Can you imagine being sent to California for a month during the truly crazy summer of 1968 with your siblings? This month's feature is a Newbery Medal Honor historical fiction by New York Times bestselling American author Rita Williams-Garcia, published by Amistad in 2010. The novel is about Delphine, 11, Vonetta 9, and Fern, 7, who are put on a plane from Brooklyn to where they are to stay with an estranged parent. Their dreams of a warm reception however are quickly shattered.
It's 1968 when society is changing and men in berets carrying guns are shouting about black power but it's also a personal time when the girls desperately want to know who their mother is and why she abandoned them.
Cecile sends the girls for Chinese food and to keep them out of her way, she sends them to the local day camp. Over the course of the next four weeks, time is spent learning about revolution even though what the sisters want is a home-cooked meal and a real mother. Slowly, the mysterious story of their mom's flight is untangled.
Worth reading more than once for simply being a gem, it's been recognized four times. In the year of its inception, the book was a National Book Award finalist for young people’s literature. In 2011, it won the Coretta Scott King Award for the author and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Critics highly recommended the story as powerful and humorous. Teri Markson, writing for School Library Journal, states that it is emotionally challenging and beautifully written for children about ethnic identity and personal responsibility. C.J. Morales, writing for the New York Amsterdam News, states that it is written to teach black history in a meaningful and amusing way and will keep you laughing out loud.
The book is meant best for ages 9–12. Readers who enjoy Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich's 8th Grade Super-Zero, A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliot, Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Mare’s War by Tanita S Davis, E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau, Sherri L Smith's Flygirl, and the family dynamics in The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall will find much to love in One Crazy Summer. The Gaither girls' story continues in the award-winning P.S. Be Eleven.
It's 1968 when society is changing and men in berets carrying guns are shouting about black power but it's also a personal time when the girls desperately want to know who their mother is and why she abandoned them.Cecile sends the girls for Chinese food and to keep them out of her way, she sends them to the local day camp. Over the course of the next four weeks, time is spent learning about revolution even though what the sisters want is a home-cooked meal and a real mother. Slowly, the mysterious story of their mom's flight is untangled.
Worth reading more than once for simply being a gem, it's been recognized four times. In the year of its inception, the book was a National Book Award finalist for young people’s literature. In 2011, it won the Coretta Scott King Award for the author and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Critics highly recommended the story as powerful and humorous. Teri Markson, writing for School Library Journal, states that it is emotionally challenging and beautifully written for children about ethnic identity and personal responsibility. C.J. Morales, writing for the New York Amsterdam News, states that it is written to teach black history in a meaningful and amusing way and will keep you laughing out loud.
The book is meant best for ages 9–12. Readers who enjoy Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich's 8th Grade Super-Zero, A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliot, Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Mare’s War by Tanita S Davis, E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau, Sherri L Smith's Flygirl, and the family dynamics in The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall will find much to love in One Crazy Summer. The Gaither girls' story continues in the award-winning P.S. Be Eleven.
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