HISTORICAL FICTION

ONE CRAZY SUMMER

written by Rita Williams-Garcia

Amistad

New York, New York

2010

SUMMARY

Eleven-year-old Delphine has grown up way too fast. Delphine has played mother to her two younger sisters for the seven years since her mother abandoned them.  Although her grandmother moved in to help her father raise them, Delphine still feels responsible for Vonetta and Fern.  The summer of 1968, her father decides to send them to Oakland, California to spend a month with their mother, a mother they don’t remember, and Delphine hopes for a bit of a break.  When they finally meet their mother after landing in California, Delphine knows nothing has changed.  Her mother is cold toward all three girls, showing no interest in them or their lives.  She makes it clear she didn’t ask for them and didn’t want them to visit.  They spend their days at a day-care run by Black Panther volunteers.  Throughout that month, Delphine learns about the Black Panther movement, herself, and, more importantly, she makes peace with her mother.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

California in the late 1960s, especially Oakland, was a hotbed of political strife, but Rita Williams-Garcia has created a story suitable for her intended age group.  Williams-Garcia did not “dumb down” the content, however she has kept to the relevant facts, keeping violent details as minimal as possible.  She has shared this story through the eyes of a believable young girl, keeping the accounts close to how an eleven-year-old may have perceived them.  She also does a great job of keeping the dialect and language realistic for the time.

The Black Panther Breakfast Program existed in California in the 60s, and it seems possible that the children attending would have been enlisted for small chores like folding newspapers and putting up fliers.  The girls experiences at the breakfast camp are realistic, showing camaraderie and dissonance between siblings and others their age.

Along with the story of the Black Panthers, and possibly even more important, is the way Williams-Garcia weaves a tale of how these girls are finding their way in an unjust world.  Their grandmother tries to make them conform and fly under the radar so as not to draw attention to the fact they are African-American, while their mother is disgusted by that way of thinking, telling them they have to be true to themselves.  This is a dilemma faced by most everyone in some way; parents often want one thing for their children and children choose an entirely different path.  Williams-Garcia shows the reader the difficulties, but she also shows them the possibilities.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Booklist - 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.

Kirkus Reviews - 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.

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…

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.

Publishers Weekly - Delphine’s growing awareness of injustice on a personal and universal level is smoothly woven into the story in poetic language that will stimulate and move readers.

The New York Times - In One Crazy Summer Williams-Garcia presents a child’s-eye view of the Black Panther movement within a powerful and affecting story of sisterhood and motherhood.  

CONNECTIONS

Research any of the following: Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Bobby Hutton, or Bobby Seale.

Research any of the following movements (These provide students with knowledge of other movements, giving them the ability to discuss similarities and differences):  Black Nationalism, WOmen's Liberation, Native American Rights, Latino American RIghts, Environmental Movement, VietNam Protests

Read The Rock and the River; compare the character Sam and his dilemma with that of Vonetta and hers. 
         Magoon, K. (2009). The rock and the river. New York: Aladdin.

AWARDS

2011 Coretta Scott King Award Winner

2011 Newbery Honor Book

2011 Scott O’Dell Prize for Historical Fiction

2010 National Book Award Finalist

Junior Library Guild Selection

Texas Library Association Best Book for 2010

2011 Judy Lopez Award

2013 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award

2012-2013 North Carolina Young Adult Book Award Nominee

Williams-Garcia, R. (2010). One crazy summer. New York: Amistad.