’s amazing.

There you are. This is an excellent light read that tackles heavy issues, and I strongly recommend it for your classroom library.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. I definitely liked this book but it was not about what I thought the story was going to be. Ryan is a swimmer who has CP and is stuck in a wheelchair. Jack is confused about his sexuality, or not totally confused but unable to tell anyone else that he is gay. Ryan ends up saving Jack's life when Jack kind of drifts into the river and is a poor swimmer. I love how they become friends. Ryan has his swim team friends but they are pretty superficial, including his best friend Cody. He and Jack talk a little, and Ryan begins to wants to help Jack be happier after they get to know each other better. On their trip to the Comic Con, all three of them start out uncomfortable with each other, but as the weekend progresses, they each learn more about the other two. Jack is slowly coming to terms with being gay and Ryan definitely learns how to have a real friendship with someone. Ryan is a great character, he is super funny, smart and sarcastic. I love all the stuff he thinks/says. I feel bad for Jack but as the story progresses he definitely gets stronger and learns more how to be himself both from the boys that he met at the Con and from Ryan as well.

Although MM YA is one of my fave genres to read, this is going to be have to be a DNF for me, the first 25% move at a glacial pace and when I skimmed to the end to see how it ended, it was literally the exact same as the beginning. The pacing seemed so slow and just drawn out.

To start out, this book is not even remotely a romance novel. It’s a book about life, growing up, friendships, hardships, family, love, and a combination of those.

I do believe I’m the wrong target audience for this book so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped. I felt like this book was a YA novel written for young adults instead of being of the YA genre (if that distinction makes sense to you).

That being said, the story being told was a good one, an important one. It’s real, the people are real – warts and all. It touches on very heavy subjects that are often undermined and ignored. I believe this book is a good way to create awareness to a wide range of topics and self-reflection that young people might not have thought about before; disabilities, mental illness, sexual orientation, but also friendship and family.

A great book to read for a younger audience!

I was provided with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What is the greatest fear we all have? Is it that we won't be loved? Do we fear that because we don't want to be alone? And when we are kids, we want our parents to love us. This is why coming out is so hard. It is not only society that might reject you, but your own parents, and then what do you have, if you are still living with them?

This is that story, but as told by Ryan, who is not gay, who is wheelchair bound, but is an excellent swimmer, and how he saves Jack, who is gay, but does not know how to cope with the idea that he will be rejected by his mother.

Some might say that seems an odd thing to base a book on. Why can't he just come out, and be done with it. But, life in small towns is not like that. It is not easy.

I sympathize. I was crying in bits of this book. It is hard to come out, and I didn't until I was far from home.

The kids are very likable, if a little annoying because they are so typical. Ryan doens't know what to say. Jack is sultan and Cody, Ryan's best friend, is cavalier, and a joker. Sometimes you want them to say the right thing, sometimes they do, sometimes they put their foot into it. But in all, they are human.

I like that they go to a comic book convention to find their people. That part is very true, having done the same when I was younger. There is nothing quite so empowering as finding like-minded people.

So, though it was a little slow, in the middle, it did make me cry, and read it when I should be working, so four stars all around.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book.

Let me start by saying that I read this book in a matter of hours. Its not to long and its not to short and it is filled with angst as well as triggers.

I think that this book is very good for any kid that is coming of age. Or who needs help identifying themselves.

Mare~Slitsread
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Overall this was a decent book. I have never read a book about a person dealing with cerebral palsy but it was pretty eye opening the issues someone with a wheelchair really faces. I really loved how being in a chair does not stop ryan from swimming or doing what he wants to do. This book did not go the way i thought it would go which was good but the ending left me wanting to read more! I enjoyed this book!

5 Stars! This is a book you will not be able to put down!

I decided to read this book because I was browsing Netgalley and the title and cover looked fascinating. I was awarded this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The blurb promised I would find an unlikely friendship between two very different unconventional teen boys and it delivered with a fantastic story and unforgettable characters.

