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One Crazy Summer
Автор: Rita Williams-Garcia
Текст читает Sisi Aisha Johnson
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Eleven-year-old Delphine and her younger sisters Vonetta and Fern travel to Oakland to meet their mother, Cecile, who abandoned their family years earlier. But even when Cecile gets them to her house, she shows no interest and seems to view them as nothing but a nuisance.
Cecile’s cold, unloving attitude leaves the girls wishing for the mother-daughter connection they’ve never had. But Cecile acts remarkably different after she sees her daughters at the Black Panther rally, where they recite a poem Cecile herself had written. At that point, Cecile’s attitude toward her daughters begins a remarkable change.
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Начать прослушиваниеСведения о книге
One Crazy Summer
Автор: Rita Williams-Garcia
Текст читает Sisi Aisha Johnson
Описание
Eleven-year-old Delphine and her younger sisters Vonetta and Fern travel to Oakland to meet their mother, Cecile, who abandoned their family years earlier. But even when Cecile gets them to her house, she shows no interest and seems to view them as nothing but a nuisance.
Cecile’s cold, unloving attitude leaves the girls wishing for the mother-daughter connection they’ve never had. But Cecile acts remarkably different after she sees her daughters at the Black Panther rally, where they recite a poem Cecile herself had written. At that point, Cecile’s attitude toward her daughters begins a remarkable change.
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This book was special to me as it took place during 1968 which was one of the most tumultious years during civil rights. These three young girls are sent to spend a few weeks with a mother who abandoned them 7 years earlier. They are not welcomed when they get to her home in Oakland CA and she will not take care of them. They eat at the homeless shelter and their mother sends them to a
Black Panther summer camp. The girls learn to grow up quickly. I recommend this book and it is on the Middle school battle of the books list this year.
It’s 1968 and eleven-year-old Dephine and her two younger sisters have been sent from their Brooklyn home to Oakland to visit a mother they basically don’t know. Their mother, Cecil, left them right after the youngest sister was born. But now their father believes it’s time for the girls to know their mother and vice versa.
When they arrive, it’s clear they are not welcome. It’s a good thing Delphine knows how to take care of herself and her sisters, because their mother has no intention of caring for them. When they complain of hunger, she sends them up the street for take-out Chinese food. In the morning she tells them to go to the People’s Center for breakfast. They are to stay there all day and join the Black Panther Day Camp.
Delphine had high hopes of getting to know this mother she barely remembers. But, within a few days, Delphine believes she’s just crazy. Cecil has changed her name and calls herself a poet. Gradually Dephine changes her mind about her being crazy. But it’s not until the end of the story that Delphine, and the reader, get a glimpse into the background of Cecil.
The other thing Delphine learned was a first-hand education in black history, black pride, and specifically the Black Panther movement. It’s all seen through the eyes of a child.
Rating: 4Black Panther summer camp. The girls learn to grow up quickly. I recommend this book and it is on the Middle school battle of the books list this year.
It’s 1968 and eleven-year-old Dephine and her two younger sisters have been sent from their Brooklyn home to Oakland to visit a mother they basically don’t know. Their mother, Cecil, left them right after the youngest sister was born. But now their father believes it’s time for the girls to know their mother and vice versa.
When they arrive, it’s clear they are not welcome. It’s a good thing Delphine knows how to take care of herself and her sisters, because their mother has no intention of caring for them. When they complain of hunger, she sends them up the street for take-out Chinese food. In the morning she tells them to go to the People’s Center for breakfast. They are to stay there all day and join the Black Panther Day Camp.
Delphine had high hopes of getting to know this mother she barely remembers. But, within a few days, Delphine believes she’s just crazy. Cecil has changed her name and calls herself a poet. Gradually Dephine changes her mind about her being crazy. But it’s not until the end of the story that Delphine, and the reader, get a glimpse into the background of Cecil.
The other thing Delphine learned was a first-hand education in black history, black pride, and specifically the Black Panther movement. It’s all seen through the eyes of a child.
“We all have our la-la-la song. The thing we do when the world isn't singing a nice tune to us. We sing our own nice tune to drown out ugly.”
