The Summer of the Swans
by Betsy Byars

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade classic

I read this book as a kid, though I couldn’t tell you what age, and have thought of it many times over the years. My memories of it had mostly dwindled to there being a mentally handicapped boy who gets lost and whose watch, which is very important to him, has stopped working due to not being wound. Why those are the points that stuck, I don’t know, but I think there was something poignant about this 10-year-old with the mind of a toddler. Reading it again now, because my daughter was going to read it for school, I find that it has a different tone to it than I remember. Charlie being lost isn’t really the main plot so much as his older sister, Sara, gaining some maturity. Yes, Sara is self-centered, but in a way that I would say is completely normal for her age (13-14) and her situation—besides the handicapped younger brother, Sara, Charlie, and their older sister Wanda live with their aunt, since their mom died and dad has another family. In the end, it’s clear how much she loves her brother, even though in day-to-day life, she might get annoyed with or tired of him. How many of us can’t say the same thing about people in our lives who are dependent on us? My daughter enjoyed the book as well (she’s 13), and while this book may not be as action-packed as today’s middle-grade books are, I think it is a nice look at a simpler time and an uncommon family dynamic.

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