Reviewed by Ruth Seest
Background and Summary
Summer of the Swans takes place in West Virginia during the late 1960s. Fourteen-year-old Sara Godfrey is going through a transitional adolescent time of life and is experiencing many new changes throughout her summer. Sara perceives herself as puny, flawed, and defective. She is constantly comparing herself to her sister, Wanda, who their Aunt Willie frequently calls “beautiful.” Yet Sara’s attitude and mind do not change until she can truly look past herself and out to the needs of others, especially to the needs of her younger, special needs brother, Charlie.
The story begins with Sarah and Wanda arguing about Sara’s great achievement of her made up believe dog show with the family dog, Boysie. After the girls argue for some time, Sara decides to give into her older sister. The two girls settle down into a conversation and begin to talk of their mentally handicap brother, Charlie. Sara and Wanda discuss the hardships of having a handicapped brother and how even through the hardships, they still love him.
Wanda’s boyfriend Frank comes by that evening to take Wanda for a ride on his motor scooter to go see the swans. Aunt Willie, being the protective guardian, decides that Wanda is not going to take a ride with Frank anywhere on his motor scooter. Eventually, after a deal Frank makes with Aunt Willie, Wanda and Frank go to see the swans at the lake.
Sara also wants to go see the swans, so she takes Charlie with her down to the lake. Once at the lake, Charlie is mesmerized by the swans and their grace and beauty. Sara hands Charlie some stale bread to break apart and throw to the swans. With the sun setting, the two walk back to the house.
Charlie, intrigued by the swans, decides in the middle of the night to go and visit the swans again. Lost in the darkness, Charlie does not head toward the lake; rather he turns and heads towards the woods behind the house. He stumbles and falls on a log and then is frightened by the sound of barking dogs. Scared, Charlie hides in a cave and tries to sleep.
In the morning, Sara gets up and begins her normal routine of getting ready for school. When Sara goes into the kitchen for breakfast, she notices something different. Charlie is not eating breakfast as usual. Sara finds this extremely odd since Charlie keeps the same schedule. Back upstairs, Sara peaks into Charlie’s room to find him missing. Everyone in the house is awoken by Sara and begins searching for Charlie. Aunt Willie calls the police immediately and reports that Charlie is missing. Sara’s search begins in the back yard and then she heads to lake. After no sign of Charlie at the lake, Sara begins searching the woods. Mary shows up with her hair in curlers for a party that night hosted by her date Benny Hoffman. Sara sends Mary home because she is only concerned about not ruining her hair or getting dirty before the party.
Finally, after many hours of searching and with the help of Joe Melby, a former enemy, Sara finds the cold, wet, and hungry Charlie. While hugging Charlie, Sara realizes how much she truly loves her brother. Sara learned to take initiative of a situation and succeeded. After Charlie is found, Joe Melby asks Sara if she wants to go with him to the big party hosted by Benny Hoffman. Sara is surprised and taken back, but then decides to go with him. Before she goes to the party, Sara talks to her dad on the phone. He tells Sara how proud he is of her finding Charlie. Sara is taken back by the complement from her forlorn father, but is grateful.
Interest
The Summer of the Swans would be a great read for upper elementary students. The reading level that was recommended for this book was third through eighth grade. Ages between eight and ten would be ideal for this book. The reading level is not advanced for an adolescent in junior high, and the chapters are fairly short, causing this book to be a page turner fit for an upper elementary student. This book would appeal to girls because of Sara’s journey in trying to find her role in society. Sara struggles within herself, trying to decide whether she is still a child or now an adult. Many girls can relate to the struggles that Sara goes through in The Summer of the Swans.
Developing Mature Readers
This book deals with several issues that adolescents face as they grow in maturity. First, the book deals with finding one’s gender role in society. Sara learns that she is a young lady. At the beginning of the book she does not care what she looks like or what other people think of her. She wears her favorite neon orange tennis shoes with every outfit. At the end of the book, Sara actually cares how her hair looks and dresses like a lady on her date to the party. Readers can learn that struggling to find your gender role in society is typical and arises with the coming of age.