Delphine and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, are flying from New York to California alone. Being the oldest, Delphine’s in charge, but it's not easy keeping two little sisters in line. What's even harder is the fact that it's the late 1960s, and they have the fear of Big Ma (their grandma) in them, which reminds them that they're representing all African-American people. Delphine doesn't want her sisters to do anything wrong. When they get to California, they are met by their mother, Cecile, who seems like a shifty character with her sunglasses and quick ways through the airport. Cecile abandoned them seven years before and doesn't seem very motherly when she takes them to her apartment. She won't even let them in the kitchen! Each step of the way, Delphine acts like a little mother trying to protect her sisters and help them to have the best experience possible. Cecile lets them do things they would never be allowed to do back in New York, like go out to pick up Chinese food for dinner by themselves in an unfamiliar city. This whole new world brings with it a slew of rules and way of living for Delphine and her sisters. When the girls go to a camp that's run by the Black Panthers, they see a lifestyle that's foreign to them, but Delphine loves seeing the way the people are spreading peace. When the girls are asked to take part in a rally, Delphine is sure that they should not be a part of it, because she knows how her dad and Big Ma would react. After she takes her sisters on a special sightseeing outing around San Francisco, a trip she has planned down to the last penny, they come back to find the police arresting Cecile and two men. What will happen now that the girls have no parent to live with? How will each girl change? Who will help them until it's time for them to go back to New York? What lessons are they learning? Should the girls participate in the rally? You have to read this amazing story to find out what life is like for these three girls in 1960s Oakland.
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia is the story of three girls learning and growing. They move to a world unlike any they have known before, and a new way of life is unveiled to them. It showed me that you can't go miles away from home and live in a different environment without seeing things in a new light. My heart went out to Delphine as she tried to be a good older sister and a wonderful caretaker. I was so scared for her when her mom was taken to jail. I always feel bad for a character that has to grow up before their time, but at least in this case the girls are able to learn some important lessons. This book opened my eyes to a different culture and made me think about what it might be like for people to have a parent they never really knew. The voices of the girls jumped off the page, and I still feel like I know each one and can picture them easily. I recommend this book to kids in grades four and up because it will help them to see how far we've come as a nation and what life was like not that long ago. This is the first book I have read by this author, but I cannot wait to read more! I recently heard there is a sequel, and I look forward to picking it up. A must read for people that enjoy historical fiction and strong characters!
Rating: 5Delphine and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, are flying from New York to California alone. Being the oldest, Delphine’s in charge, but it's not easy keeping two little sisters in line. What's even harder is the fact that it's the late 1960s, and they have the fear of Big Ma (their grandma) in them, which reminds them that they're representing all African-American people. Delphine doesn't want her sisters to do anything wrong. When they get to California, they are met by their mother, Cecile, who seems like a shifty character with her sunglasses and quick ways through the airport. Cecile abandoned them seven years before and doesn't seem very motherly when she takes them to her apartment. She won't even let them in the kitchen! Each step of the way, Delphine acts like a little mother trying to protect her sisters and help them to have the best experience possible. Cecile lets them do things they would never be allowed to do back in New York, like go out to pick up Chinese food for dinner by themselves in an unfamiliar city. This whole new world brings with it a slew of rules and way of living for Delphine and her sisters. When the girls go to a camp that's run by the Black Panthers, they see a lifestyle that's foreign to them, but Delphine loves seeing the way the people are spreading peace. When the girls are asked to take part in a rally, Delphine is sure that they should not be a part of it, because she knows how her dad and Big Ma would react. After she takes her sisters on a special sightseeing outing around San Francisco, a trip she has planned down to the last penny, they come back to find the police arresting Cecile and two men. What will happen now that the girls have no parent to live with? How will each girl change? Who will help them until it's time for them to go back to New York? What lessons are they learning? Should the girls participate in the rally? You have to read this amazing story to find out what life is like for these three girls in 1960s Oakland.
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia is the story of three girls learning and growing. They move to a world unlike any they have known before, and a new way of life is unveiled to them. It showed me that you can't go miles away from home and live in a different environment without seeing things in a new light. My heart went out to Delphine as she tried to be a good older sister and a wonderful caretaker. I was so scared for her when her mom was taken to jail. I always feel bad for a character that has to grow up before their time, but at least in this case the girls are able to learn some important lessons. This book opened my eyes to a different culture and made me think about what it might be like for people to have a parent they never really knew. The voices of the girls jumped off the page, and I still feel like I know each one and can picture them easily. I recommend this book to kids in grades four and up because it will help them to see how far we've come as a nation and what life was like not that long ago. This is the first book I have read by this author, but I cannot wait to read more! I recently heard there is a sequel, and I look forward to picking it up. A must read for people that enjoy historical fiction and strong characters!
