ONE CRAZY SUMMER by Rita Williams-Garcia

Bibliography
Williams-Garcia, Rita. 2010. ONE CRAZY SUMMER. New York: Amistad. ISBN: 9780060760885

Plot Summary
ONE CRAZY SUMMER is a historical fiction novel that takes place during the summer of 1968.  Three young sisters, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern travel from Brooklyn, NY to Oakland, CA to visit a mother they hardly know, because she left them when they were babies.  This book tells the story of their experiences that summer in California where they expected to meet movie stars and go to fun places like Disneyland, but what they got is not what they expected.

Critical Analysis
Seven years has gone by and eleven-year-old Delphine, nine-year old Vonetta, and seven-year-old Fern have not seen their mother Cecile since she left them and moved to Oakland.  She left them in Brooklyn with their father, who the girls call Pa, and their grandmother Big Ma.  In the summer of 1968, Pa thinks it is a good time for the girls to visit Cecile and try and reconnect with her.  Big Ma does not believe it is a good idea as she has a very low opinion of Cecile, but the girls go anyway.  At the airport, Pa and Big Ma tell Delphine to take good care of her two younger sisters.  Delphine has always been quiet and responsible and agrees to do a good job.  When they arrive at the airport in Oakland, they see their mother dressed suspiciously and reluctant to claim them, but they point her out to the flight attendant, and so Cecile takes them to her house.  Cecile is not very nice and acts strange to the girls, so they see her as crazy.  As soon as they get to her house Cecile sends them out to go get fast food by themselves.  Again, the girls find this behavior crazy, but they go to Ming's for Chinese food as instructed by their mother.  The following morning, the girls are sent to get breakfast at the People's Center not knowing this is where they would spend the majority of their time that summer.  It turns out the People's Center is where the Black Panthers have meetings.  They have a program for kids and Dephine, Vonetta, and Fern spend a lot of time there and meet and see a lot of new interesting things.  Delphine had seen Black Panthers on TV, but they usually had guns.  These Black Panthers did not have any guns and are helping the community.  Delphine has a new perspective on the Black Panthers.  This book mentions Huey Newton and Bobby Seale who were the co-founders of the Black Panthers.  While at the People's Center, the girls help color a poster that says, "Free Huey."

As the book continues, the girls continue to struggle to get to know their mother since all she seems to care about is her poetry and her printing machine.  Delphine takes it upon herself to make sure they eat well and have at least one fun excursion which in their case is to San Francisco.  Delphine wants to protect her sisters and struggles with the idea of participating in the "Rally for Bobby" organized by the Black Panthers.  She feels it might be dangerous for her sisters, but they insist on participating.  They even tell their mother, so Delphine has no choice but to continue taking the girls to the People's Center.  Upon returning from their trip from San Francisco, the girls arrive to see the police arresting their mother.  Their mother pretends they are not her daughters, so the police do not take them away too.  Delphine does not call Pa since she believes Cecile will come home shortly.  During this time, the girls are alone in the house, clean up their mother's kitchen, and read her poetry.  They find a poem they feel would be appropriate for the rally.  Cecile sees them recite her slightly altered poem at the rally and gives them some recognition, but still no hugs.  The book concludes with Cecile taking them to the airport, so they can return to Brooklyn.  While in line to board the plane, the girls can't resist but to run to their mother and hug her.  Despite their differences, the girls and Cecile were able to bond with each other in their own special way.

The author, Rita Williams-Garcia, includes an "Acknowledgments" section at the end of the book listing the people who inspired her to write this book.  She describes how she couldn't have written this book "without having read books, articles, and interviews that cover this period."  She also says, "I specifically could not have felt the climate of the times from Black Panther accounts and perspectives without David Hilliard's THE BLACK PANTHER INTERCOMMUNAL NEWS SERVICE."  ONE CRAZY SUMMER gives readers a view of what it was like for "children who witnessed and were part of a necessary change."  It also shows the exceptional bond between three young sisters that many children may be able to relate to.

Review Excerpt(s)
2011 American Library Association Notable Books for Children Award Winner
2011 Coretta Scott King Award Winner
2011 Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award Winner
2011 Newbery Medal Nominee
2010 School Library Journal Best Books of the Year Award Winner
2010 National Book Award Nominee

Starred review in BOOKLIST: "Eleven-year-old Delphine has only a few fragmented memories of her mother, Cecile, a poet who wrote verses on walls and cereal boxes, played smoky jazz records, and abandoned the family in Brooklyn after giving birth to her third daughter. In the summer of 1968, Delphine’s father decides that seeing Cecile is “something whose time had come,” and Delphine boards a plane with her sisters to Cecile’s home in Oakland. What they find there is far from their California dreams of Disneyland and movie stars. “No one told y’all to come out here,” Cecile says. “No one wants you out here making a mess, stopping my work.” Like the rest of her life, Cecile’s work is a mystery conducted behind the doors of the kitchen that she forbids her daughters to enter. For meals, Cecile sends the girls to a Chinese restaurant or to the local, Black Panther–run community center, where Cecile is known as Sister Inzilla and where the girls begin to attend youth programs. Regimented, responsible, strong-willed Delphine narrates in an unforgettable voice, but each of the sisters emerges as a distinct, memorable character, whose hard-won, tenuous connections with their mother build to an aching, triumphant conclusion. Set during a pivotal moment in African American history, this vibrant novel shows the subtle ways that political movements affect personal lives; but just as memorable is the finely drawn, universal story of children reclaiming a reluctant parent’s love."

Starred review in HORN BOOK: "The setting and time period are as vividly realized as the characters, and readers will want to know more about Delphine and her sisters after they return to Brooklyn..."

Starred review in KIRKUS: "Delphine is the pitch-perfect older sister, wise beyond her years, an expert at handling her siblings...while the girls are caught up in the difficulties of adults, their resilience is celebrated and energetically told with writing that snaps off the page."

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY review: "Emotionally challenging and beautifully written, this book immerses readers in a time and place and raises difficult questions of cultural and ethnic identity and personal responsibility. With memorable characters (all three girls have engaging, strong voices) and a powerful story, this is a book well worth reading and rereading."

Starred review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "Emotionally challenging and beautifully written, this book immerses readers in a time and place and raises difficult questions of cultural and ethnic identity and personal responsibility. With memorable characters (all three girls have engaging, strong voices) and a powerful story, this is a book well worth reading and rereading."

Connections

• This book could prompt students to want to learn more about the history of the Black Panthers.
• Students could research the City of San Francisco and all of the tourist attractions it has to offer.
• This book could inspire readers to write poetry.

Other books by Rita Williams-Garcia:

• Williams-Garcia, Rita. 1988. BLUE TIGHTS. New York: Lodestar Books. ISBN: 9780525672340
• Williams-Garcia, Rita. 1995. LAKE SISTERS ON THE HOMEFRONT. New York: Lodestar Books. ISBN: 9780525674658
• Williams-Garcia, Rita. 2013. P.S. BE ELEVEN. New York: Amistad/HarperCollins. ISBN: 9780061938627