Hope everyone’s week went well. Mine was an adventure but I’ll save that for another post. What did get a chance to do this week was review my copy of I got a copy of the Best Worst Summer of Esme Sun and I read through it pretty quickly. It’s definitely a book pre-teens and their families will love. I was probably also in its target market as a ex-swimming enthusiast. The book is from Wendy Wan-Long Shang. Readers of the genre may know her from the book The Secret Battle of Evan Pao. They may also know her from Not Your Average American Girl. Not Your Average American Girl was a favorite of mine back in 2020. So I wanted to give the author another shot to make me love her writing and Shang did.
Synopsis
Esme Sun pretends she doesn’t care about winning shiny trophies or awards. However with the way her mother lavishes praise on her three other sisters when they win something. Esme has to admit it would be nice to be good at something.
On the first day of summer Esme goes to her beloved pool. She discovers that her growth spurt has made her a really fast swimmer. Esme thinks that with swimming she might have finally found the thing that she’s good at.
However just being good at swimming isn’t enough. Esme starts dealing with awkward social encounters with other young teens at the pool. The main one being with a new girl, Kaya. Esme may have accidentally hurt Kaya’s feelings and isn’t sure how to fix it.
But Kaya isn’t the only one Esme is having trouble with. Her friend and general cool girl Tegan doesn’t like Esme’s awkwardness and enthusiasm, so Esme makes a promise that she’ll be less babyish and intense about things, most notably the swim team
But when swim competitions start Esme finds she really cares about the results. Esme finds it hard to keep her promise of being chill about everything. Esme feels like she is adrift when it comes to naviagting swimming, friendships, and making things right with Kaya
Another wrench in the works in Esme’s mom, who is ultra focused on winning. Her mom thinks that Esme should look at friends and teammates as the competition. This doesn’t sit well with Esme. She has to figure out if she wants to follow her mom’s beliefs or forge her own.
Review
This is a perfect adventure and slice of life for young teens. It addresses, issues of friendship and misunderstandings. It also addresses ways to deal with parents who have differing belief systems. In this case Esme’s mom’s ideas were pretty toxic but realistic with old Chinese beliefs about colorism coming into play.
Finding ones voice as a young teen is an important moment. I think the book guides young teen through that process via Esme’s actions. She is a good role model when it comes to being yourself in a larger group. She also has to deal with high pressure situations and does it gracefully.
I think that Esme will be a relatable character for young teens. While the book is focused on swimming the lessons from the book could easily transfer to any other activity. I used to be a swimming enthusiast. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the pool. I also appreciated the different activities in the water.
Shang is either and enthusiast or a great researcher. Because it felt like I was right back at a pool like I remember when I was Esme’s age. Overall I’d give this book four stars, great characters. Great narrative line and incredible attention to detail. I’m sure this book will be a hit come this summer.
Amazon: The Best Worst Summer of Esme Sun
About the Author
Wendy Wan-Long Shang, the award-winning author of The Great Wall of Lucy Wu and The Secret Battle of Evan Pao, dives in to the deep end of sportsmanship, prejudice, and the power of friendship in this funny, sweet, and wonderfully moving story.
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