Swimming into Trouble

November 13, 2023
Nine-year-old Julia Nam discovered her love of swimming when her parents opened their café, Sushi on the Go!, at Mountainview Community Center. Now, while her parents work, Julia practices with her junior swim team, the Vipers, and looks forward to one day taking part in regional competitions. In the meantime, she endeavors to beat her personal best swim time during the team’s upcoming Personal Best Day. But a week before PBD, Julia develops an ear infection and must keep her ear dry for 10 days. This development—and the resulting disappointment—is made worse when she learns that nine-year-olds can now compete at regionals, but only if they post strong times on PBD. Despite her parents, coach, and friends’ attempts to help her recover, Julia is determined to compete. Readers will cheer for Julia as she pursues her goals and learns how to be a team player. Julia’s passion for swimming is infectious and palpable, as are her frustrations surrounding her limitations and her perception that others do not understand her. Via unadorned prose, Ahn (Krista Kim-Bap) deftly portrays the struggles Julia’s East Asian immigrant parents faced in establishing their business and how adversity led to the family connecting with their community, who offer a helping hand and loving support throughout. Ages 7–10.

January 1, 2024
Grades 2-5 This first installment in a new chapter-book series follows Julia, a promising nine-year-old swimmer whose love for swimming gets sidelined when she gets an ear infection. As she devises a way to swim without getting water in her ear or catching the attention of her parents, she becomes even more connected to the community around her--including the customers of her parent's sushi restaurant, the swim team, and the library. This is a low-stakes book that will excite lovers of swimming who are not quite ready for Lilliam Rivera's Barely Floating (2023) yet, and a perfect next step for readers of series like Mindy Kim and Marya Khan. While Julia is dealing with an ear infection, this is not a medically scary book and instead reinforces the need for care when sick without exposing Julia to true danger. Julia's Korean heritage is woven seamlessly throughout the book, and the short chapters are perfect for developing readers who want a full story alongside elementary-school antics, childlike dialogue, and good characters.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2024
The rec center is nine-year-old Julia Nam's second home: it's where her parents' restaurant, Sushi to Go, is located, as well as the library and the swimming pool where she is the youngest member of the swim team. Fiercely driven, Julia goes hard in warm-ups and doesn't let up until practice is over. She lives for time trials, which her coach calls Personal Best Day, or PBD. When an ear infection forces her to take a ten-day break from swimming, she goes stir-crazy at the thought of missing PBD and the chance to qualify to compete in a regional meet. Her parents advise her that she needs to be patient and "roll with it," punning on the sushi rolls they sell. But she just can't, and readers benefit from the often-humorous trouble she gets into. Kim's black-and-white illustrations bring the rec center environment to life. Ahn subtly fleshes out Julia's world, noting in passing how the young athlete sometimes went to school hungry when her Korean immigrant parents juggled part-time jobs. This spirited first book in a projected series delivers a meaningful message about resilience, the value of patience and flexibility, and the benefits of teamwork and community building. Julie Hakim Azzam

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 15, 2024
Will an earache derail Julia's swimming plans? Several years ago, Julia's Korean immigrant parents enrolled her in swimming lessons at the Mountain View Community Centre. It's right next door to their sushi restaurant, and it's cheaper than an afterschool program. Nine-year-old Julia's now the youngest member of the Vipers junior swim team. But one day, while she and her teammates are diving for a swim brick at the deep end, Julia is forced to cut every dive short because of a sharp pain in her ear. The next day, her coach catches on and notifies her family. At the doctor's office, she learns she has an ear infection that requires medicine. As a precaution, her mother forbids her from swimming for the next 10 days. Julia is disappointed, especially since it means she'll miss Personal Best Day, when she could qualify for a regional meet. Her doctor's advice is to keep her ear dry if she goes in the water, so Julia hatches an idea that will allow her to swim--one that unfortunately makes things even worse. After some community problem-solving, Julia still doesn't know what to do about Personal Best Day, but she comes up with a satisfying solution. Impetuous but thoughtful, Julia's a spunky protagonist whom readers will root for. Kim's spot art breaks up the text, heightening the humor and the chaos of the story's climax. As charming as its young hero. (Fiction. 7-10)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2024
The rec center is nine-year-old Julia Nam's second home: it's where her parents' restaurant, Sushi to Go, is located, as well as the library and the swimming pool where she is the youngest member of the swim team. Fiercely driven, Julia goes hard in warm-ups and doesn't let up until practice is over. She lives for time trials, which her coach calls Personal Best Day, or PBD. When an ear infection forces her to take a ten-day break from swimming, she goes stir-crazy at the thought of missing PBD and the chance to qualify to compete in a regional meet. Her parents advise her that she needs to be patient and "roll with it," punning on the sushi rolls they sell. But she just can't, and readers benefit from the often-humorous trouble she gets into. Kim's black-and-white illustrations bring the rec center environment to life. Ahn subtly fleshes out Julia's world, noting in passing how the young athlete sometimes went to school hungry when her Korean immigrant parents juggled part-time jobs. This spirited first book in a projected series delivers a meaningful message about resilience, the value of patience and flexibility, and the benefits of teamwork and community building.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)