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Read a few of the 65 poems from SWIMMING UPSTREAM: Middle School Poems in very cool Flash design. Click here to read some poems if you don't have Flash.

Students: Read what other students who have to say about middle school in Middle School Musings,

 Read students' poems from The Amazing Middle School Poetry Quest.

Teachers: Download the Companion Guide or the Discussion Guide for SWIMMING UPSTREAM.
(Requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader, available here.)

Read some reviews.

Order SWIMMING UPSTREAM.

          As soon as the bell rings,
          students pour out the doors,
          surging down the halls
          shoving, jostling, dodging,
          in a roar of voices.

           Pushing forward, I weave
           in, out, and among
           a thousand others,
           feeling as if
                                  I'm swimming upstream. 

 

           Which Lunch Table?


            Where do I sit?
            All my friends
            from last year
            have changed;
            my world is
                   f r a c t u r e d
                   l o p s i d e d
                   r e a r r a n g e d.

            Where do I fit?
            Nothing is clear.
            Can already tell
            this will be 
            a jigsaw year.

 

           Sunday Night Meltdown


           Suddenly remembering
           (on Sunday night)
           that I have homework
           due Monday morning.

           The end of my weekend,
           like the end of a Popsicle:
           instead of one last lick --
           a taste of stick.

Awards and Reviews 

SWIMMING UPSTREAM: Middle School Poems

	IRA-CBC Children's Choice Award 2003
	Rose Diaz Pinan Reading Aloud Collection
	Nominated for Dorothy Canfield Fisher Master List, the South Carolina Junior Book Award, the William Allen White Children's Book Award, and the Louisiana Young Reader's Choice Award.
	World Book Encyclopedia - Outstanding Poetry Collection 2002

"Readers facing this upstream swim can get their feet wet here, and those toweling themselves off afterwards will find much they can relate to in this engaging volume."  The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books "Sweet and on key." Booklist "Poems capture the myriad worries, minicatastrophes, and highs and lows of the first year of middle school." World Book Encyclopedia - Outstanding Poetry Collection 2002 Gr 4-7  "...a sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, and always engaging journey of self-discovery, illustrated with amusing artwork." School Library Journal Curriculum Connections "From humorous to angst-ridden, this collection offers verses that will captivate your pre-teen." Scholastic.com "This luminous voice is a real winner..."  Adventures for Kids "Grade 4-7 "Middle school, with all its trials, tribulations, and triumphs, is portrayed humorously and poignantly through the eyes of one girl...from making new friends and a first crush to teasing, gossip, and a bully who may not be so tough after all...Students will relate to this voice navigating "upstream," while they try to find their own place in the middle-school wilderness."  School Library Journal "The language is brisk and witty, highlighting many questions important to middle graders:  Where do I fit in?  Am I up to the challenge?  How can I make it through the whole year?" Instructor Magazine "Kristine O'Connell George recalls middle school with bittersweet clarity. Using a variety of verse styles the poems reveal a range of topics... This collection speaks of small moments (hall passes) and large moments (discovering other students' problems) and all the moments in between. The truthful simplicity of the poetry, illustrated by Debbie Tilley, will resonate with anyone who has experienced middle school or junior high." Reading Teacher "[George] writes of lockers and lunches, new friends and typical experiences, as she tracks a child's first year of middle school. She invites readers stepping across that (or any) threshold to embrace change: "Where do I fit? / Nothing is clear. / Can already tell / this will be / a jigsaw year" becomes, in "Long Jump," "I can do anything. / All I need / is a running start," and by "Last Day of School," "I am shining / from the inside out." [A] growing sense of self-confidence, a promise of good things to come calculated, and apt, to buoy up young grammar school graduates."  Kirkus "George's pithy free verse is a pass in and out of the hallways of a tricky 'tween year... this book of poems reads more like finding a secret insider's binder full of small distractions and successes. Any middle-schooler reading this will feel less alone, and any adult reading this will remember the days. A graceful gathering of thoughts, and booklovers, don't miss the tiny treasure of a poem "School Librarian" tucked inside!  Esmé Raji Codell  Planet Esmé "George's poems take the reader smack into the anxiety of a sixth-grade school student ... Amusing black-and-white illustrations by Debbie Tilley ... capture the real look of a middle school and its students wonderfully."  Post-Gazette "This collection of poems, affirms the status, albeit sometimes shaky, of the middle school student: worried about new friends, homework, the combination lock; giddy and silly, but with an awakening concern not only about self but also for others--the slow student, the stutterer, friends, snobs, and did her report on the teen-aged martyr, Joan of Arc, do her justice. George captures the humorous, the humdrum, and poignant events in the lives of ordinary middle school youngsters." Mary Hurlburt Cordier, Associate Professor Emerita, College of Education, Western Michigan University.