Home > Teachers > Read Aloud Favorites > Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds

Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds

In 1932, Sammy Lee, a Korean boy, liked to go to the community pool to cool off from the summer heat. Only allowed to use the community pool one day a week, there was little Sammy could do besides watch other children play in the pool. One day he watched a boy dive into the water “with hardly a splash.” Sammy was hooked. He spent his Wednesdays practicing diving. When the summer Olympics came to Los Angeles in 1932, Sammy dreamed of diving in the Olympics. But Sammy’s father wanted him to focus on his schoolwork and become a doctor. Years passed, and Sammy became a doctor, as his father had hoped he would. During this time, Sammy also served in the U.S. Army during WWII, but he never forgot his dream of becoming an Olympic athlete. In 1946, Sammy got permission from the Army and competed in the 1946 National Diving Championship. In 1948, Sammy was on the U.S. Olympic Diving team, where he won the gold and the bronze medals in diving. In 1952, Sammy came back and defended his Olympic title with another gold medal. Sammy was the first Asian-American to win an Olympic medal and was also the first male diver to win gold medals at consecutive Olympics for the same event.

Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story is a great book about a great person. The author Paula Yoo does a good job keeping the story moving forward and focuses on Sammy Lee. The illustrations are beautiful and match the mood of the story.

Grade Level: 6-8

Genre: Biography & Memoir

Format: Picture Story Book

Content:

US History
Societal Concerns