One Crazy Summer: A Newbery Honor Winner―A Moving Novel About Family, Activism, and Self-Discovery in 1960s America

Every student who makes it to middle school has heard of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but how many know about Malcolm X or the Black Panthers? An underrepresented piece of this important history comes alive in this tale of sisterhood, motherhood, and a bigger need to be heard and treated with equality. In Rita Williams-Garcia's beautifully written story, One Crazy Summer comes alive with the way the world existed in Oakland in 1968. Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern are packed up and ready to be shipped across the country to spend the summer with their mother Cecile who they haven't seen in years. Once Fern was born, Cecile left them to be cared for by their father and grandmother in Brooklyn and never looked back. While Big Ma questions Papa's judgment for sending them across the country to a woman who doesn't want them, the girls are full of nerves and excitement. As the oldest, Delphine is expected to make sure her sisters behave and don't embarrass Big Ma and Papa by being the "black girls everyone expects them to be". The color of their skin means they have to be better behaved than any white girl would have to be. When they arrive in California, it is clear Cecile didn't want them to come. She sends them by themselves to get Chinese food for dinner every night and to the Center to get free breakfast every morning. She won't even let them into her kitchen to get a proper glass of water. And she doesn't hold back from reminding them that she didn't want them there in the first place. When there is a knock on the door, she shoos them into the back room and tells them to stay back there and stay quiet. But Delphine can't help but peak and she sees men in black clothes with large afros: Black Panthers. She had seen some Panthers in Brooklyn, but they weren't like the men she sees now, with her mother. As the days continue on and Delphine continues to take care of her sisters while her mother ignores them, she starts to learn more and more about who she is as a young black woman. The Center is full of Panther information and the summer classes revolve around learning not to trust The Man. While others are content to fight in any way they can, Delphine can't help but remember her one priority: keeping her sister safe. And if the Man shot an unarmed black boy in his underwear just because he was a Panther, they wouldn't think twice about three little girls who their own mother doesn't even want. This story was so rich with amazing historical facts and personal, real family emotions that I can barely wrap my head around it all! First and foremost is the emotional family dynamic. Williams-Garcia must have younger sisters because this incredibly realistic portrayal of three sisters is so perfect it made me laugh and cringe thinking about my own childhood with my sister. Everything from the way they parrot their older sister, to their precocious goofiness, to their enthusiasm about everything Delphine doesn't want them to do, all of it is so skillfully written you would think you were there with your own sisters! Then you have Cecile. At first I was shocked their father would just ship them out to her, but I realized by the end that he cared about her and trusted her with his kids. Cecile was such a dynamic yet subtle character that you really had to read between the lines to fully appreciate the character Williams-Garcia created. At first it appeared she was working for the Black Panthers, and then it felt like she was somehow forced into it. Then it seemed she didn't believe everything they stood for and then she lectured her daughter about being her own woman and not adopting the housewife subservience her gender has been forced into. It was a little confusing at times, but it made Cecile more human, more real. But more importantly, this story gave life to the Women of this movement, the women caught in between a war of men. From Big Ma back home, a poor but strong southern woman, to the ladies at the Center to Cecile, this was a wonderful book to allow your young readers to see a side of the story never talked about: how it affected the women these men belonged to. I loved this angle on the story, especially since we never hear about the women of the Black Panther movement. And finally, this story is a much needed addition to the world of our cultural and racial history in this country. Everyone likes to talk about MLK, but what about the other side of the movement? They are an important part of our legacy, but it isn't taught as openly in schools, so I am glad to see a book that is appropriate for middle readers that also opens their eyes to a part of their cultural they most likely haven't been exposed to yet. There isn't a deep understanding of the Panthers, but enough to pique their interest. This might be a story best taught in a class or read with a parent in order to help them fully understand the nature of the revolution. I am really glad there is a book like this out there. It is a great addition to the shelves of our libraries and our classrooms.

I purchased this book as a gift for my niece. She had read it years ago and let a friend borrow it but never got it back, so I decided to buy her another copy to keep for herself. She was very excited to receive it, especially since this one is a hardcover, which should be more durable over time. I haven’t read the book myself, so I can’t comment on the content, but based on her reaction, this was a great purchase and a meaningful gift.

I really enjoyed this book. My daughter chose this for her book of the month in ELA. I’m not a fan of YA, but the protagonist’s naive honesty drew me in and kept me engaged throughout. The issues dealt with were more adult than childlike, though it was viewed through a child’s lens. Recommend it.

