SWIM TO ME

Author: Betsy Carter ISBN: 9780385339773 9/2008 FICTION Publisher: BANTAM DISCOVERY

Sometimes to be who you really are, you have to pretend you’re already who you want to be. At two, Delores’s mother dropped her into the shallow end of a lake, trusting instinct would teach her daughter to swim. From then on, the water is where Delores Walker feels most at home. Now, nearly seventeen, she’s boarding a Greyhound bus leaving the Bronx for sunny Weeki Wachee Springs, a tacky roadside attraction in the shadow of Walt Disney’s new Florida phenomenon. With a hundred silver dollars left behind by her runaway dad, Delores is chasing her dream of being a mermaid with a group of other aquatic hopefuls—girls just as awkward and uncertain out of water as they are beautiful and graceful in it. And in this make-believe world of sequined tails and amphibious fantasy, Delores will learn some very real lessons about growing up and surviving in a world where everyone sometimes feels like a fish out of water.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Betsy Carter's SWIM TO ME is charming. It is a coming-of-age story that has kept a smile on my face and warmth in my heart since I turned the last page days ago. Its endearing characters, so like ordinary folks any of us might know, worked their magic on me. I was hooked right from the first few pages.

We all know that in life we can either sink or swim. Delores Walker knows that better than anyone. When she was a toddler her mother unceremoniously tossed her into a lake, thinking her daughter would either sink... or swim. Delores' survival skills kicked in almost instantly and from that moment on she swam, regardless of how treacherous the waters of her young life became. Too, her sense of self, born in that chilly water, is at its strongest when she is, in fact, in the water. Any water will do.

What is most interesting about Delores is the fact she holds no grudges, points no fingers. Whatever happens to her just happens, without need for finding the whys or hows of any of it. Delores is one of the most accepting characters I've met. This trait, coupled with her determination to find the best for and in everyone makes her wonderfully memorable. I like her—a lot.

There are parts of this tale that are frightening. Others, (like a flying slice of liver!) are more slapstick. But all aspects of this story are well written and poignant. Delores, and her journey toward becoming the woman she's always believed she could be, is captivating. She shows that even a rocky start in life can be overcome. Anyone can be a star—all it takes is a dream, and a whole lot of faith.

SWIM TO ME is definitely one for the keeper shelf!

Kay James