Known as “The Giantess of Nova Scotia”, Anna Swan lived a compelling, complex and hopeful life. Born in the 1800’s in Nova Scotia, Canada, Anna was double the size of the standard baby. Measuring 4’6” at four years old and 7 feet tall at seventeen, Anna’s challenges at home and in public made for a hard life. Yet her bravery, tenacity and the love from her family surpassed her height. This middle grade historical fiction and novel-in-verse showcases the childhood of Anna Swan. The novel is broken into three months of Anna’s twelve-year-old life representing the relocation of her family to her grandmother’s farm, her attendance at a new school and the adversities of social circumstances as well as her own internal and external worlds. A moving and impactful story offering young readers the space to experience new feelings or connect with ones that they already relate to. This book can be used to demonstrate the power of exemplary women and their support systems. Wonderfully written, with fragility and humanity – Ludwig’s beautiful wordplay does justice to Anna’s life. In the back of the book readers will find a summarized biography, as well as an excerpt of the history of the region. Highly recommended.

Out Now! Thank you to @Netgalley and Nimbus Publishing for sharing an advanced digital copy with me to review. All opinions are my own.

I don't usually pick up verse novels, but I was drawn to this re-imagined history of Anna Swan's childhood, a girl born in Canada in 1846 who grew up (and up and up) to become the Giantess of Nova Scotia. And it is quite simply a beautifully book. An exquisitely written, tender exploration of what it feels like to be different from everybody else. Great for exploring themes of empathy and similarities and differences between people, past and present,

Many thanks to the author, Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC of this title.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read SWAN: The Girl Who Grew. A fictionalized account of Anna Swan’s childhood, SWAN told tells the story of a big little girl in beautiful prose.

“If God created a perfect world/ in only seven days/ why don’t I fit anywhere?” Anna Swan is a girl who is too big for her shoes, clothes, and family’s cabin. An attraction everywhere she goes due to her size, she is kept grounded by her fierce grandmother and her little sister, Maggie. A middle-grade read I would recommend to anyone. A heartbreaking yet hopeful novel of a girl who can’t stop growing and the people who love her.

I really enjoyed this. It will definitely be a book I add to the library of my special ed classroom, I loved the representation.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an E- Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I always love finding a Novel-in-Verse. They're quick to read and give stories a more whimsical feel to them, however I do find that I struggle to connect to characters in these books - something about the voice.. there's a disconnect.
Most people, as far as I'm aware. don't speak in verse, or think in verse and so I do struggle to see them as "real" and as this is based on an actual person who existed, I wanted that connection more, personally, but it did not detract from the book overall.

An evocative and tender novel in verse inspired by the real story of Anna Swan. Born in 1846, Swan weighed 13 pounds and grew rapidly throughout her childhood. Sidura Ludwig takes some creative liberties in re-imagining her life before she became known as the Giantess of Nova Scotia. The writing is beautiful and paints a vivid picture of what Anna might have thought and felt as a girl. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

The story of Anna Swan is written in prose, but very easy to follow and the lines read very easily with a quick pace to the story. Anna wonders why God made her so big as she grows swiftly, necessitating new shoes and clothing at a faster pace than most children. Her family moves in with her grandmother to help make ends meet and Anna continues to struggle to fit in. A good fiction title related to a real Canadian woman. Good for school libraries or public library collections.