Content: G.
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
After a recent move to Florida for her dad's job, Bree is excited to start at a new middle school. She makes a friend, Clara, at her apartment right away. Clara is on the swim team at school and Bree hopes for the Math Club as her elective. But, registering late, she finds Swimming 101 as her only available elective - and Bree doesn't know how to swim. After several skipped class periods where she hides in the library, afraid for anyone to know she's a non-swimmer, a neighbor (who used to be a swimmer herself in her youth) agrees to teach Bree to swim. In order to try to make up her grade, she makes a deal with the teacher to try out for the swim team and discovers that she's a fast swimmer.
Highly recommended. I'd heard a lot about Swim Team and was excited to read it. There's a good description by Ms. Etta of the segregated pools of the south and why many African Americans aren't swimmers. I loved the theme of being a team outside of the pool is as important as what happens in the pool. Bree also has a lot of self-doubt, and I loved how those "voices" were illustrated within the panels. The main characters are Black.
Lisa Librarian
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