Swim Team - Book Review

Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas
Publication date: May 17, 2022
Pages: 256 page
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars ☆☆☆☆
Sweet Spark: Some enlightening history for Bree, along with useful life lessons.

This was another read for my son's fifth-grade Battle of the Books, and I'm so glad it was! 

It's a graphic novel that tells the story of Bree, who moves with her father to a school where swimming is suddenly a BIG DEAL. What new kid doesn't want to fit in? She's afraid to tell the people who have been nice to her so far at her new school that she can't swim.

Eventually, the older woman in her apartment complex (who watches her while her father works anyway) realizes the problem and offers to teach Bree. And teach her she does! They also teach readers along the way WHY the black community was forced to forget their history of swimming due to racism and segregation. But Ms. Etta is there to help Bree and her friends be an awesome team and get their swimming dynasty back.

I enjoyed this book with its subtle historical lesson. It felt delivered in a perfect tone to just explain an element of Bree's story, without feeling like a dry textbook lesson. I'm thrilled that this was part of my community's Battle of the Books list. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.

From the Desk of Zoe Washington - Book Review

From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
Publication date: January 14, 2020
Pages: 291 pages
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars ☆☆☆☆
Sweet Spark: Zoe is a charming and precocious 12-year-old, with her share of kid problems and adult problems.

On her twelfth birthday, Zoe receives an interesting letter in the mail. It's from her biological dad, who has been in prison her whole life. Her mom never even wants to talk about him, so Zoe is pretty sure she's on her own if she decides to try and write back to him.

Around the same time, she notices that her favorite kids' cooking show is casting for another season! She wants to be famous, like her idol from the last season, and recognized as a great baker. Being on the show her idol was on could be the first step, if she can get her mom to agree.

And she's struggling with it all alone, as she overheard a conversation between her best friend and some of his new friends, which helped her to decide that she never wants anything to do with him again.

Zoe is, in some ways, just a typical kid. But she's got a few atypical challenges to deal with, like her dad's situation. This book does a great job with what is certainly an awkward situation in real life. They also do a thoughtful job of talking about the Innocence Project, initially from a skeptical point of view. The compassion and different perspectives of the characters in the book could be a great discussion point for kids around the same age with their families or educators.

Overall, I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars and would recommend it not only as a touch of mystery, but a great story with social justice conversation points and some explorations of harmful stereotypes.

This is another book I read for our local district's fifth grade battle of the books. Two winners out of the two books I've read so far!

The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary - Book Review

The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary by Laura Shovan
Publication: April 2, 2016
Pages: 272 pages
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars ☆☆☆☆
Sweet Spark: What will happen to Emerson Elementary, and can 18 fifth graders change it?

I have to admit, this poetry-collection style is not what I usually pick to read, but this was part of our school district's fifth-grade battle of the books, and I really want to read all 10 books.

While it started out a little choppy for me, soon I was trying to trace consistency between the poems written by each of the 18 students, and matching up their poems with the illustrations of each of them on the cover. Yeah, I was hooked.

By the end, I felt like I knew each of the kids, and the class as a whole, a bit better. I'd give the book 4 out of 5 stars, and I'm excited to hear from the author at our battle's victory celebration in March.