Freedom Swimmer

By: Wai Chim

Narrated by: Telly Leung

Ming survived the famine that killed his parents during China's "Great Leap Forward" and lives a hard but adequate life, working in the fields.

When a group of city boys comes to the village as part of a Communist Party reeducation program, Ming and his friends aren't sure what to make of the new arrivals. They're not used to hard labor and village life. But despite his reservations, Ming befriends a charming city boy called Li. The two couldn't be more different, but slowly they form a bond over evening swims and shared dreams.

But as the bitterness of life under the Party begins to take its toll on both boys, they begin to imagine the impossible: freedom.

©2016 Wai Chim. (P)2021 Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.

incredibly meaningful to me

Wonderful storytelling and performance. Loved the canto slang dotted here and there. Truly appreciate the rare opportunity to glimpse into what it may have been like for my own parents back then.