A heartwarming coming-of-age tale about swimming, sisterhood, and principles.
With three high achievers for sisters, Chinese American sixth grader Esme Sun is sure she’ll never meet her mother’s expectations.
Esme is looking forward to spending summer vacation at the local pool with her swim team. But this year, her plans for a carefree summer run into problems—her teammate Tegan (who presents white) seems more interested in boys and fashion than swimming, and she chides Esme for being “too intense.” A misunderstanding leads to a prickly relationship between Esme and new girl Kaya, who’s Black, and the swim meets lead to unpleasant encounters with more competitive swimmers. Esme finds herself torn between trying to stay close to Tegan, despite her mean jabs, and making new friends at the pool. As she begins to excel at the meets and finally wins her mother’s approval, Esme also has to decide if it’s better to put herself first and focus on winning—as her mom advises—or uphold the true sporting spirit and teamwork that the swim meets represent. Told from Esme’s first-person perspective, this well-crafted tale deftly examines the pressures of success and the courage necessary to find one’s own path. The characters are well etched and relatable, and the story gracefully underscores the importance of talking through problems with empathy and tolerance. Shang also addresses racism and colorism; Esme’s stand and her decisions in the face of her longed-for approval from her mother will resonate with readers.
A heartwarming coming-of-age tale about swimming, sisterhood, and principles. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9781546115380
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: yesterday
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
A real gem.
A 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice.
India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi [Florida]. Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, it’s funny, too.
A real gem. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
SEEN & HEARD
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