Description "A healthy, confident girl protagonist is born." Winner of the Munhakdongne Children's Literature Award Grand Prize with unprecedented and unanimous support from the judges. Lane 5, which portrays the joys and struggles of thirteen-year-old swim team members, was highly praised for being a rare sports story within Korean children's and young adult literature, and for skillfully embodying the theme of "growth of body and mind" through the subject of swimming. The judges of the Munhakdongne Children's Literature Award spoke with one voice in praising the healthy, vivid portrayal of children who seriously consider their futures and confidently move toward the paths they've chosen for themselves. Sixth grade, the threshold to adolescence, is a time of great change—and a time when change is necessary. For children whose worries about tomorrow have grown deeper, Lane 5 arrives as a guiding story. Naru, the protagonist, is a wonderfully three-dimensional character who doesn't hide her confidence and ambition about swimming, and who reveals even the darkness in her heart to readers without reservation. Meeting such a confident, self-directed girl protagonist is, once again, one of this novel's great achievements. The author's skill in handling the romantic feelings of upper elementary schoolers with seriousness and balance is also outstanding. The moments of first love—rendered as clear as the transparent water of an empty school swimming pool, or a sudden summer shower on a sweltering day—will make even readers' hearts flutter. The judges' comment that this is "a wonderful gift set of stories that every elementary schooler should experience" is exactly right. This novel, shimmering like water, filled evenly with the worries and choices, setbacks and growth, friendship and love of thirteen-year-olds, is bound to captivate countless readers. Rather than a story of children fighting against the world on some grand adventure, the author chose a story of children passing through their own light and shadow to fairly and honestly reach their own touchpad. It is this realistic, finely woven perspective that makes this novel shine. _Song Mi-kyung (children's author) "A match is something you're supposed to win. I want to win." Kang Naru, thirteen years old, specializes in freestyle. She's the undisputed ace of the Hangang Elementary swim team, sweeping up medals at the national youth games. But once rival Kim Cho-hui appears and Naru finds herself standing in "Lane 5"—the lane symbolizing second place—doubt, anxiety, worry, and confusion begin to swirl inside her. On top of that, her coach's words that "winning and losing aren't everything in swimming, and sometimes how you lose matters more" remain a puzzle to her. With her heart in such turmoil, can Naru get through this summer's national swim meet? Not yet knowing what awaits at the end of the lane, Naru meets her last summer of elementary school more fiercely than anyone. Repeated losses cast a shadow over Naru's heart. But in the end, she comes to face her own shortcomings head-on—to stand proud before the sweat she's shed fighting fiercely through the water, and to keep from running away out of the pool. In this way, "she comes to understand, through her own body and mind, that learning how to win and learning how to lose are ultimately the same thing, and that whether she soars or falls is a choice she makes for herself." (Song Mi-kyung) Naru's process of retracing her mistakes one by one before moving forward gives readers a deep, lasting impression. It becomes clear that Naru's "Lane 5" was not a place to collapse and remain stuck, but a springboard for growth—a place to rise again and move forward. After finishing this book, children will want to leap eagerly toward whatever world they truly love. The moment they throw themselves into that world, they will ask themselves why they must do so—and surely find their own answer. _Song Mi-kyung (children's author) Each swimmer's dazzling race toward her own touchpad Author Eun So-hol shows us, from multiple angles through the eyes of swimming children, the age of thirteen—a turning point where worries about the future begin. It's the age when children must decide whether to advance to a sports middle school in order to keep swimming; the age when they hit the limits of body and mind and their times stop improving; and for some, it's the last...