Unfolding in a series of exquisite narrative poems, Learning to Swim is a haunting story about a tragic summer in a young girl's life. With startling power, it juxtaposes the beautiful summer Annie is supposed to have -- picking blueberries with her mother, playing with her brothers, learning to swim with her father -- with the terrible secret she is forced to harbor. For under the pretense of reading to her, an older boy in the neighborhood is molesting her. Joy Stuart. ( )

Beautiful. Ann Turner's simple prose bring this tender, tragic story to life. ( )

Learning to Swim consists of a collection of narrative poems explaining a true story. The book starts off with little girl being excited about her joyful summer. The point of view goes from Annie's daily routines to dark images from neighbor sexually abusing her. He tells her to touch him and Annie didn't know she could say no. Her actions throughout her narrative poem shows the anger she is holding in. The author compares over coming trauma with learning to swim. I would recommend this book to anyone who has been sexual assaulted and their family members. ( )

Ann Turner’s Learning to Swim is a heartbreaking portrait of sexual abuse, told artistically through a series of verse poems. The book, which portrays the author’s own childhood experiences, recounts a young girl’s molestation in unflinchingly honest terms; while this sounds like an incredibly uncomfortable reading experience, Turner’s poetic retelling of her childhood memories is powerful and uplifting. Because of this twist, Learning to Swim is actually a hopeful story inspired by horrific life events.

The autobiographical nature of Learning to Swim helps ground the subject of molestation in specific details that encapsulate the beginning, middle, and end of sexual abuse. Unfortunately, Turner’s experiences are not uncommon; however, the fact that she chooses to express her memories in such a unique fashion makes her story both singular and unifying. The subject matter is horrifying and unsettling, but Turner presents her past without delving into explicitly graphic descriptions of sexual acts, and this helps the reader to understand molestation without being overwhelmed by the sheer horror of the act.

There are a wide variety of texts for high school-age readers that discuss sexual abuse (Speak and The Perks of Being a Wallflower are two of the most prominent), but very few present the subject matter for younger audiences. While readers of all ages can appreciate Turner’s book, the target audience for Learning to Swim seems to be middle-school students, many of whom will be able to use the book as a form of bibliotherapy or as a glimpse into the darker experiences of human nature. Of course, Turner’s Learning to Swim (like Cisneros’s House on Mango Street), functions on multiple levels: younger readers will be able to understand the basic storyline, while older readers will be able to appreciate the author’s use of poetic devices to describe painful experiences.

Any book that presents a topic as painful and disturbing as sexual abuse will undoubtedly provoke discomfort in its readers; however, with Learning to Swim, Turner has turned her own pain into a cathartic collection of poetry. Like watching the remains of a car crash, reading Turner’s Learning to Swim is unavoidably entrancing; however, it also serves as a reminder that life is worth treasuring and that no experience (regardless of how painful it might be) can truly destroy who we are. ( )

Personal Response:
This book breaks my heart. Sexually abusing a child is one of the worst things that can happen. I think the author is very brave and sharing what happened to her may help another person.

Curricular Connection:
I think this book would best be used by a counselor who was helping a child who may be experiencing the same thing. ( )