The Night Swimmers by Betsy Byars
"The Night Swimmers" by Betsy Byars is a poignant coming-of-age story centered on three siblings—Retta, Johnny, and Roy—who navigate their lives during a transformative summer following the death of their mother in an airplane crash. Set against the backdrop of their father's career as a Country Western performer, the children contend with emotional voids and familial responsibilities, particularly as Retta assumes a motherly role despite her youth. The discovery of a nearby swimming pool becomes a symbol of adventure and freedom, enabling them to find joy amidst their struggles, even as they swim without permission and face the challenges of independence and sibling dynamics.
Throughout the narrative, themes of grief, responsibility, and the quest for connection are explored, particularly through Retta's complex feelings towards her brothers' growing independence and her father's frequent absence due to work. The story captures moments of tension and excitement, including a near-discovery of their swimming escapades and Johnny's emerging friendships, which provoke jealousy in Retta. Ultimately, "The Night Swimmers" offers readers a relatable glimpse into the uncertainties of preadolescence while addressing deeper emotional themes with sensitivity. Betsy Byars, known for her insightful portrayal of youth in literature, crafts a narrative that resonates with both younger audiences and adults reflecting on their own childhood experiences.
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The Night Swimmers by Betsy Byars
First published: 1980
Type of work: Domestic realism
Themes: Coming-of-age, family, and death
Time of work: The mid-to late twentieth century
Recommended Ages: 10-13
Locale: A small city in the United States
Principal Characters:
Shorty Anderson , a minor Country Western singer, whose wife was recently killed in an airplane accidentLoretta Lynn (Retta) Anderson , his preadolescent daughter, who has the desire but not the maturity to mother her two younger brothersJohnny Cash Anderson , the older of Retta’s brothersRoy Acuff Anderson , the chubby, kindergarten-age brother of RettaColonel Roberts , the ex-military man and owner of the swimming pool, whom the Anderson children hope never to meetArthur , Johnny’s new friend, who threatens Retta’s control over her brothersBrendelle , Shorty’s friend and possible future wife
The Story
The story of The Night Swimmers is a simple tale of three children who spend the summer after their mother’s death (in an airplane crash) getting accustomed to her absence, growing up, and looking for entertainment in their neighborhood. Retta discovers a swimming pool behind a house nearby and leads her brothers to swim in it nightly—without permission from either their father or the colonel who owns the pool. Their father, Shorty, is a Country Western performer who works nights at the Downtown Hoedown and writes songs which he hopes will rise on the charts. He is benevolent in his paternal role but offers little in the way of emotional support or supervision. Indeed, Retta notes wistfully that every time something important happens in her life, especially something she wants to talk about, her father is busy writing a song.
Barely more than a child herself, Retta takes the role of mothering her brothers as well as cooking and cleaning for her father. Her goal is that she and her brothers not miss experiencing life just because their father is often absent and the family is not rich. This particular summer, the swimming pool adds special excitement to an otherwise mundane routine. Retta leads her brothers in surreptitious swimming and even asks Shorty for seventeen dollars to outfit them all in bright new swim suits. It is the best summer ever, she thinks, until the night when they are almost found out after Johnny defies his sister’s cautions to be quiet. They escape, but swimming abruptly stops.
Meanwhile, early in the summer, Johnny makes friends with Arthur, who offers him a new social outlet and independence from Retta. Unfortunately, he also precipitates jealousy and insecurity in Retta and Roy. Johnny slips out of the house one night to experiment with Arthur’s candle-powered hot-air balloon. Retta follows, rationalizing that she is taking care of Johnny but in fact not wanting to be excluded or to have her position as entertainment director challenged. Roy, too, does not want to be left out. Awaking to an empty house, he decides his siblings have gone swimming without him and fantasizes about jumping into the pool to surprise them. The fantasy carries him down the street in his pajamas, across the lawn to the pool and off the edge of the diving board before he remembers that he cannot swim and that he is afraid of the colonel. Fortunately, Colonel Roberts rescues him and returns him home, with a good measure of surprise and concern for Shorty over the affair.
Retta feels guilt at having failed in her duty to take care of her brothers, but the story ends with Shorty taking more responsibility for fathering and contemplating marriage to Brendelle. Brendelle is not an experienced mother, but at least she is willing to love and take care of the family. She also helps Retta take a more realistic view of her brothers’ growing need to be independent.
Context
Betsy Byars began writing for young readers in the 1960’s. Her best-known book is The Summer of the Swans (1970), the story of a preadolescent girl and her retarded brother, for which she was awarded the Newbery Medal for distinguished contribution to American literature for children. Byars’ books, including The Night Swimmers, often focus on the uncertainties of preadolescence and early adolescence. Reviewers note that her stories are deceptively simple but filled with spontaneity, extended dialogue, and unique characterizations that reflect her careful observation of youth growing up amid contemporary issues and age-old needs for self-understanding. Often her books grow from real-life experience and offer a detailed view of a relatively short period of time. Locale and time are frequently nonspecific but contemporary, allowing readers to put themselves into a story that could happen to themselves or to someone who lives just down the street. Reviewers may comment that Byars is not expert at such details of writing as transitions and endings but praise her for sensitivity and accuracy in capturing the language and self-doubts of young people.
The Night Swimmers is one of an ever-increasing number of contemporary realistic fiction novels that late elementary and middle-school students read to increase their understanding of self and others as well as simply for the fun of a good story. It deals with potentially controversial issues sensitively and tactfully. Though perhaps not as distinctive as other books by Byars, The Night Swimmers is nevertheless a substantive work that offers a sensible and reassuring view of growing up in the context of a believable story.