ONE CRAZY SUMMER by Rita Williams-Garcia

1.      BIBLIOGRAPHY

Williams-Garcia, Rita.  2010.  ONE CRAZY SUMMER.  New York, NY:  HarperCollins Publishers.  ISBN 9780060760885

   2.  PLOT SUMMARY

Seven years ago, Delphine and her two younger sisters,Vonetta and Fern, were abandoned by their mother, Cecile.  Even though their mother abandoned them, their father believes it is time for them to visit their mother in California. The three sisters spend the summer with their mother, Cecile.  When the girls arrive in California, Cecile makes it clear that she really does not want them there and is not affectionate toward the girls.  Cecile has them go to the People’s Center run by the Black Panthers and tells them to stay away from the house as long as possible every day.  At the People’s Center, the girls eat breakfast and attend the special program for children.  Throughout the “crazy summer,” Delphine, Vonetta and Fern learn about the civil rights movement and Cecile begins to open up her heart to her children


3.      CRITICAL ANALYSIS
ONE CRAZY SUMMER is written from a child’s view point.  As the story progresses, you see how the girls' perceptions of civil rights change.  The girls desperately want to be loved by their mother.  Sadly, many children will relate to having parents separated and not receiving the love they so desperately need from their parents.  The dialogue among the girls seems realistic for the age and time period.   The characters personalities seem to jump right off the page. 

The book is set in the summer of 1968 amidst the civil rights movement. In the book, the girls participate in a rally and attend the daily children’s program at the People’s Center that is sponsored by the black panthers.  The book does a good job showing the injustice between the treatment of blacks and whites.  However, the book does not depict all the aspects of the Black Panther Party which hinders the authenticity of the book.  From reading the book, you see the Black Panthers as a group that cares for the poor and promotes equality peacefully.   What the book does not show is that the group would use any means necessary, including violence, to bring forth the change that they wanted.  In the book, Delphine does remember seeing the black panthers on the news back home and that they were violent but then she remembers how they were not that way at all at the center.  From reading this, the reader assumes that since what she sees in person is peaceful, that the news depicted the black panthers wrong.  For research, the author states that she has read articles, books, interviews and The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service but no bibliography is given. 


4.  REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner, 2011
Children’s Notable Book, 2011
Newbery Honor Book, 2011
Book List:  “Civil discontent seen through the eyes of children reveals another side of African American history in this compelling novel.”



5.  CONNECTIONS

* Great book to read for black history month. 

 *Other related books:

Shelton, Paula Young.  CHILD OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.  ISBN: 9780375954146
Zeiger, Jennifer.  THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.  ISBN:  9780531250297