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28 of 30 found the following review helpful:
 I Loved this book! Apr 11, 2000
This book was about a girl named Sara, who's brother Charlie is mentally retarted. Sara, Charlie, and their sister Wanda, all live with their Aunt Willie. Charlie loves to go to the lake and watch the swans. So, Sara takes him one day, but it starts to get dark,and he doesn't want to go home. That night as Charlie lies in bed, he hears the swans. He follows them. It is dark outside, and he gets lost. The next morning Sara, Wanda, and Aunt Willie realize Charlie is missing, so the town starts out to look for him. Will they find him? I couldn't put this book down. I just wanted to find out what was going to happen next.
13 of 13 found the following review helpful:
Summer of the Swans Dec 06, 2001
By Kristen Arnold
The Summer of the Swans, by Betsy Byars, is a heartwarming story about the longest day in the life of a fourteen year old . A wonderfull theme emerges from the story that every child should hear.
The story is about a day in Sara's fourteenth summer. She had spend the whole summer feeling sorry for herself. She only saw that she had enormous feet, and impulsive body, and ridiculous hair. She had deep envy for her older sister and really had very low self esteem. She spent her time crying and feeling sorry for herself. Children will likely relate to the exact thing Sara is going through, especially those who are coming of age.
Everything changes for Sara when her mentally handicapped brother, Charlie, comes up missing. During her frantic search for her brother, she forgets her own problems and focuses her energy on something else.
The theme emerges from her discovery. During the worst day of her life, she learns what it means to care more about someone else then yourself. This theme could really change readers way of thinking. It is something that she didn't understand completely until that day. Maybe children will learn the lesson without having to go through such a trauma as Sara's.
Summer of the Swans is a wonderful, heartwarming story that is well deserving of the Newbery award. The characters are identifiable and there is a theme that every child needs to hear and take practice in.
13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
Great Story About Sibling Bonds Sep 26, 2001
"The Summer of the Swans" is about the day when Sara Godfrey's mentally handicapped brother Charlie disappears after visiting the swans at the lake. Nobody is sure what happened to him, but everyone expects the worst because it's not typical for Charlie to have run off alone.Sara feels responsible for losing her brother since she's the closest to him. Aunt Willie also blames herself because she had promised Sara and Charlie's dead mother she would protect him--and now he's gone. Soon a search party gathers and everyone begins to look for the missing ten-year-old. Even though "The Summer of the Swans" is primarily about the search for Charlie, Sara's family life begins to open up and we discover the different relationships she has with her simple younger brother Charlie, her overbearing aunt Willie, her older sister Wanda, and her remote father. The recommended age group for this book is 8 - 12, but I would recommend it to anyone who has a mentally handicapped family member or can somehow relate with the story. It's easy reading and moves along rather quickly--the chapters are short and there are a few illustrations by Ted CoConis. "The Summer of the Swans" won the Newbery Award in 1971. The book was later made into a TV movie in 1974 (aka "Sara's Summer of the Swans"), which I never saw because it was made before I was born. I also recommend reading "The Falcon's Wing" by Dawna Lisa Buchanan (mentally handicapped family member).
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 A good young adult novel Dec 26, 2001
By Matthew Gunia
The main character of this novel is Sarah, a girl in her early teens who is experiencing a "coming of age" summer. When the novel begins, Sarah is at an ebb in her young life--she feels self-conscious about her physical appearance (without tangents on breast size or her menstral cycle (thank you), making this a book very appropriate for a classroom) and her inability to interact in a meaningful way with the two most important women (read: role models) in her life--her older sister and her Aunt Willie, who is raising her. It is during this coming of age process that Sarah's younger, mentally handicapped brother, Charlie wanders out of the backyard in the middle of the night and gets lost in the woods. While the plot is relatively straight forward--Charlie gets lost and Sarah participates in a search to find him--this novel is an good one because of the excellent development of the main character.
9 of 10 found the following review helpful:
The Summer of the Swans Apr 07, 2005
It's about a girl named Sara who lives with her Aunt Willie, sister and brother. Her brother's name is Charlie. When he was little he had a high fever and since then he has not talked or laughed. The only thing Sara does is take care of Charlie. One day Sara takes Charlie to see the swans at the pond. Charlie likes the swans a lot. Then at night he goes to find them. Instead he gets lost in the forest. Then the next day they find out that Charlie is missing. So Sara goes to look for him. Will Sara find Charlie? If you want to find out read the book.
I will give this book 4 stars. It was really interesting when Charlie got lost. It was so exciting that I could feel what Sara was feeling when Charlie got lost. You can see what is happening, the author really explained it well. It makes you want to read more when you stop reading. I would pick this book as one of my favorites. READ IT NOW!
Gladys Garcia
Madison, Wi.
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