Another task that is in this book deals with developing relationships with people of the same age. Sara learns to balance her relationship with her friend Mary. While going to the lake to see the swans, Sara is distracted and easily given into Mary’s plead and call. At the end of the story when the girls are looking for Charlie in the woods, Sara learns how to stand up to Mary and ask her to actually leave if Mary is not going to help search for her brother. Readers can learn from Sara’s example not only that they do not need to give into peer pressure, but also how to verbally stand up to a peer without being disrespectful.
This book also deals with the task of achieving good relationships with a member of the opposite sex. Sara does not have a good relationship with Joe Melby when they first cross paths in the woods. But after seeing Joe’s serious care for her brother Charlie, Sara decides to forgive Joe and give him a second chance at friendship by saying, “Yes” to the date. As readers watch Sara’s interaction with Joe, they will be influenced to date at an early age. After children read this book, parents and adults should discuss with their children about dating at a young age.
Another task that The Summer of the Swans deals with is growing independent from one’s parents. Sara’s father is not in her life, but her legal guardian Aunt Willie is. She grows away from her Aunt by making choices on her own to take Charlie to the lake by herself and later look for Charlie by herself in the woods. This book gives a good example to the readers of an adolescent growing independent from their parents, but not out of rebellion. Sara makes independent decisions to go to the lake and woods, but not until she has asked permission to go from her Aunt.
The Summer of the Swans also deals with the task of gaining a sense of achievement. Accomplishing a sense of achievement can be seen when Sara finds her brother Charlie. She is so thrilled to see him and to have found him on her own. Even Sara’s distant father recognizes her achievement and tells her how much he appreciates her. After reading this book, adolescent readers will be encouraged to set goals and work to achieve them.
Potential Issues with This Book
The Summer of the Swans truly did not have any issues in regards to sin or objectionable elements. The only potential issue with readers is the dating that is promoted at the end of the book. Parents and teachers should be advised to talk to their children about the age appropriateness of dating. This book could be a great springboard for that discussion.
Recommendation
The Summer of the Swans is a fun story for young readers. This book is instructional in content and gives ideas to students on how to work and cope with the mentally handicapped. After reading this book, teachers can talk with their students about interacting with those who have special needs. The Summer of the Swans sympathizes with Charlie, the mentally handicapped brother, giving readers an eye-opening imaginary experience.
Resources for Teaching or Research
Teachers have many online resources for presenting Byars’ book to the classroom. One great site, Book.rags.com., has free quizzes to use when teaching The Summer of the Swans. This would be a great tool and resource for teachers to use in the classroom. Another reliable source is Scholastic.com. On this website, one can purchase different teacher plans that include thought provoking, critical thinking questions. A third and most abundant resource is Avenues, a site by education publisher Hampton-Brown. This site provides a teaching guide with many sources, such as reading questions, chapter summaries, character charts, and worksheets.
Teaching The Summer of the Swans
Three great ways that I would bring The Summer of the Swans to my classroom are the following:
Vocab Journals
The Summer of the Swans has some unfamiliar vocabulary for upper elementary students, so a vocab journal would be a great asset to help the students understand what they are reading. I would have students can write down the unfamiliar words they come across while reading and then later look up what the words mean. To further their understanding of the words, I would have the students draw a picture of the meaning of the word right next to the word in their journals. I can then assess whether the students are fully grasping what the words mean and not merely writing down definitions.
Timeline
A fun way to recap the story line after my class has finished reading the book is to have the students draw a comic strip for the story line. I would give my students the option of either having a comic box for every chapter or they could create as many boxes as they wanted for the whole story line. This is a creative way for the students to draw out the story’s plot and an easy assessment tool for me to see their understanding of the overall plot.
Short Essay
One of the themes from the book is loving others. Sara realizes that she truly loves her special needs brother, Chralie. As a teacher, I also want my students to learn the importance of loving others, including those with special needs. To accomplish this goal, I would have my students write short three to five sentence paragraphs about interacting with those who have special needs.
Works Cited
BookRags, Inc. BookRags. 2013. Web. 7 Apr. 2013.
Byars, Betsy. The Summer of the Swans. New York: Penguin Group, 1970. Book.
Hampton-Brown. The Summer of the Swans. Avenues. 2013. 27 Feb. 2013.
Scholastic. Summer of the Swans Discussion Guide. Scholastic. 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.
