Preparadas Listas Ya!/Get Set, Swim

by Jeannine Atkins

It's the day of Jessenia's first swim meet away from home, and the other team is on a winning streak. Feeling excited and worried, she wonders if her team's spirit is enough to lead them to victory. Along with Jessenia's mother and little brother, readers will root for her team as they dive into the challenge of competition.

Genres: Sports, Picture Books, Family, Childrens, Cultural

Library Binding

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Jeannine Atkins is the author of Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science, Grasping Mysteries: Girls Who Loved Math, and Little Woman in Blue: A Novel of May Alcott. She teaches in the MFA program at Simmons College. You can learn more on her website at http://www.Jeannineatkins.com.

Reviews

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Get Set! Swim!" by Jeannine Atkins is a culturally enriching book for children that explores how other children from varying cultures perceive their world and their experiences. The main character is a girl who enjoys swimming and is heading to a swim meet. During her trip she finds herself disliking her mother's stories of Puerto Rico and she psychs herself out when she considers the other swimming team and the advantages that she believes them to have, like nice houses and a year-round working pool. She loses her match and discovers that she was too concerned with what the other swimmers were doing. During her next meet, she focuses her attention on herself and doing her best and she learns that through her focus she is capable of winning. This is a great book for children to learn about how anyone, no matter their background, is capable of success.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice book about working hard and always staying positive. It's always nice to see picture books with main characters that are people of color. However, the illustrations are a bit dated, and it's hard to see whether or not the author was trying to send more of a message than working hard. The mother talks about the land where she came from a lot, and the little girl notices that the other swim team has a nicer pool and all live in houses, as opposed to her apartment. However, the book only alludes to these issues of race and class without really diving into them or showing how they are important to the main character.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars A nice book about working hard and swimming. These girls don't have as nice of a pool, and the school where they are having the meet is in a nicer neighborhood, and this makes the girls nervous.

It was a good book but I wasn't thrilled by it. The Mom keeps saying I love you in weird places, and can't stop talking about how great Puerto Rico is...well if it is so nice, why are you in this place?

Still, as a book about swimming and team work it was good!

[Hunter Woodley]

This story is very fun. I think that everyone in a sport that is important to them and that have someone special there supporting them goes through the same motions as Jessenia. I am unsure if this book takes place in America or not, both English and Spanish were both spoken. This book has both a struggle over the nerves that Jessenia has before her first swim meet and a great resolution in the end when she wins the meet for her team.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely for an older crowd and not really a read aloud. A nice message about courage and doing your best but there were random things thrown in like how the rival school is in an area where the houses are further apart and the mc getting frustrated with her mom talking about how things were in Puerto Rico while growing up. The message is a good one, but the events were just random enough to kind of throw me off.

[Grace Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Get Set! Swim! by Jeannine Atkins was a sweet story that you should be proud of who you are along with having family/ cultural pride. Jessenia was the main character in this book, she on the swim team and was trying to fit in because she was from Puerto Rico. Throughout this book Jesenia's mother was living through her and she reminisces about her own girlhood in Puerto Rico. Overall, this book was very good and I enjoyed it a lot!