This one hit me in all the feels. I was a swimmer in middle school and high school and I coached high school swim for the past 5 years. I am not coaching this season. This book made me cry because it made me miss it so much. This is the heartwarming story of a middle schooler learning how to swim (what I wouldn't give to be able to teach a swim 101 elective as a middle school teacher) after she moves to a new city with her dad.
I loved the art style in this graphic novel. The colors were vivid and the renderings of swimmers were spot on. I could feel the belly flop through the pages.
I loved the characters and the coach(s). Swim team sisters are a forever thing - you never forget your relay teammates especially after competing with each other for so long. The bonds are strong.
Any swimmers out there will relate/love this graphic novel. And even if swim isn't your thing, this story is beautiful.

I loved this book, and I zipped through it SUPER-fast, as I'm sure my students will. This book was engaging, and the visuals really contribute to the story in such a meaningful way. I love the tie-ins to historical race and cultural issues, and I believe it has the potential to spark important conversations.

What an engaging, inspiring sports story! This middle grade graphic novel is perfect for fans of Rollergirl, New Kid, and Jason Reynolds' Track series. When Bree moves with her dad from Brooklyn to Florida, her insecurities about not being able to swim feel overwhelming, especially when she is forced to take swimming 101 as an elective. But with the help of her neighbor, her new friends, and her spirit of determination, Bree's newfound love of swimming could change the trajectory of the swim team and the surrounding community forever.

I appreciated how Bree's anxious thoughts were drawn in dark speech bubbles, with one beautifully drawn scene showing Bree out swimming her negative thoughts. This book also delves into the history and racism that Black people have faced when it comes to the sport of swimming and community pools. Highly recommended for all middle school shelves.

Just was a great middle grade book about girls on the swim team that all start into the history of segregated pools and why some African-American communities grew up not learning how to swim. I at first the main character Bre is embarrassed by this but with the help of a local legendary swimmer, she and her team learn a lot about friendship and swimming. This graphic novel will be popular with students.

Thank you @netgalley for this ADORABLE ARC of Johnnie Christmas’ graphic novel, Swim Team! This super sweet book is about Bree, her dad, and her swim team “swim sisters.” Bree and her dad love to a new city where she knows no one and is nervous about making new friends. She misses the deadline for electives and I stead of joining a puzzles class like she wanted, Bree is placed in a swim class. Problem is: she can’t swim. With the help of some new friends from her apartment complex, Bree slowly learns to swim and even joins the swim team! Bree and her team work hard to try to qualify to go to the regional and state swim meets, but all Bree wants is friends and for her dad to be able to take one evening off from his two jobs and make it to watch her swim.
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Such a sweet story of friendship and bravery and some great history of how pools were a part of segregation in the past. I loved this and will definitely be looking to add it to my library!

What a cute and uplifting book! I love the historical connections that add context without feeling at all forced, and the positive message of friendship and inclusion while still showing the competitiveness and suspense of athletic events. I would definitely recommend this to fans of Shannon Hale and Raina Telgemeier, as well as fans of March and other historical fiction graphic novels.

I really really enjoyed this one! I liked the friendships that were created. I liked watching Bree learn how to swim and become good friends with her neighbor Miss Etta too!
I liked how this showed that you can enjoy more than one hobby.

Great tween read!

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

The book has heart, despite some weaknesses in the plot. I found the relationships between the father and daughter and the daughter and Etta to be the most authentic. It's unfortunate the characters from the private school and the conflict between the schools were drawn so simplistically. There are some questionable plot elements. Just how did they plan to "spy" on their rival team while wearing theater costumes? What value is there to spying in a sport like swimming? Also, students with any experience in competitive swimming will know that you don't go from being a non-swimmer to being the best in your class in a few weeks. I think Bree could have made the team without winning the race. In any case, this title will appeal to students.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Johnnie Christmas, and the publisher for the eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
Bree and her Dad move to Florida and she cannot wait to start at her new middle school. The only problem? The puzzle class she wants to take is full and she is stuck in Swim 101. The other problem? She doesn't know how to swim, but thanks to encouragement and help from neighbor Etta and a new friend, Bree learns how and even joins her school's swim team! The team is working to win a championship and save their swim team. Will Bree be able to put her self doubts aside and help her team to a victory.

I thought this was a great book and will help youngsters, especially young ladies with their self confidence. As a person who is not a strong swimmer myself, this is a book I would've loved as a preteen/teen and it may have even encouraged me to try to be a stronger swimmer. I love the confidence that Bree gains throughout the book and for even encouraging someone close to her to learn how to swim too. I think this will be a great book for any upper elementary/early middle school classroom.

Excellent story exploring the intersection of class and systemic racism in swimming and public pools, as well as themes of anxiety, friendship and perservernce.

Swim Team is a moving, delightful, and full of heart! It’s about Bree who moves to Florida and begins at a new middle school and the only elective available is swimming, except she doesn’t know how to swim. Luckily for her, her new neighbor Ms. Etta is a former swim team captain and agrees to teach her to swim. She begins swimming and finds she not only likes it, but she’s good at it and wants to help the swim team at the school, the Manatees, win the state championship.

