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A review by bookishrealm
Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas
5.0
If you haven't read this middle grade graphic novel, you are officially missing out. I'm a firm believer that middle grade graphic novels authors and artists are out here doing some amazing work. Swim Team is no different.
I've been interested in Swim Team since it made it's debut, but it took me forever to get to it. The book focuses on a young girl by the name of Bree who is moving with her dad to a new state. While she's both excited and nervous about attending her new middle school, she becomes even more overwhelmed when she discovers that Swim 101 is the only elective left for her to take. Unable to swim, Bree works with friends and neighbors to overcome her fear of the water and help the middle school swim team become better than they've been in years.
One of my favorite aspects of this graphic novel was the blending of fact and fiction. While it does focus on Bree's fear of the water, it also delves into the reason why so many Black individuals don't know how to swim. It's all linked to segregation and Jim Crow when Black families were not permitted to swim in public pools. This eventually led to a lower likelihood that Black community members would be able to swim. Christmas does the perfect job of utilizing this historical fact to build the background stories of both Bree's father and their neighbor Ms. Etta. There are also themes of friendship, bullying, kindness, familial expectations and more that middle grade readers will be able to connect with. I enjoyed that the friendships weren't perfect and that they had to make conscious efforts to make things work.
Overall, this was a great read. I enjoyed so many different elements including the artwork which was fun and vibrant and engaging. I'm hoping that we get a second book in this series so that we can get more information about the repercussions for the coach at the other school.
I've been interested in Swim Team since it made it's debut, but it took me forever to get to it. The book focuses on a young girl by the name of Bree who is moving with her dad to a new state. While she's both excited and nervous about attending her new middle school, she becomes even more overwhelmed when she discovers that Swim 101 is the only elective left for her to take. Unable to swim, Bree works with friends and neighbors to overcome her fear of the water and help the middle school swim team become better than they've been in years.
One of my favorite aspects of this graphic novel was the blending of fact and fiction. While it does focus on Bree's fear of the water, it also delves into the reason why so many Black individuals don't know how to swim. It's all linked to segregation and Jim Crow when Black families were not permitted to swim in public pools. This eventually led to a lower likelihood that Black community members would be able to swim. Christmas does the perfect job of utilizing this historical fact to build the background stories of both Bree's father and their neighbor Ms. Etta. There are also themes of friendship, bullying, kindness, familial expectations and more that middle grade readers will be able to connect with. I enjoyed that the friendships weren't perfect and that they had to make conscious efforts to make things work.
Overall, this was a great read. I enjoyed so many different elements including the artwork which was fun and vibrant and engaging. I'm hoping that we get a second book in this series so that we can get more information about the repercussions for the coach at the other school.