SIXTEEN YEARS IN SIXTEEN SECONDS - THE SAMMY LEE STORY

By Paula Yoo and illustrated by Dom Lee

Published by Lee & Low Books

Ages 6-9 Trade ISBN: 978-1-58430-247-6

Price: US $16.95

Publication date: May 2005

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- 2003 "New Voices" Lee & Low Award winner

- CCBC Choices 2006, COOPERATIVE CHILDREN'S BOOK CENTER (CCBC)

- 2006 Children's Books of the Year, Bank Street College Children's Book Committee

- 2006 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, NCSS/CBC

- 2006-2007 Texas Bluebonnet Award, Masterlist

- 2006 IRA Children's Book Award Notable, International Reading Association (IRA)

- 2006 Comstock Book Award Honor, Minnesota State University Moorhead

- 2006 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature

- Honor Book in the Children's Picture Book category

- 2007 Finalist for the North Dakota Library Association's Flicker Tale Children's Book Award in the Upper Grade Non-Fiction Level category

- KIRKUS REVIEWS - * Starred Review (March 15, 2005)

Handsomely illustrated and compassionately written without sentimentality, this picture book biography exemplifies what this genre should be: humanizing and meaningful. In 1932, 12-year-old Sammy Lee could only swim in the public pool on Wednesdays, the only day open to people of color, and Sammy was Korean American. Torn between his dream of diving and his father's urging him to become a doctor, Sammy managed to achieve both, despite barriers and prejudice, and was the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal. Scratchboard-style, sepia-toned paintings in wax-covered acrylics create a textured effect both visually and contextually. The title refers to the 16 years he trained for the 16 seconds it took to perform his winning dive. This hero's inspirational story demonstrates determination and dedication by a man who never gave up and is still an active athlete today at the age of 84. (author's note) (Picture book/biography. 6-9)

- BOOKLIST REVIEWS - * Starred Review (April 4, 2005)

In her first picture book, winner of the publisher's New Voices Award, Yoo introduces Sammy Lee, the son of Korean immigrants who overcame formidable odds to become an Olympic diving champion, as well as a doctor. In 1932, at the age of 12, Sammy fell in love with diving, but his local pool was open only once a week to non-whites. He faced opposition at home too; his father wanted him to focus on a 'respectful' profession-medicine. Yoo describes how Sammy found a coach, maintained a grueling balance between academics and training, and finally earned both a medical degree and an Olympic Gold Medal. The minimal, well-shaped language focuses on facts, particularly on the boy's seemingly indestructable determination, his struggles with his father, and the prejudice he faced. Washed in nostalgic, sepia tones, Dom Lee's acrylic-and-wax, textured illustrations are reminiscent of his fine work in Ken Mochizuki's watershed Baseball Saved Us (1993), and like Yoo's understated words, the uncluttered images leave a deep impact; an aerial view of Sammy facing the blue expanse of the Olympic pool is particularly affecting. A page of facts closes this handsome, inspiring biography, which will make both an excellent read-aloud for younger children or a read-alone for confident older ones."

- SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (April 1, 2005)

This inspirational biography recognizes the life of the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal, at the 1948 Games in London. Even though he grew up in California when "people of color were only allowed to use the public swimming pools one day a week, Lee was never discouraged from his dream. In college, he made an agreement with his father that he would keep good enough grades to enter medical school, but continue to enter diving competitions. Yoo brings the biography to a dramatic conclusion with the 16 seconds of a three-and-a-half somersault dive. Lee's painterly illustrations give texture and depth to the full-page spreads. More than a story about discrimmination and unfair treatment, this story shows one young man's determination and resolve toward accomplishing a goal in life.

- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW (April 4, 2005)

Yoo debuts with an inspiring tribute to the first Asian-American to win an Olympic gold medal, in 1948. The story begins when Sammy is 12 years old in 1932 California and documents his struggle to reach the top of the diving world. The son of Korean immigrants, he is not allowed to swim at the public pool except on Wednesdays, "when people of color were allowed to go inside." The straightforward, somewhat lengthy account chronicles how Sammy trains by diving into a sandpit the other days of the weekwhich leads to a fortuitous decision to enroll in gymnastics to help him with his sand landingsfinds, a coach, and makes peace with his father, who urges Sammy to forgo his Olympic dream in favor of becoming a doctor. Third-person omniscient narration grants readers access to Sammy's thoughts and feelings. As he prepares for his gold-medal dive, "He heard the sound of water lapping against the sides of the pool, the murmuring of the people, the beating of his heart." Lee's (Baseball Saved Us) sepia-tinged textured illustrations, made by scratching images out of wax melted over acrylic paints, lend a graceful, respectful tone to the story. Especially noteworthy are three vertical panels depicting his winning dive (an echo of an early three-panel spread that shows one of Sammy's awkward first diving attempts). Touching on themes of discrimination and determination, this motivational tale concludes with an author's note that provides details about Sammy's post-Olympic life. Ages 6-up. (Apr.)

- THE HORN BOOK GUIDE (July/August 2005)

Although people of color were permitted to use the public pool only once a week, Korean-American Sammy Lee (twelve years old in 1932) practiced his beloved diving so diligently that at age eighteen he caught the eye coach. Still unable to use the local pool, Sammy practiced daily with his demanding coach by jumping into a pit filled with sand, developing powerful leg muscles. Meanwhile, Sammy's father was pressuring him to become a doctor instead of a diver, but eventually Sammy achieved both goals: in 1948, at the age of twenty-eight, Dr. Sammy Lee competed in the London Olympics, winning a bronze and a gold medal. With their textured effect, Dom Lee's scratchboard illustrations (using beeswax, acrylic, oil paint, and colored pencil) convey immediacy -- one can feel the prickliness of the sand or the heat of the California sun -- while the brown and gold colors and sepia tones make it clear that these are past events. An author's note gives additional biographical details. Yoo smoothly incorporates the historical context through Sammy's reactions to pervasive racism. She creates a picture of a person who succeeded through determined hard work -- not a larger-than-life hero, but an ordinary person of great achievement. (By S.D.L.)