Get Set! Swim! –Jeannine Atkins

On the title page there is a swim cap, goggles, and two lizard earrings. Immediately I asked myself why there were earrings with the swimming gear. The book is written for more advanced readers and includes information on different races and different income amounts. I am currently taking a human relations class and this book mentioned a great deal about the difficulties that minorities face. The illustrations are formal and include people from all racial backgrounds. I feel that the message the book sends to its audience is very important and as a teacher that is what I would focus my lesson on. Jessenia attends a school of lower income and competes in a swimming race against a school with more money. It is thought that the school with more money would win and Jessenia would lose, but that was not the case. I like how the author had characters of all races and that the illustrator drew them as such. This book sends a positive message to students that diversity is a good quality and to accept people. The lizard earrings served as a good luck charm for Jessenia. If I wanted to make a creative lesson out of this book, I would have my students make a good luck charm like Jessenia’s.