This book opens with three young sisters, ages 11, 9 and 7, on a plane flying alone to meet their mother who abandoned them soon after the birth of the youngest, and who doesn't want them now. At this point, everything that is decent in you should be screaming, "What the hell kind of a "parent" would ship their children off to a "parent" who didn't want them?" Pay attention to that feeling - it's important to this book. Not unexpectedly, the girls' "mammal birth giver" is less than warm or receptive upon their arrival. She shows up late to claim them like so much baggage and then can't be bothered to cook or care for them or even waste time on them other than making a few offhand cruel comments. The caring part falls to the eldest, our narrator Delphine, who is amazingly good at it. She knows just how and when to break up a fight, how to keep her sisters from making a "grand Negro spectacle", and how to comfort and reassure even when she's far from comforted herself. You have to wonder how she got so good at all of that, especially since she lives with her father, Papa, and her grandmother, Big Ma. Don't you think that they should be parenting the younger girls so that Delphine can be a child herself? Are you getting that feeling again? The majority of the book is about how Delphine and her sisters cope with their month in hostile territory. How they spend their days at the Black Panthers' summer camp. How they learn to deal with and even fit in with the other kids. How they adapt to the "black" identity they are being taught after their proper "Negro" upbringing. How they eat Chinese food every night until Delphine demands to be allowed into her mother's sacred kitchen because the girls need home cooking. But behind it all, their mother's absent presence lurks, along with their father behind that. Cecile aka "Nzila" remains a mystery until nearly the tail end of the book, and the book is really about Delphine's (and her sisters') drive to reach their mother somehow. Over and over again the girls reach out in small, tentative ways, and over and over again they grasp little but air. Nevertheless, Cecile/Nzila's presence slowly and subtly grows in the background until we - and Delphine - can begin to make out at least the bare outlines of a real person. Maybe even a person who isn't quite so contemptible as we think. Maybe there's even the slightest bit of sympathy left in her. And then we find out the horrible truth that crystallizes those niggling feelings, those cold little suspicions of Papa and even Big Ma. Suddenly we learn just exactly what kind of man sends his kids alone to a mother who doesn't want them. At this point the book almost tries to convince us that a miraculous transformation has occurred and maybe Cecile isn't such a bad mother after all. But the attempt at a feel-good ending isn't quite convincing, and maybe we still don't really like Cecile all that much. But maybe we understand her just a bit better, and maybe we realize that our contempt has been misplaced. Cecile may not exactly be honorable, but our contempt should be reserved for the man who created the whole situation in the first place. This is a very hard book to rate. Overall, the book is very well written. Ms. Williams-Garcia has a way with words, and she's drawn up some believable, three-dimensional characters. Delphine's narrative voice is pitch-perfect for the overly mature and responsible woman-child that she is, and I could see the world clearly through her eyes. Ms. Williams-Garcia is at her best in describing the close/dysfunctional relationship among the three motherless little girls, and their ambiguous relationship with the adults in their lives. The parts of the book dealing with the Black Panthers and life in 1968 Oakland felt a little weaker to me, but then, it almost seems like just the background to the story Ms. Williams-Garcia really wanted to tell: the story of a predatory man, the girl he used, and the rippling effects on the generation they created. That story is powerfully told, but it's not a pleasant story. It's the kind of story that leaves you both heartbroken and in need of a bath. Although there is nothing overtly violent in the book, there is a level of cruelty, even depravity, that I think calls for a more mature audience than the intended target of this book. In order to appreciate this book, children must be able to move beyond black/white, good/bad dichotomies and be able to understand nuance and circumstance. I'd suggest that parents of younger readers provide some guidance, perhaps even read it with your child. Although the publisher's guidelines say that it is for age 9-12, I wouldn't recommend it for kids much younger than 12 without adult support.

All the feelings. All the perspectives. All the interesting facts I needed to know more of. The characters’ voices are strong and deep and the story serves as a perfect timeline to watch them grow, evolve and get to know one another. Being inside Delphine’s head especially made this growth more significant, how she was eleven going on twelve to end up being just eleven. The sisters’ dynamics felt real and good, the community strong bonds were told rightfully so, without much of a fuss. The ending got me teary eyed and I’m only too happy to be recommending this one and the others in the series to my middle grade students and anyone else really.

Suitable for 10 and up

This was the most touching book I’ve ever read. It tells all about the negro’s struggle to get their rights

Great book

Es el primer volumen de una trilogía dirigida a adolescentes y jóvenes adultos. Las protagonistas son tres hermanas que viven su infancia a finales de los 60, coincidiendo con los movimientos pro derechos civiles. En su viaje para reencontrarse con su madre conocerán a los Panteras Negras. El libro trata los temas de la maternidad, la familia, la raza y el género, y la historia de los EEUU a finales de los 60.

Es el libro de texto que nos pedían.