"Combines wonderful characters and history to create a story that will make you want to dive right in!" — Jerry Craft, author of the Newbery Award–winning New Kid
"A revelation! You’ll root for Swim Team—the water is just right." — John Jennings, New York Times bestselling and Eisner Award–winning creator
"Swim Team is a beautiful story about trying new things. Johnnie Christmas is a fantastic storyteller and artist." — Kazu Kibuishi, author of Amulet
"Full of charm, heart, and pulse-pounding races. A winner!" — Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese and Dragon Hoops
“This graphic novel belongs on shelves in school and libraries everywhere.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
"A powerful, knowledgeable, and pressing exploration of the intersection where swimming meets Black identity. Empowerment through swimming and swim team is well-embodied in Bree, a smart, perseverant, anxious kid who readers will embrace instantly. The friendly and familiar style of Christmas' linework pours out into some true artistry." — Booklist (starred review)
Challenging the idea that “Black people aren’t good at swimming,” this middle grade debut from Christmas (the Angel Catbird series, for adults) details segregation’s generational impact through a warmhearted story of community, Black diasporic identity, and learning, all portrayed in kinetic contemporary art. — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Problem-solving through perseverance and friendship is the real win in this deeply smart and inspiring story.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"This enjoyable graphic novel deals with familiar and middle-grade-appropriate themes of friendship, perseverance, and overcoming fears. The accessible illustrations add to the humorous (and sometimes serious) moments within the text." — Horn Book Magazine
Questions of belonging, ability, racial justice and who gets to swim are handled with thought and care...its nuanced storytelling and visual appeal will have outsize reach and meaning beyond this age group. — New York Times
This energetic, heartfelt graphic novel captures the joys and challenges of a sport that should be—but hasn’t always been—freely enjoyed by everyone. — Book Page
★ 2022-03-02
Leaving Brooklyn behind, Black math-whiz and puzzle lover Bree starts a new life in Florida, where she’ll be tossed into the deep end in more ways than one. Keeping her head above water may be the trickiest puzzle yet.
While her dad is busy working and training in IT, Bree struggles at first to settle into Enith Brigitha Middle School, largely due to the school’s preoccupation with swimming—from the accomplishments of its namesake, a Black Olympian from Curaçao, to its near victory at the state swimming championships. But Bree can’t swim. To illustrate her anxiety around this fact, the graphic novel’s bright colors give way to gray thought bubbles with thick, darkened outlines expressing Bree’s deepest fears and doubts. This poignant visual crowds some panels just as anxious feelings can crowd the thoughts of otherwise star students like Bree. Ultimately, learning to swim turns out to be easy enough with the help of a kind older neighbor—a Black woman with a competitive swimming past of her own as well as a rich and bittersweet understanding of Black Americans’ relationship with swimming—who explains to Bree how racist obstacles of the past can become collective anxiety in the present. To her surprise, Bree, with her newfound water skills, eventually finds herself on the school’s swim team, navigating competition, her anxiety, and new, meaningful relationships.
Problem-solving through perseverance and friendship is the real win in this deeply smart and inspiring story. (Graphic fiction. 10-13)
