Summer Reading

I did a pleasant little something for myself last week that I've not done in quite some time: read a children's novel just for the fun of it.

I love children's books. So much action and character development needs to happen is a short number of pages and a limited breadth of vocabulary. I've been enthralled with these books ever since working in the Children's Room of the Fullerton Public Library when I was in college.

Some of my favorite books are the Newbury award winners. I collect these books, along with the Caldecott award winners for picture book excellence.

Wanting a change of pace from my usual non-fiction fare, I pulled The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars off my bookshelf. It's a lovely coming of age story of 14 year old Sara. She's coming to terms with wanting to fit in, having to rethink difficult relationships, and wanting to grow up to be like her big sister. The story centers around Sara's relationship with her mentally disabled younger brother, Charlie.

One summer day, Sara took Charlie to the local lake to see the swans. Charlie was enthralled and didn't want to go back home. That night, Charlie got out of bed to go find the swans by himself. But he got confused and lost. As the person who knew Charlie better than anyone else in the world, Sara was determined to find him.

It's a very nice story about how a young woman begins to work out for herself what is important and how she chooses to face her challenges. Sara also learns the value of trusting her own judgment about the character of others by the way they act.