THE NIGHT SWIMMERS by Betsy Byars. 1980. HCDJ. 1st. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER

Description: illus. by Troy Howell. 1980. FIRST EDITION. brown cloth boards. 131 pgs. Tells the story of three children who have essentially lost both their parents the night their mother died. Retta, Johnny and Roy are the night swimmers: three children whose father leaves them alone while he performs as a singer. Winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Also, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, An American Book Award, Parents' Choice Award, A Child Study Children's Book Committee: Children's Book of the Year, An IRA-CBC Children's Choice, A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year.. NEAR FINE, NEAR FINE dust jacket. SCARCE in collectible condition. Kirkus Review THE NIGHT SWIMMERSBY BETSY BYARS ‧ RELEASE DATE: APRIL 30, 1980Acutely perceptive and crystal clear; deeply attuned to kids' feelings yet cool-eyed and shrewd; and, to boot, a solidly realized story propelled by original, huggably vulnerable characters: This story of a shallow, career-minded country singer's three motherless kids is just what a children's novel should be. Retta (for Loretta Lynn) has raised her brothers since their singer mother was killed in a plane crash; and she takes her role as mother hen and recreation director with fierce solemnity. Bossy, she turns them out at midnight (their father is off performing) to steal swims in a neighboring colonel's pool. ("We're going to do all the things rich people do. Only we have to do them at night, that's the only difference.") But Retta's control slips when brother Johnny—bursting with self-satisfaction and the certainty of her chagrin-makes a friend. (Not just any friend, but a boy who makes and flies his own airplanes, with radio controls.) Soon, Retta has lost her puppeteer's hold on Roy, the youngest, to the glamour of Johnny's friend. Moody and undone, she follows the boys and spies on them, fired by motherly concern (as she insists) but also seething with jealousy like the child she is and the power-player she is becoming. When Retta slips out one night on Johnny's tail, Roy ends up, panicked, in the pool. The colonel rescues him and summons their father, who arrives home in his pink velour cowboy suit; and in the ensuing showdown Retta "felt as bewildered as a child whose dolls have come to life and are demanding real attention." Though this is Retta's story, each of her brothers has his spotlit moments. "Invisible" Johnny's late-blooming sense of self is heartening to behold; and Roy, indicatively, is touchingly disabused of a running fantasy about an offstage, odiferous plant. (They should shut it down, says Retta, but Roy has envisioned chopping it down.) Retta, shocked into self-awareness by the pool incident and by Johnny's friend's challenge ("and do you think for them too?"), is eased into letting go by the sympathetic guidance of her father's girlfriend Brendelie—who shows signs of relieving Retta by marrying into the family. Byars takes us all into the family, and puts us in touch with the humanity behind the tacky (father), the officious (Retta), and the invisible among us. Betsy Byars was an American author of children's books. She wrote over sixty books for young people. Her first novel was published in 1962. Her novel Summer of the Swans won the 1971 Newbery Medal. She also received a National Book Award for Young People's Literature for The Night Swimmers and an Edgar Award for Wanted ... Mud Blossom!! This book is part of a collection of over 2000 out of print and first edition children’s books collected by an avid collector over a thirty year period. Nearly all books are hard back, Very Good to Fine condition and include the often elusive dust jacket. All dust jackets are protected in a mylar sleeve. Most are also first editions. The books are priced to sell and popular items will go quickly so check back often. Although I try my best to describe each book, please use the pictures as the best judge of condition and ask questions if there is anything specific you would like to know regarding the condition of the book and or the dust jacket. I will be listing these books over the next few months. Books include picture books, early reader books, juvenile/young adult, pop-up books, books on children’s literature, etc. Will be happy to combine multiple purchases.

Price: 35 USD

Location: Danville, California

End Time: 2025-01-30T00:50:06.000Z

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