Writing for the New York Times, Bonnie Tsui phenomenally introduced the enjoyable and creative nature of swimming, taking inspiration from two picture books and a graphic novel.
Both the stories describe how each main character gets known to swim and has a great time doing it. In this way, readers can feel how swimming is such an exciting sport.
Second, the author has placed significant effort into explaining the various notions of swimming, including its playful and free nature. In the first story, the main character Zoe suffered due to her father’s struggles with depression during winter. One day, she meets a great swimmer named Sabina. Soon after, Zoe started to swim. After a few months, Zoe mastered her swimming abilities, which helped her cope with the loss of her father and find purpose in her life.
Despite the author’s many strong points, there are a few things that the author should improve in the article. The two heartwarming stories the author included in the article are powerful and can significantly encourage readers to reflect on their own experiences swimming to consider taking up the activity. Still, in my opinion, the two stories barely relate to one another, and it feels as if the second story pop-ups abruptly right after the first story.
Perhaps, the author should include a transitional paragraph to connect the two accounts, preventing readers from becoming lost in the article.
Overall, I would rate “Water Dance” by Bonnie Tsui a 4 out of 5. Tsui has significant storytelling abilities while still preserving the article’s main ideas. At the same time, it lacks a remote connection between each story plot.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/29/books/review/johnnie-christmas-swim-team.html
Both the stories describe how each main character gets known to swim and has a great time doing it. In this way, readers can feel how swimming is such an exciting sport.
Second, the author has placed significant effort into explaining the various notions of swimming, including its playful and free nature. In the first story, the main character Zoe suffered due to her father’s struggles with depression during winter. One day, she meets a great swimmer named Sabina. Soon after, Zoe started to swim. After a few months, Zoe mastered her swimming abilities, which helped her cope with the loss of her father and find purpose in her life.
Despite the author’s many strong points, there are a few things that the author should improve in the article. The two heartwarming stories the author included in the article are powerful and can significantly encourage readers to reflect on their own experiences swimming to consider taking up the activity. Still, in my opinion, the two stories barely relate to one another, and it feels as if the second story pop-ups abruptly right after the first story.
Perhaps, the author should include a transitional paragraph to connect the two accounts, preventing readers from becoming lost in the article.
Overall, I would rate “Water Dance” by Bonnie Tsui a 4 out of 5. Tsui has significant storytelling abilities while still preserving the article’s main ideas. At the same time, it lacks a remote connection between each story plot.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/29/books/review/johnnie-christmas-swim-team.html
