The Night Swimmers

The Night Swimmers Aislinn Channon That pool gave the night swimmers a feeling of belonging and happiness, even though the pool didn't belong to them, it made them feel good pretending. Reality was not as good as the life they pretended when they went out at night. Retta, Roy, and Johnny are the new kids in town. Their father doesn't spend much time with them, he is usually at a club at night, there he sings his country music. The kids spend their nights at the Colonel's pool, the neighbors disapprove of their family for this among other things, which doesn't' make a new family feel better at all. Their mother died and with her, the normalcy of their family died. Retta, the eldest, has tried her best to replace their mother, but Johnny, the middle child, is fed up with Retta. He refuses to let her have any control over him. Desperate to try be a mother to him, she follows him one night when he slips out to be with a friend. She scolds him, but his friend sticks up for him, she can't help be angry at both of them. Roy, who was left at home, is upset because he was left out of some "secret operation". He thinks they are at the pool and he is determined to fearlessly cannonball into the pool and make a big loud splash that would wake the Colonel and he would be running ahead and lead them home and they would admire him and he would be in charge for the first time ever. That was what he hoped for anyway, but instead, he finds they aren't there and the Colonel busts him and takes him home. When Retta and Johnny get home, their father, Roy, the Colonel, and their father's sweet , maternal, girlfriend is there. They all get a wake up call, they all realize each other's, and their own imperfections. In the end, Brendelle, the girlfriend, points the family in the direction of improvement, and will hopefully come to replace their mother. I really loved this book and would recommend this to anyone who thinks they have a mediocre family. I liked this book because of its characters, it was one of those books that could pull off the few clichés. I felt I could identify with each character because at different times I feel like each character. Retta, the responsible older sister trying to replace mom, frustrated by the lack of appreciation for her efforts and is hurt by the lack of loyalty from her brothers. Johnny, the pre-teen experiencing a need for rebellion and independence. He's trying to make a splash because of the lack of attention he gets and how fed up he is with being told what to do. He is relishing the annoyance he causes in his older sister and his younger brother. Roy is the young, stupid, naïve little kid. He always gave into his sister, loving her especially when she was like one of those "stern grocery store moms". He gets frustrated when being left out because he seems like a young little pest. He is upset by the constant loss of the magic and happiness that was once in his life. Something else that made this a good book was the detail

Reading is about exploratation, making friends for a few hours, then returning back to life. Betsy Byars allows one to do this in her book, The Night Swimmers. I was reluctant to read it at first (because of the cover) but I never put it down--literally. I recommend this book for children and parents. I want all my children to expierence the fantastic writings of Betsy Byars.

This is an awesome book and you just could not stop reading it when you get into it. This is a book that has many cliffhangers in some parts of the book. This book gets you very excited, frightened, and very surprised. You can usually never put it down. This is probably one of the best books I have ever read. So if you are looking for a book to read get this one and it will completely change your life. It has some good lessons to learn. Well if you have any questions about this book and if you have any complements, if you have read this book, e-mail me. Thanx for reading this and remember to read this book you will love it, trust me because I hate reading but this book changed my life. Now I love to read. See how important this is.

-- Kathryn 3rd grade