The Swimmers Novel Study

**This 54-page resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop with The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka.
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About the Novel: The swimmers are unknown to one another except through their private routines (slow lane, medium lane, fast lane) and the solace each takes in their morning or afternoon laps. But when a crack appears at the bottom of the pool, they are cast out into an unforgiving world without comfort or relief.
One of these swimmers is Alice, who is slowly losing her memory. For Alice, the pool was a final stand against the darkness of her encroaching dementia. Without the fellowship of other swimmers and the routine of her daily laps she is plunged into dislocation and chaos, swept into memories of her childhood and the Japanese American incarceration camp in which she spent the war. Alice’s estranged daughter, reentering her mother’s life too late, witnesses her stark and devastating decline.

**About the Resource: **This pack includes Chapter Summaries, Comprehension Questions, Digging Deeper Opportunities (includes character, setting and plot studies, point of view), Creative Writing Tasks, and Non-Fiction Tasks related to content of the novel (flip turns, cracks, internment camps, dementia, Nobel Prize, Rotterdam Study, PET Scans).

A link to a digital file for editing and use in paperless classrooms is available with download.