Ryan finds happiness and independence in the water where he is free of his wheelchair and the mobility issues that make him very different from everyone else. One day in the very early morning hours, Ryan becomes an instant hero when he rescues fellow classmate Jack after he falls into the river. The question is did Jack fall or did he jump? Only Jack and Ryan know the truth. Like Ryan, Jack is also very different from his fellow classmates and is struggling immensely with his sexuality. The two boys form a friendship, and together with Ryan’s friend Cody embark on a trip to Comic Con where the three boys find unique friendship despite their differences and stereotypes.

I enjoyed Caterpillars Can’t Swim a lot as you can tell from my star rating. Once I started this book I burned through the pages. I am recommending this book to everyone! It was an incredible story with fantastic dialog and amazing characters. I absolutely loved the three main characters Ryan, Jack, and Cody. The story is told from Ryan’s perspective. You immediately love Ryan because of his struggles with his own disability from cerebral palsy coupled with societies stereotypes of disabled people. Ryan learns through his friendship with Jack that he’s open minded and tolerant of people that don’t fit into a specific societal mold. Jack though battling with his own identity and self esteem turns out to be this wonderful person and fantastic friend to Ryan. Cody is Ryan’s best friend and fellow swim team athlete. He is the typical jock filled with enough confidence to fill the pool him and Ryan swim in and the prejudice to go along with it. What I loved about Cody was his obliviousness about Ryan’s disability and eventually his acceptance of Jack’s sexuality. Cody even being extremely arrogant is this clever and funny kid with a heart of gold. Of all the characters Cody seemed the most realistic to me. He would say the most ridicules and sometime hateful things but it made you love love him and his flaws. The only thing I can say about this book that I found peculiar is why this book is listed under the genre LGBT, Teens/YA. The main focus of this book is not a M/M relationship but is instead about prejudice, tolerance, and eventual acceptance of people different from oneself.

While I did enjoy "Caterpillars Can't Swim" quite a bit, it's definitely not like the type of YA story that I typically read.

The story is told entirely from the perspective of Ryan, who is tied to his wheelchair, due to cerebral palsy in his legs, below his knees. He's on the swim team and, other than his disability, he's a fairly average teenager.

Next we have Jack, who is bullied because he's gay, small and unassuming. He's deathly afraid to come out to his religious mother, which is one of the reasons that he ends up nearly drowning, then being saved by Ryan.

I'm not really sure how I feel about the tentative 'friendship' that ensues between Ryan and Jack, which doesn't really feel like a true friendship. It honestly feels like Ryan now has a duty to continue protecting Jack, especially from himself.

I'm not a huge fan of that. At no point during the story do I remember Ryan actually saying that Jack *is* his friend. The one point in the story where Jack asks Ryan to be there for him, while he finally confronts his greatest fear, Ryan wants to bail and only goes after being convinced by a pretty girl, then expresses that "I’m wishing I was anywhere else in the whole world." To me, that is not actual friendship.

This story feels more like an after school special, about a handicapped, straight boy, whose life intersects, somewhat unwillingly, with someone very different from himself, and that someone just happens to be gay.

I do appreciate that Ryan, knowing what it's like to be different, does truly accept Jack for who he is; however, his 'friendship' still feels like it was held at arm's length.

I also do appreciate that Ryan's egotistical best friend, Cody, does eventually move from begrudgingly tolerating Jack (and his differences) to somewhat more of an acceptance, even if that only happens once Cody witnesses first-hand just how dire Jack's situation really is.

My friends will ask, so I'll just say it up front. This is not a romance. I definitely wouldn't categorize it as M/M, either, mainly because there is no second "M" to be found here.

Also, while the story ends on a positive note, we only know that Jack survives. At least for now.

I do wish there was an epilogue to the story, one in which we see Jack actually *thrive*. Possibly a few years in the future, when Jack has escaped the small, homophobic town and finds his tribe. His happy.

Overall, I'd rate the story at at just under 3.5 stars, as it was well-written and believable, even if it wasn't quite what I was hoping for.