Bree, a center faculty math fanatic, has simply moved to Palmetto Shores, Florida, together with her dad so he can attend a expertise coaching program. Bree’s friendship together with her new neighbor Clara helps alleviate the nerves of attending a brand new faculty, however catastrophe strikes on the primary day of courses: Almost each elective, together with the maths puzzles course Bree had regarded ahead to, is full. Bree’s solely possibility is Swim 101. The issue? Bree is terrified of swimming pools and doesn’t know the way to swim.
It seems that Palmetto Shores is totally obsessive about swimming, from the flamboyant prep faculty that all the time wins the state championship, to the diner whose menu is filled with pool puns (“Sea Biscuits,” “Orca Julius”), to Bree’s personal Enith Brigitha Center College, named after the girl who grew to become the primary Black athlete to win an Olympic medal in swimming. Bree’s new buddies, Clara and Humberto, alongside together with her neighbor Miss Etta, persuade Bree to face her fears and study to swim. When Bree seems to have a pure expertise for racing, she joins the swim workforce with Clara and begins to embrace the water, creating a ardour for the way in which competing makes her really feel. However confronted with stiff competitors from Holyoke Prep, mounting stress among the many workforce and a busy schedule that forestalls Bree’s dad from attending meets, Bree’s newfound love of swimming might fizzle as shortly because it sparked.
That includes a countdown-to-competition plot, well-developed and relatable characters and expressive, inviting artwork, Swim Crew delivers an brisk, heartfelt take a look at an thrilling sport, in addition to essential context about its historical past. As Bree learns, racism and segregation straight impacted Black folks’s entry to public swimming pools. Though this meant many Black folks have been denied the chance to study to swim, it additionally created a stereotype—voiced by Bree herself at one level— that “Black folks aren’t good at swimming.” Whereas Swim Crew features a few minor inaccuracies which may be distracting to readers who swim competitively, its depiction of swimming’s joys and challenges is spot on.
Swimming is barely a part of the story. Creator-illustrator Johnnie Christmas, finest identified for illustrating Margaret Atwood’s Angel Catbird graphic novels, creates an affectionate portrait of Bree and her buddies, a gaggle of children who love their sport, lengthy to win and rise up to some humorous hijinks alongside the way in which. Christmas conveys the passion that Bree and her teammates have for working arduous, enhancing their skills and supporting each other, excellently portraying the way in which that sports activities can function channels for private progress and lasting relationships.
Swim Crew captures the enjoyable of an athletic endeavor that may—and will—be loved by everybody.