My main complaint about this book is how little background there is -- this is not a part of American history that most kids study or will understand without some explanation, I think, and Williams-Garcia just drops you right in. I would be all over this as a classroom read with plenty of discussion.
(Though honestly, I also find that it hasn't stuck with me. Neither the characters nor the setting really sung for me. I was disappointed, given how critically acclaimed the book is.)
Rating: 2(Though honestly, I also find that it hasn't stuck with me. Neither the characters nor the setting really sung for me. I was disappointed, given how critically acclaimed the book is.)
In the summer of 1968, three young sisters travel on their own, sent by their father from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to visit their mother, who walked out on them when Delphine (the oldest, now 11) was only five. They spend a month trying to get to know this woman, who frequently reminds them that she didn't ask for them to visit and won't stand for them to disturb her peace and quiet while she writes poetry. So they spend their days at a community center run by the Black Panthers, coloring protest signs, handing out political flyers, and learning what it means to be empowered.I love how the two parts of the story - the sisters struggling to come to terms with their mother against the backdrop of Oakland in the late '60s - are woven together so well. It makes a compelling story, made even better by the lively characters of the the three sisters.
Rating: 4One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams- Garcia is a African American novel about three sister Delphine, Nanetta and Fern who lives in Brooklyn NYC with their father and grandmother and have to visit their distance mother in Oakland CA for their summer vacation. During their visits at their mother house they learn about the Black Panther Party and attend a summer camp that teaches that about Huey Newton, Self Defense and Black Power. Even though the girls' mother is still very distant and secretive, the girls grow to love her in their own way.
Rating: 5This is going to be a very short review because I can't imagine a better book to help teach young readers about the civil rights. The writing was perfect and the storytelling was exactly how it should have been. All I can say in reviewing this book is simply, "Get it. Get it and read it over and over again. Read it to your children and recommend it to everyone."
Rating: 5This book is a perfect introduction to the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panthers for young adult readers. Delphine and her sisters are believable and individually characterized. The mom, Cecil, is credible as well. This story of the girls' summer with their mom who abandoned them years ago is realistic, and engaging. The girls find themselves at the center of the Black Panther movement in Oakland, CA in the 1960s. The book skillfully blends historical accuracy with fictionalized characters. It is an enjoyable and informative read.This book would be a good one to include in a unit on the Civil Rights Movement. It is also a good source of some information about the Black Panthers. It is a good book to use when talking about family, and family relationships.
Rating: 4Delphine, Vonette and Fern don't know their mother - she left when fern was a baby and took off for California. Deciding that it's time, their father sends them from Brooklyn to spend a summer with mom. On arriving, they discover a mother who doesn't seem to want them there and sends them to spend their days at a Black Panther summer camp.
Rating: 5
A honest and powerfull story about everything that is worthy. sometimes we rush to judge people when we don't know. I loved it!
Rating: 5I thought it was a cute read about 3 sisters that fly from NY to CA to meet their mother, who never asked them to visit.
Rating: 3It's 1968, and Delphine is just eleven years old when she and her two younger sisters (Vonetta, age nine, and Fern, age seven), travel alone on an airplane from New York to Oakland, California, to see their mother Cecile, for the first time since Delphine was five.
Only Delphine has any real memories of their mother.
It's Delphine who tells the story, and Delphine who has to take responsibility for her sisters, even after Cecile picks them up at the airport. Cecile is cool, not at all motherly, and pays as little attention to them as possible. The girls long for the motherly affection and connection they've never had, and still don't have.
Instead, Cecile sends them off each day to Black Panther "summer camp," at the community center. It's where they get breakfast, and it's where they get an education in black history, civil rights, and self-assertion that their father and grandmother, more laid-back and conservative personalities, never gave them.
Cecile is a poet, and she has a printing press, and to the Panthers she's "Sister Anzilla." (Spelling is a guess; I listened to the audiobook.) She has a somewhat testy relationship with the Black Panthers, happy to send the girls to them for breakfast, summer school, and other activities during their month-long visit, but a bit resentful when the Panthers want her to use her printing press for their flyers and newspaper.
What we see in this book is a view of the Black Panthers that, as a girl just about Delphine's age, but white, I certainly didn't get at the time.
And I love Delphine. I had just one younger sister, even younger than Fern, and like Delphine, in many ways I became responsible for her. At that age, you can manage many of the tasks, but the responsibility is more of a burden than adults, overworked themselves and not remembering what it felt like to be that age, often don't recognize. Delphine does her best, mostly does quite well--and gets chewed out when she makes a wrong choice, even though no harm came of it. I wanted to cheer when she spoke up for herself then!
