Book Review For:
Williams-Garcia,
Rita. 2010. ONE CRAZY SUMMER. 1st ed. New York: Amistad. ISBN
9780060760885
Standing
up for and taking care of her sisters is nothing new for Delphine, and in the
summer of 1968, while staying with their estranged mother, Cecile, in Oakland,
California, she has to learn how to survive and function in a totally different
environment than they are used to. In order to have breakfast and stay out of
their mother’s hair, Delphine and her sisters, Vonetta and Fern, start
attending a Black Panther’s informal school for children. Being the strong
character that she is, Delphine reads the newspapers, pays attention to what
people say, and eventually gathers enough information to form her own opinions
on what is taking place around her. She and her sisters begin to understand
bits and pieces of their emotionally-distant mother and her strange life, and a
miraculous, unusual family bond is formed.
Readers
are authentically placed in the realm of a young African-American girl, who
automatically counts how many people with and without Afros are in a room and
who gets treated differently because of her skin color. Children with
non-traditional families and broken families will easily be able to relate to
Delphine, as well as those with siblings. Additionally, the author’s inclusion
of sibling bickering and details like slowing down the go-kart by dragging
sneakers on the cement make this story totally believable and entertaining.
After
reading this story with children, an educator could tie in social studies or
history about Civil Rights and the 1960’s. Reading poetry out loud from this
time period could initiate meaningful discussions, or they could write their
own poetry about family. Inviting an African-American guest speaker who had
lived during this time period to come talk with students would be a great idea,
particularly if they have a background in education or working with children.
ONE
CRAZY SUMMER has won the 2011 Coretta Scott King Award, 2011 Newbery Honor,
2011 Scott O’Dell Prize for Historical Fiction, 2010 National Book Award
Finalist, Junior Library Guild Selection, and the 2010 Texas Library
Association Best Book (“One Crazy Summer”, n.d.). Also, a SCHOOL LIBRARY
JOURNAL review states, “This book is a pleasure to cast your eyes over,” and a
Kirkus Starred Review confirms this by saying, “The depiction of the time is
well done, and 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 (“One Crazy Summer”, n.d.).”
References
“One
Crazy Summer.” Rita Williams-Garcia, accessed November 12, 2013,
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