Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems by Kristine O'Connell George

O'Connell George, Kristine. Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems. New York: Clarion Books, 2002.

Illustrated by Debbie Tilley

Kristine O’Connell George does a remarkable job with an unnamed character about a girl and portraying her first year of middle school for readers. Using short rhymed poems that are free verse the book easily flows from page to page. With poems covering “Each Class,” the school’s “SNOB,” and “Growth and Development” O’Connell George gives a vivid idea of what it is like to be in middle school for the first time or again as an adult. To bring out this delightful read, Debbie Tilley, uses full page illustrations that are found periodically throughout the book that help create images for readers that will have them smiling at the scenery in a middle school. Although, the illustrations add to the read, the book could easily stand on its own. This is definitely a must read for any one in middle school, or those who interact with students in middle school. However, any one looking for a quick glance in the days of their middle school this one is for you and it even ends with a happy ending.