It's a strange, crazy summer for the girls, especially Delphine, and they learn a lot and even, to some extent, start to find themselves as individuals.
Recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
Rating: 4Only Delphine has any real memories of their mother.
It's Delphine who tells the story, and Delphine who has to take responsibility for her sisters, even after Cecile picks them up at the airport. Cecile is cool, not at all motherly, and pays as little attention to them as possible. The girls long for the motherly affection and connection they've never had, and still don't have.
Instead, Cecile sends them off each day to Black Panther "summer camp," at the community center. It's where they get breakfast, and it's where they get an education in black history, civil rights, and self-assertion that their father and grandmother, more laid-back and conservative personalities, never gave them.
Cecile is a poet, and she has a printing press, and to the Panthers she's "Sister Anzilla." (Spelling is a guess; I listened to the audiobook.) She has a somewhat testy relationship with the Black Panthers, happy to send the girls to them for breakfast, summer school, and other activities during their month-long visit, but a bit resentful when the Panthers want her to use her printing press for their flyers and newspaper.
What we see in this book is a view of the Black Panthers that, as a girl just about Delphine's age, but white, I certainly didn't get at the time.
And I love Delphine. I had just one younger sister, even younger than Fern, and like Delphine, in many ways I became responsible for her. At that age, you can manage many of the tasks, but the responsibility is more of a burden than adults, overworked themselves and not remembering what it felt like to be that age, often don't recognize. Delphine does her best, mostly does quite well--and gets chewed out when she makes a wrong choice, even though no harm came of it. I wanted to cheer when she spoke up for herself then!
It's a strange, crazy summer for the girls, especially Delphine, and they learn a lot and even, to some extent, start to find themselves as individuals.
Recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
Delphine is older of three sisters living in Brooklyn. They live with their father and grandmother. A summer they travel to Oakland CA to spend time with their estrange mother, Cecile. She had abandoned kids when Delphine was young. So the three sisters arrive in Oakland ant rediscover parts of Oakland and San Francisco while interacting with the poet, political and strict mother they never knew. Delphine is mature beyond her years and takes over as the mother while there. Three sisters are involved with the Black Panther party and explore the West Coast culture. The girls do not have a nurturing mother but discover what and who she is. Definitely a transformation and learning it is to be young and no one have growing up. Coming of age, Black Panther, politics, poetry, multicultural perspective
Rating: 4Being sent away from home to visit a mom who left them years ago, and still doesn't want them, Delphine and her sisters spend the summer in California, at a black panther camp. Being the oldest, Delphine bares the responsibility of keeping her sisters safe. A story of courage and change, students get a young person's point of view of what it was like to be an African American child in those days.
Rating: 4This was a good read but tough to get through. I was so angry with Cecile - she doesn't care for or interact with Dephine, Vonetta or Fern. I admired 11 year old Delphine for taking care of her sisters on the plane trip from Brooklyn to Oakland and while they were at their mother's. The story is well written and I liked seeing the p.o.v. of Delphine as she tries to figure out her place with her mother and as an African American girl. It was eye-opening to see the different ways that black families reacted to racism and prejudice. Delphine's father and grandmother wanted her to represent her entire race. Imagine how difficult that would be! Others, like the Black Panthers, wanted to fight back. This is a great story for exploring the Civil Rights period in the U.S.
Rating: 4Worthy of the honor status. This book has a historical setting that is not often covered in childrens' lit. The characters of the the girls are so well drawn. More than that there is further education or enlightenment for many readers in this story.
Rating: 4I met Ms. Williams-Garcia when she spoke to my graduate class on Adolescent Literature. She shared her writing process and in particular how she creates dialogue for her characters. That is what really stood out for me in this book. You can hear the voices of the characters so clearly. She captures angry, shy, stubborn, sarcastic, and defiant so beautifully. This book is certainly worthy of all of its awards.
Rating: 4Hmm. Maybe 3.5 stars. I guess this was good, but for some reason it didn't quite hit me. Maybe because there was no leavening humor, and the main character was a bit under-developed - she was more of a role-filler than a real person. Still, it belongs in every 5th-or 6th- grade Social Studies classroom, imo. Now I'm off to look up We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks.
