Are your kids beating the heat by diving in the swimming pool this summer? Check out one of these great books about swimming! (Please do not take your library books in the pool!)
Books for younger readers:
Leo Can Swim by Anna McQuinn. Leo and Daddy go to swim class where they kick, bounce, splash around, and dive like little fish.
Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall. Jabari is absolutely ready to jump off the diving board, but he just might take some time to prepare first.
Saturday is Swimming Day by Hyewon Yum. New things can be scary and one little girl is not so sure about swimming lessons, but with some gentle encouragement she starts having fun.
Books for middle readers:
Obie is Man Enough by Schuyler Bailer. In this coming-of-age story about a transgender 13-year-old, Obie didn’t know that being himself would cause such a splash.
Surrounded by Sharks by Michael Northrop. When Davey slips out swimming by himself, he’s swept out to sea by a riptide and must figure out how to survive.
Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas. Bree can’t wait for her first day at her new middle school, Enith Brigitha, home to the Mighty Manatees-until she’s stuck with the only elective that fits her schedule, the dreaded Swim 101.
Books for older readers:
Breath Like Water by Anna Jarzab. As she recovers after an injury, swimmer Susannah gets a new coach she hopes can get her to the Olympics and starts a new relationship.
Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester. Verónica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body.
Man O’War by Cory McCarthy. On a field trip to SeaPlanet, seventeen-year-old Arab-American high school swimmer River McIntyre has a chance encounter with Indy, a happy, healthy queer person, which sets off a wrenching journey of self-discovery, from internalized homophobia and gender dysphoria, through layers of coming out, affirmation surgery, and true love.
