1.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Williams-Garcia, Rita. One
Crazy Summer. New York: Amistad, 2010.
ISBN 978-0-060-76089-2
2.
PLOT SUMMARY
One
Crazy Summer is a historical fiction novel.
This book is set during the summer of 1968 in Oakland, California and
follows the lives of three sisters, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern, as they visit
with their mother who abandoned them seven years before. As they look forward to meeting the mother
none of them know, they envision all that California and their mother will
offer them such as Disneyland, movie stars, and loving embraces. But the
reality is that instead of Disneyland, they spend their time at a community center. Instead of movie stars, they learn about the
Black Panthers, and instead of loving embraces, they meet a disinterested
mother who resents their presence and advises them to stay out all day so they
do not disturb her work. During the summer, the girls learn a few things about
their distant, crazy mother and in the process, each one learns something about
herself as well. One Crazy Summer is set in one of the most volatile periods in
recent U.S. history and emphasizes the effects of this time period on the
children who experienced it.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
One
Crazy Summer paints an accurate story of what life was like for
African-American’s in the 1960’s from a child’s perspective. Delphine narrates the story as a responsible,
thoughtful, observant girl, wiser than her 11 years. Her sisters, Vonetta and Fern, add humor to
the story to draw in the reader. The combination of the 1968 Oakland civil
rights movement with the journey of the three sisters is seamless. The
writing is poetic and simple and the characters are unforgettable. The
book does not finish with a perfectly happy ending, but it is a perfect
ending.
4. REVIEW
EXCERPT(S)
Coretta Scott King Award
Scott O’Dell Historical Fiction Award
ALA Notable
Children’s Books – Middle Readers Category: 2011
School Library Journal
Best Books - 2010
From 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.”
From Publisher’s Weekly: “Williams-Garcia
(Jumped) evokes the close-knit bond between three sisters, and the fervor and
tumultuousness of the late 1960s.”
5. CONNECTIONS
Gather read-a-like
books to read such as:
Birdsall, Jeanne, The Penderwicks, ISBN: 978-0-440-42047-7
Howland, Leila and Ji-Hyuk Kim, The Forget-Me-Not Summer, ISBN: 978-0-062-31869-5
Gather other Rita Williams-Garcia books
to read such as:
Gone
Crazy in Alabama, ISBN: 978-0-062-21587-1
P.S. Be Eleven, ISBN: 978-0-061-93864-1
Have students write about the craziest summer that they have ever had
and have them share with the class.
Questions to
ask kids after they read the book:
-Do you think
the girls got an education in Oakland they otherwise would not have gotten in
Brooklyn? Why or why not?
-How do you
think each sister changed during their four weeks in Oakland?
-Of the three
sisters, Delphine, Vonetta and Fern, whom did you most relate to? Why?
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