Unlike the title, the story is barely about swans. Written by Betsy Byars, this children’s novel has won itself a Newbery Medal. The story talks about a 14 year old girl named Sara, her big sister Wanda, and her younger brother Charlie. Ever since a severe fever at a young age, Charlie’s brain never functioned like normal people. He couldn’t talk, but he could understand things. It was similar to a more fortunate scenario of autism. The story focuses on one particular summer that Sara viewed as memorable. Her brother went missing because of some swans, and it was Sara’s job to find him. Sara’s family has lots of hardships, including a dead mother, runaway father, impatient aunt, and financial problems. There is also a big focus on Sara’s own problems in life, and how she learned to change and mature throughout the story. This masterpiece is much deeper than one realizes, with important themes and personalities contributing to the story.
The family in this story has a lot of problems, but also siblings love to support each other through the challenges. In life and an abundance of other Newbery awarded books, there are often many problems in a family. This can range from single-parent families to dangers and threats in the world. However, siblings can also support each other through life challenges, establishing sibling love and caring for each other. There are an abundance of hardships that Sara and her siblings had to face. One main problem is Charlie, who is mentally handicapped and cannot think or act like a normal person. Another is their dead mother and runaway father, who doesn’t want to deal with the problems in the family. Aunt Willie takes care of the children, but she is overprotective and impatient. However, the story also shows how the siblings support each other through hard times, maintaining family love amidst all the wrong things in life. Sara helps Charlie and tries her absolute best to find him, and even Aunt Willie is an example of love, caring for the entire family. Although there can and often will be hardships in a family, siblings can help support each other, even if their parents aren’t there.
Problems in life can be annoying and challenging, but sometimes the truth must simply be accepted. As aforementioned, there can and will be several problems in a family or in one’s life. It can range from minor annoyances like shoe color, to crippling hardships like a runaway father. However, some problems simply cannot be solved. It isn’t one’s fault that the solution is not possible, rather the truth cannot be changed. And in these cases, the best thing to do is just to accept reality, cope with it, and think positively. In the story, Sara has many problems and annoyances in life. She is worried and exasperated about the unfairness of Charlie’s disease, jealous of her sister’s beauty, and upset about her dead mother and irresponsible father. However, as the story progresses, there is a slow shift of personality. Sara learns to simply accept these unsolvable problems and look on the bright side. Instead of complaining and holding grudges against her unfair life, she learns to embrace it with open arms, as resisting is useless. There are several more examples of Newbery awarded books that talk about family hardships and how the characters learn to cope with them. Unsolvable life problems can be best resolved by accepting them and looking on the bright side, not trying to fight back.
Friendship can be obtained even if there were past grudges, through the cooperation from both sides. Friendship is usually an important theme in all kinds of books, but friendship can also be created even though there might be past arguments. If one side realizes they were wrong and apologizes, the past quarrel would most likely be forgiven and forgotten, allowing for a friendship. One can also decide to help the other, building friendship via its most important element: supporting each other. In the story, Sara always hated a boy named Joe Melby because she thought he stole Charlie’s watch. However, Sara learned that that wasn’t true and apologized, while Joe offered to help find Charlie. They built a new friendship and Joe even invited her to a party. This friendship was made possible by both sides. Sara realized her mistake and was clear to apologize for it. Joe didn’t hold the grudge against her and forgave her, offering his help. This allowed their grudge to quickly become a friendship. If both sides work towards a better understanding and connection for each other, an argument can be healed and a friendship can be built.
In conclusion, The Summer of the Swans is a fascinating story about a girl named Sara and her brother Charlie. It focuses on Sara’s unfair life, and then to Charlie’s missing and Sara’s search for him. This story focuses greatly on problems in the family. These include a dead mother, runaway father, impatient aunt, and mentally disabled brother. However, the story shows that siblings can also support each other through hardships, even if their parents aren’t there to help. Throughout the story, Sara thinks her life is unfair and she is nothing because of all the annoyances and problems in her life. However, she gradually understands that some problems are simply unsolvable, and that they are best dealt with by accepting them and thinking positively. The story further shows that friendship can be obtained even after a grudge or an argument. If both sides do the right thing and cooperate with each other, a new friendship can be built despite past quarrels. This masterpiece truly deserves its Newbery Medal through its deep themes and personalities, and I highly recommend reading it.
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