Geese Are Never Swans

Gus's life is about one thing-swimming. He is determined to make it to the Olympics and he knows that the only coach in town who can get him there is Coach Marks. So it seems like a simple plan: convince Coach Marks to train him. Everything from there on in is just hard work and Gus has never been afraid of hard work. But there are a few complications. For one thing, Coach Marks was Danny's coach. Danny, Gus's older brother, committed suicide after failing to make the national swimming team, a big step on the way to the Olympics. And for another thing, Gus and Danny didn't exactly get along when Danny was alive. Gus never liked living in Danny's shadow, and that shadow has grown even longer since Danny's death.

In this powerful novel about the punishing and the healing nature of sports, Gus's rage threatens to swallow him at every turn. He's angry at his brother, his mother, his coach..even himself. But as he works through his feelings and toward his goal, Gus does everything he can to channel his anger into excelling at the sport that he and Danny both loved, finding solace in the same place he must face his demons: the water.

About the Authors

Kobe Bryant was an Academy Award winner, a New York Times best-selling author, and the CEO of Granity Studios, a multimedia content creation company. He was also a five-time NBA champion, two-time NBA Finals MVP, NBA MVP, and two-time Olympic gold medalist. In everything he built, Kobe was driven to teach the next generation how to reach their full potential. He believed in the beauty of the process, in the strength that comes from inner magic, and in achieving the impossible. His legacy continues today.

Eva Clark is a psychologist and an award-winning young adult novelist. As a psychologist, she focuses on mental health, social justice, and sports. As an author, her focus is on creating stories that help young people discover their best selves. She lives in California with her family.