MMGM- Swimming with Spies

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Unleashing Readers

Lucyk-Berger, Chrystyna. Swimming with Spies
December 3, 2024 by Scholastic Press
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Sofiya lives in Sevastapol with her father (Tato), who runs the local dolphinarium, in 2014. Her mother has left them, and is now living in Moscow, although they haven't heard from her. Sofiya, who is talented artist, often lets Ilya pay her to do his homework, since his family is well to do, and she's trying to save money for a ticket to Moscow. When she gets into a fight with Ilya at school, his father, Major Chaban, cuts a deal with the principal. Ilya shows up at the dolphinarium, and is supposed to work with Sofiya on several public outreach programs with the dolphins. Sofiya isn't happy, since being with her "pod" and especially her favorite dolphin, Colin, is where she feels comfortable after a grueling day of having to put up with people like Ilya! Still, the two manage to get along, even though Ilya seems scared of the dolphins. For good reason: Sofiya's Babushka, who was a marine biologist who worked with the Russian military in Soviet times, tells Sofiya about how Ilya's mother was killed after he fell off a boat his father was driving and nearly drowned. The mother was her mother's best friend, which is one of the reasons that Sofiya's mother left and went back to Moscow. The dolphinarium is struggling with funding, and Tato hopes to increase involvement with the community in order to raise funds. Currently, there is a dolphin therapy program attended by people with disabilities, but Sofiya is put in charge of setting up a summer camp for children, and Ilya is supposed to help with the web site. All of this changes when President Yanukovych flees Ukraine. At first, it is hoped that a better president will take his place, but instead, the Russians start to m over in to take over Sevastapol. There is a vote, and 97% of the residents apparently want Russian control, although the options on the ballot were limited. Sofiya has found out that the facility used to be used for Military Marine Systems, and Major Chaban has his eye on the facilities as well. She and Ilya are working with the dolphins and trying to teach them sign language, posting some of their progress on social media. Eventually, Tato is told that in order to keep his job, he will need to get a Russian passport and join the military, but he is concerned that if he does that, he will be sent to fight. Ilya doesn't agree with his father, and eventually agrees to help Sofiya with a daring plan; teaching the dolphins to follow boats, releasing them into the wild, and having rescue groups from Odessa save them and take them to a facility in that city. Will they be able to pull off this daring plan?
Strengths: There were a lot of interesting things about Ukraine, as well as the training of dolphins, in this book, and it was a good combination. Sofiya has a typical tween obsession with "her" dolphins and doesn't seem to quite understand how serious the situation is. Her relationship with Ilya is interesting, and watching them work together while learning about what the other's life is like will appeal to young readers. The idea of cultural identity is also dealt with well; Sofiya's father is Ukranian, and her mother is Russian, and at one point, she has to decide if she is one of the other. Most tweens aren't faced with such a stark choice. Since this area of the world has been in the news frequently over the last several years, this is an excellent title to have on hand. This author seems to usually write books for adults, but I didn immediately suspect as much, which is a good sign that she understands middle grade fairly well! 
Weaknesses: While I am not usually a fan of info dumps, I could have used a few lessons in Ukranian history from Babuska. The annexation of Crimea would have occurred when today's readers were babies, and Sofiya would have been born after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, so some background would have been helpful on several levels. 
What I really think: This is a great choice for anyone who enjoyed Alex London's Tides of War series (Blood in the Water and Honor Bound, 2014) or who wants more recent history about Ukraine.