Ellen's First Swim
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
It was a steamy hot day around midday.
The sun was hanging above so close
that you could almost touch the rays on
tiptoe. This was the day my brothers
decided it was a perfect day to go
swimming along the sandy beach of the
Caribbean Sea not far from our house.
My mother was away at work and
would be home after lunch. My father
was away in England. He had moved
there after he returned from the Army.
We were to join him later.
I was five years old at the time, barely
confident enough to keep up with my
older brothers, but I wanted to. They
would always tease me for this and
sometimes would get angry if I did not
keep up with them and ruined their
fun.
While my mother was at work, my
brothers were left to baby sit me. So
that hot summer's day, they decided to
walk to the beach with me walking
behind.
The road to the beach was down a
steep slope by the side of our house
next to Aunt Matilda's house. We
called her "Auntie Matt" for short. She
wasn't our real Auntie, but we called
her that because she would always
look after us.
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About the Book
Imagine being thrown into the sea at age five and told to swim for the first time. Well, that's what Ellen's brothers did to her as it had been done to them years before. Learning to swim this way is what many people do on most Caribbean islands. In the story, Ellen finds herself trailing her adventurous brothers who leaves her on a rock in the sea away from the shore while they played at a distance. It was so scary, that they got home to a scolding from their angry mother speaking in her local dialect. Then, they receive a letter from dad all the way from London, England and the adventure begins. Read more to hear what happens. Ellen's First Swim is the first in a series of three books in the life of Ellen Green. Make sure you read the next two books: Ellen's Adventures in London and Ellen Goes to Mississippi. When Ellen leaves the island for London, she experiences the bitter winter cold and fog of the English climate, attending school in a new culture, and receiving formal swimming lessons in the Roman baths of London, in contrast to the island sea, she goes on an adventure that leads her to experience many cultural differences and adjustments. Later, she moves to a small town in the American Deep South where she experiences some humerous cultural tradeoffs.
About the Author
Helen Oliver is an educator of 30 years. She was born on the Caribbean island of Montserrat and grew up in London, England. She moved to the United States in 1980 and lived in Mississippi, Pennsylvania and North Carolina where she currently resides with her daughter.
She is an amateur poet, writer of children's books, peer reviewed articles and book chapters. She likes to cook, propagate plants, travel and meeting new and exciting peope. She holds the Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, and Master's degrees in educational psychology and urban studies.
Child advocacy and education has been her passion throughout her career in education from teaching in England all grades and college to the united states where she was a K-12 counselor, university professor, director of graduate school, school principal and director of service learning. She ran a non-profit organization advocating for school achievement for at-risk children. She opened an after school program and a summer school program to promote literacy and received funding from the local school districts and from grants through the State Department of Education. She is a successful grant writer and education innovator. She is currently the Campus Dean at Strayer University North Raleigh Campus.