- Age: Intermediate - Middle School

- About a girl who starts at a new school and goes from hating the pool to discovering her love for it and all the friendships she makes along the way.

- Yes, I will have this in the classroom because there is never enough books about swimmers and I know I always wanted to read more about swimming as a kid.

From The Horn: "The accessible illustrations add to the humorous (and sometimes serious) moments within the text. The book also introduces readers to the history of Black people being denied access to public pools, which limited their ability to learn to swim."

Summary:
Swim Team is about a young girl, Bree, who moves to a new school and has to join the swim team because it is the only elective that is left. The challenge is she does not know how to swim! With some support from her neighbor and friends she is able to learn to swim and they are able to compete against the rival school, Holyoke Prep. Will they be able to beat the prestigious school?

Thoughts:
Graphic novels are a genre I am growing to love. Personally, it is not a go to genre to read, but the last few I have read I have enjoyed. I know my students love them! It would be a book that would connect with many different readers touching on the topics of swimming, friendship challenges, cultural barriers, family dynamics, and overcoming obstacles. It would also be attainable to many different readers to read the text since the high visual support.

I liked the way the author used some modern phrases and actions with the characters. Using terms like “Bet” when the middle schoolers are talking to each other. The modern slang will be approachable for many middle grade readers. ( )

Liked the characters, history lesson, and middle school setting. Will recommend this book to kids who like contemporary fiction, books about friends, middle school, sports. Liked how Bree over came her anxiety about swimming and how the author/illustrator depicted her inner thoughts. ( )

Loved this! Cute artwork, relatable, and informative. The little team of swimmers was fun and felt like kids.

I adore how this delved a little bit into why “some” Black people in America did not swim/didn’t know how to swim historically. Short answer: segregation. I think kids will root for Clara after seeing her progression throughout the story.

Anywho, this is what my soul craves. More graphic novels and comics with Black leads. The shoutouts to Soul food and West Indian food warmed my heart.

SN: I think it’s so fun that the author’s last name is Christmas. ( )