Rating: 3One Crazy Summer is one monumental book! Classified as YA, it's a must read for anyone who ever was a child and/or had siblings. And a difficult family situation. And unknowable adults. Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern take their first flight from Brooklyn to Oakland to spend a month with their runaway mom during the 1960s. Told in Delphine's practical and brutally honest voice, the three girls stay true to themselves while immensely widening their worldview and their inner selves. They join the Black Panther Party's free breakfast and school program, and the reader learns the truth about this often maligned group, now so faded into the craziness of the era. Brilliantly written, a fast, heartfelt, memorable read.
Rating: 51968 Oakland, CA, Black Panthers, abandonment by mother
Rating: 4I loved this from the first chapter! Delphine and her fierce determination to take care of her sisters, even while she sees their flaws. The historical details. Delphine's voice, her observations, the tension of her forced responsibility and her need to still be an 11 year old girl, and the complex figure of the girl's mother.
Rating: 5Delphine is one terrific girl, but I hated the mother so much, I could not love the book. 1960s Oakland with the Black Panthers is definitly a different setting for a a historical fiction book for kids, but I wonder if more background or explanation was needed.
Rating: 44Q, 4P. This book follows a month in the life of three girls from Brooklyn who travel to Oakland to meet their estranged mother, a poet involved with social activism and the Black Panthers. The story is quick and engaging and does a good job of putting the events into a larger social context, no trivial task given that the protagonist's limited interest in her mother's world (at least, at the start). This would be a great book to educate kids about 60's activism; it gives a great child's eye view of the what it was like to be growing up in that place and time. Good introduction to the concept of privilege--the term isn't used, of course, but some of Delphine's comments, such as her having to be constantly aware and monitoring how the the white majority is perceiving her and her sisters, provide excellent and elegant examples.
Rating: 4I've been wanting to read this for a long time. Finally got to with my EL510 class. The book didn't disappoint, though it didn't blow me away either. I thought Delphine's narrative voice was strong, I was expecting more "oomph" from the plotlines of the Black Panthers and the girls' relationship with their estranged poet mother. The strongest part of this book for me was Delphine's voice and the connection she shares with her sisters. Anyone with siblings will be able to understand the ups and downs of Delphine's, Vonneta's, and Fern's relationships. Pretty pleased that there is a sequel about how the normalcy of growing up changes the sisters' relationship!
Rating: 4Delphine and her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, are off to Oakland, CA to spend the summer with their mother, Cecile. But this is no happy reunion, and Oakland is not all sunshine and Disneyland. Cecile wants next to nothing to do with her daughters, having walked out on them 7 years earlier. Plus, it's 1968, and the Black Panthers are working hard in this poor community to gain rights and spread the word.
Cecile, or Sister Nzila, is involved, albeit grudgingly, in the cause. Throughout the four weeks they spend in Oakland, Delphine and her sisters get mixed up in one thing after another, attending the Black Panthers day camp and learning about the revolution and its people.
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award and the recipient of a Newbery Honor, this middle grade novel certainly deserves them. Narrated by 11-year-old Delphine, the writing is sharp and to the point. Delphine doesn't dance around issues (unless it comes to her own feelings about certain things). The writing is excellent, with language perfect for older elementary students and middle schoolers. I was pulled right into the story, could feel the tension between Cecile and her daughters, the unspoken words that Delphine was just dying to say yet too afraid to let out.
I loved how all of the characters were so fully realized. Cecile in particular struck me as particularly complex and layered. It's clear she never really wanted to be a mother, at least not in the traditional sense. She doesn't take care of her children as a mother is expected to, and many would say she is a bad mother. But she knows what she's fighting for, and will not back down in the face of oppression. She's passionate about her poetry; Delphine calls it praying, as Cecile bends over her work. Cecile is an incredibly strong and independent woman, admirable at least for that, even though she proves herself to be very flawed in other regards.
And how many books for younger readers are there about the Black Panthers? I learned a lot from this book about that part of American history; not much of it was covered during my formal education besides a few mentions in AP U.S. Names are mentioned and a bit of their histories are thrown in, and interested readers are given just enough to find more information through their own research. (This would be a great companion to a school unit about the Civil Rights Movement.)
Williams-Garcia writes this in her acknowledgments: "I wanted to write this story for those children who witnessed and were part of necessary change. Yes. There were children" (p 217). I will not forget anytime soon that children were involved in this revolution, thanks to Delphine and One Crazy Summer.
Rating: 5Cecile, or Sister Nzila, is involved, albeit grudgingly, in the cause. Throughout the four weeks they spend in Oakland, Delphine and her sisters get mixed up in one thing after another, attending the Black Panthers day camp and learning about the revolution and its people.
