The Summer of the Swans

The Summer of the Swans (1970) is a Newbery Medal award-winning middle grade novel written by Betsy Byars. Byars (1928-2020) was the author of over 50 works of fiction for children and young adults, including six book series. Her novel The Night Swimmers was awarded the National Book Award For Young People’s Literature in 1980, and her novel Wanted…Mud Blossom was awarded the Edgar Award in 1991. In 1987, Byars was awarded the Regina Medal for Lifetime Achievement by the Catholic Library Association. Other works by Byars include The Midnight Fox, The Pinballs, and Tornado. For several years, she lived in West Virginia where The Summer of the Swans takes place.

The Summer of the Swans is a coming-of-age story that follows 14-year-old Sara Godfrey, a girl caught between a family crisis and her own adolescent struggles. The novel spans roughly 24 hours as Sara searches for her 10-year-old brother Charlie (with an intellectual disability) who goes missing. She must draw upon hidden strength in order to find him. With its third person point-of-view, the novel explores agency and identity, grief and loss, and above all, various social dynamics—these dynamics being explored via both Sara and Charlie’s viewpoints.