The Summer of the Swans

The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars is the story of a fourteen your old girl and the summer she will never forget. Sara's mother passed away six years ago and now she lives with her aunt, nineteen year old sister, and ten year old brother. Her brother had two very bad illnesses when he was three which caused him to have very high fevers which results in brain damage. He is now intellectually disabled and hasn't talked since he was six years old. One day some beautiful swans land in the pond near their house and Sara takes her brother to see the swans. He is instantly infatuated with the swans. In the middle of the night he leaves home to go see the swans again but gets lost and ends up in a forest. His family wakes up in a panic and nowhere to start looking. Will they find him before it is too late?
    It took me awhile to get into this book. I started it several times and just couldn't continue reading it because it started out so slow. After reading it awhile I liked it a little more. Once I finished it I thought it was actually a pretty good book. I love that the sister is so concerned for her brother and is so determined to find him. I think all brothers and sisters should have this great bond. Sara is also very protective of her brother which I think is so great as well. All siblings should have this feeling of protection for their brothers and sisters.
    I think this would be a great book to have in a classroom library. I think that many girls would find this interesting. Since the main character is a girl and it talks a lot about her feelings I don't think many boys would be interested in this book. The text and content of the book is at a third grade level. Many older readers would also enjoy reading this book. I think this book could be used as a read aloud with many great discussions and creative writing lessons from what is happening in the story. This book would also be great for teachers to read because it explains the needs of children with intellectual disabilities. It also explains what kinds of environments are best for these types of students.