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award and the recipient of a Newbery Honor, this middle grade novel certainly deserves them. Narrated by 11-year-old Delphine, the writing is sharp and to the point. Delphine doesn't dance around issues (unless it comes to her own feelings about certain things). The writing is excellent, with language perfect for older elementary students and middle schoolers. I was pulled right into the story, could feel the tension between Cecile and her daughters, the unspoken words that Delphine was just dying to say yet too afraid to let out.
I loved how all of the characters were so fully realized. Cecile in particular struck me as particularly complex and layered. It's clear she never really wanted to be a mother, at least not in the traditional sense. She doesn't take care of her children as a mother is expected to, and many would say she is a bad mother. But she knows what she's fighting for, and will not back down in the face of oppression. She's passionate about her poetry; Delphine calls it praying, as Cecile bends over her work. Cecile is an incredibly strong and independent woman, admirable at least for that, even though she proves herself to be very flawed in other regards.
And how many books for younger readers are there about the Black Panthers? I learned a lot from this book about that part of American history; not much of it was covered during my formal education besides a few mentions in AP U.S. Names are mentioned and a bit of their histories are thrown in, and interested readers are given just enough to find more information through their own research. (This would be a great companion to a school unit about the Civil Rights Movement.)
Williams-Garcia writes this in her acknowledgments: "I wanted to write this story for those children who witnessed and were part of necessary change. Yes. There were children" (p 217). I will not forget anytime soon that children were involved in this revolution, thanks to Delphine and One Crazy Summer.
Three girls are sent to their mother, Cecile in California. Her mother abandoned them when they were little. This funny, exciting, marvelous book is an incredible journey that is unforgetable. If you like kids who find some of their family, and really know where they came from, and some comedy hinted here and there, this will be a good story for you!
Rating: 5Delphine and her sisters Vonetta and Fern have never known their mother Cecile who took off after Fern was born. They've been raised by their Pa and grandmother Big Ma. This summer, Pa decides to send the girls to Oakland to stay with Cecile so they can get to know her. Cecile is a poet and active with the Black Panthers, but as Delphine says, she is no kind of mother. Indifferent Cecile sends the girls off to the free Black Panthers breakfast served everyday and tells them not to come home until dinner. Delphine takes it upon herself to look out for her sisters during their visit, attending the Panthers' summer camp and learning about revolution and power to the people. Delphine doesn't allow herself to get too swayed by all the revolutionary talk but she does absorb enough to finally understand her mother. Delphine is a strong, observant, and practical girl, taking the initiative when she needs to. A wonderful character to get to know!
Rating: 4Excellent! This was very real - the situations, every character, the relationships and interactions, the history (yes,I remember it well). The story was emotionally compelling for me with no exaggeration or melodrama - just real life, very well written. Delphine was a wonderful character and I'll remember her well.
Rating: 5Williams-Garcia writes characters you want to spend time with. These three sisters are shipped off to their mother who is a Black Panther living in Oakland in 1968. The girls, aged 11, 9, and 7, are used to the warm family life of Brooklyn where their grandmother and father take good care of them. Going to see their mother, who abandoned them, in Oakland, is like being thrown to the lions. Yet somehow they prevail. They stick together, and attend the Community Center summer camp every day where they are indoctrinated into the ways of the revolution, and power to the people. It is to Garcia's credit that she keeps the child's point of view. This allows us to see the true and the hypocritical parts of an important political movement.
Rating: 5Eleven year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, are leaving their Brooklyn home, Big Ma, and Pa for the summer, heading to Oakland, California to spend four weeks with their mother, Cecile, who abandoned the sisters seven years ago. Cecile is anything but welcoming to her daughters, shooing them off to spend their days at a summer camp sponsored by the Black Panthers. Set in the summer of 1968, a time in American history when the country was approaching a crossroads, readers are able to glimpse into the Civil Rights Movement through the eyes of an eleven year-old African American girl. Rita Williams-Garcia beautifully intertwines the relevance of this point in history with the genuine story of a young girl forced to assume adult and motherly roles well beyond her years as she searches for answers as to why her mother deserted the family. Recipient of multiple awards and honors, One Crazy Summer can certainly be used as a cross-curricular text in the middle school grades, providing that sufficient background knowledge regarding the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panthers is supplemented.
Rating: 4This book could be used to talk about African American culture during the civil rights movement. Also it could be used to talk about learning to accept people despite their faults. It took a lot of courage for the girls to accept their mom for who she was, and I think that is a great lesson.
Rating: 4