Summer Of The Swans, by Betsy Byars

Summer Of The Swans is a great novel and, in a way, a great commentary on many young adult novels. It starts classically. The protagonist, Sara, is an unpopular, sad middle-school girl who is embarrassed about her appearance. She has a pretty and popular older sister, and lives with her aunt in The South. She feels incredibly unlucky and sorry for herself, and to be fair to her, she doesn't have the best life-her mother is dead and her father is gone, and her 10-year old brother Charlie is mentally challenged thanks to a sickness he contracted when he was 3. Many young-adult novels begin on a similar premise to this, but progress little through. However, Summer Of The Swans does. Sara loses Charlie in the middle of the night, and suddenly all her problems fall into perspective. Her unpopularity at school seems trivial, and she starts to lose her long held belief that looks are the most important thing. The book is moving at parts, and al so funny occasionally. The book is also a reminder that problems you think are bad can be cleared up when something truly bad happens.

-Chris, 8th grade, CSCL