The art is incredibly colorful and vibrant and lively that you feel like you’re in the story. I couldn’t help but root for Bree and her team and found myself tearing up at the end. I absolutely adored this book!

I really liked this graphic novel. I thought the subject matter of black swimming culture was done really well. I always love learning something new about a culture I don't belong to and this book did that for me. I also really appreciated the focus on teamwork and the different dynamics within sports teams. The illustrations were done really well and overall this one was a winner for me.

This graphic novel is incredible, both in story and illustrations. I think this is a must read for any kid, both those scared of the water and those that flourish in it. This story follows Bree, a middle schooler faced to take Swim 101 when her beloved math team is full. She is terrified of the water but a local neighbor (and perhaps swim legend?) offers to help teach her and explain the racist roots behind a generation of Black folks not knowing how to swim. This prepares Bree for being a part of the Mighty Manatees, and finding her place amongst friends and competitors alike.

The pool safety and swimming techniques shown are all really solid — there’s an emphasis on making Bree comfortable rather than forcing her into it (no throwing this kid into a pool), especially as she deals with intrusive thoughts and anxiety (which are really clearly illustrated in a powerful way). The swim team dynamics reminded me of my childhood on a Splash team — my best friend to this day was one of the first people I met on the team, much like Bree.

Swim Team is bursting with empathy, friendship, hardship, and persistence — which makes it a heartfelt experience to read. Thanks to NetGalley for an early review copy, all opinions are my own.

I adored this book and cannot wait to purchase a physical copy for my own shelves! The illustrations are beautiful and the coloring is truly exquisite. This middle grade graphic novel is going straight to the top of my favorites list, right next to New Kid by Jerry Craft.

Swim Team is a heartwarming novel that dives beyond just swimming, it's about friendship, community, sportsmanship, history, and trying new things even when they feel scary. I loved the friendships on the swim team, of course, but I loved the relationship between Etta and Bree the most.

Thank you HarperCollins Children's Books and Netgalley for a free digital review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book and all the characters. Great flow of story. Shows great examples of facing fears, team dynamics, and being a team player. Is also a good example for girls and athletes. I don’t know much about swimming but was able to understand and follow the lingo just fine.

The pictures that went with the book were simple yet well done. I really liked them. They were also super colorful which was nice.

Overall, I would read more by this author and would love to see other stories that followed these characters.

This graphic novel was an enjoyable read about friends, family and never giving up. This book would be best for grades 4-7. I feel girls would like this book more than boys. The girls learn to get a long with others by helping each other out with academics or physical activity that may not be easy for someone to do because of fears. The main character overcame fears, made friends and leaned to communicate not only with her father, but other adults and kids. Once started this book was hard to put down.

I loved Swim Team!
This graphic novel has gorgeous illustrations that convey the motion of swimming and competition in a realistic and exciting way, that capture the facial expressions of characters in a way that speaks volumes, and that bring the story to life and carry it forward. I especially loved the way the thoughts of self-doubt, worry, overthinking and negative thinking were done. The black and grey color, along with the font choice and the design that almost resembles gravestones, really demonstrate the impact that kind of thinking can have on a person. So incredibly powerful! The way the history of discrimination regarding swimming and access to pools and beaches in the US is included in the narrative is impactful and delivers the facts in a way that readers can access. The story also highlights power of coaches/mentors and friendship. This is especially true in regards to the neighbor, Mrs. Etta,
who is strong, wise and willing to help inspire a next generation of females. Another fun connection that weaves throughout the books is puzzles: solving them, how all the pieces fit together, what happens if pieces are missing or not connecting, etc. It all ties in nicely. I see this book being a title libraries need several copies of to meet the demand.

When Bree moves to Florida, she is unwillingly placed in a swimming elective class, but she can’t swim. After her neighbor teaches her, Bree goes on to join the swim team and make friends. This book was great! The story is well paced, the characters are well developed, and the art is so bright and fun. Bree’s anxiety and self-doubt and the way they disappear when she swims was done in a way that could only be visual and it was neat! There’s a small history flashback to address the stereotype that black people can’t swim, and it’s included seamlessly without feeling too heavy handed. I think my students would love this book the same way they devour Raina Telgemeier. The only thing that confused me was that Etta looks really old, but her same-age teammates all look middle aged. It was an interesting choice.

I love how brave she was. Her experience with the anxiety of swimming was realistic. Great to see that strengths coke in a variety of forms and the importance of team work.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an EARC of this novel. All opinions are my own.

See, this is why I can't read books with swimming in it. This book was super cute and had great illustrations, but having been a competitive swimmer for the majority of my life, I could not stop looking at the exact way the swimming portions were drawn and critiquing them based on technique lol. Is it just me or does everyone do that with their sport? The story was super sweet though and I loved how Bree had an interest in math and puzzles as well as swimming. It was also nice to see Etta and the relationship her and Bree developed. Overall, an adorable book and I'm just picky.

Age 8&up