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One Crazy Summer

3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 · rating details · 6,230 ratings · 1,274 reviews

In the summer of 1968, after travelling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer ca...more

Hardcover, 218 pages

Published January 26th 2010 by Amistad (first published 2010)

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One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Newbery 2011

3rd out of 139 books — 409 voters

Mock Newbery 2010/2011

5th out of 75 books — 117 voters

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Jan 14, 2011 Wilhelmina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: african-american, juvenile-literature, historical-fiction

I do not ordinarily read middle-grade books unless I am sharing them with my grandson, but I was drawn to this beautiful book initially because of its subject matter - children in Oakland during the early days of the Black Panther Party. But this book is so much more than its historical setting. I fell head-over-heels in love with the narrator of this book, Delphine, and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern. With a group here on Goodreads, I recently reread the wonderful short story collection...more I do not ordinarily read middle-grade books unless I am sharing them with my grandson, but I was drawn to this beautiful book initially because of its subject matter - children in Oakland during the early days of the Black Panther Party. But this book is so much more than its historical setting. I fell head-over-heels in love with the narrator of this book, Delphine, and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern. With a group here on Goodreads, I recently reread the wonderful short story collection Gorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara. We all loved Bambara's strong, resilient African American girls, and Delphine is certainly a full-fledged member of that sisterhood. Smart, brave, and responsible far beyond her age of 11-going-on-12, Delphine has looked after her younger sisters along with her father and Big Ma since her mother abandoned the family seven years earlier. When Pa decides that the girls need to get to know their mother, they travel to Oakland where they encounter a very different mother than the one they pictured. Their experiences in Oakland with their mother, Cecile/Nzila, are perfectly related through through Delphine's eyes. Part of Williams-Garcia's brilliance is that she keeps Delphine's point of view, but through Delphine, we come to know her sisters, the political climate of the time, and the other characters in the book, including Cecile/Nzila. Although no one would argue that Cecile/Nzila is anything but a truly terrible mother, Williams-Garcia, through Delphine, gives us a glimpse of the reasons behind her actions and we are able to feel compassion for her - no small achievement!

There is no neat, happy conclusion to this story, and it would not be believable if there were. But there is growth on everybody's part and there is greater understanding. And, above all, there are Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern - beautiful, wonderful girls that I will never forget. Yes, this is a middle-grade novel, but it is so richly layered and beautifully written that I suspect that many readers of all ages will treasure this book. Many thanks to Rita Williams-Garcia for Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern and this dazzlingly beautiful book. (less)

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Aug 26, 2009 Monica Edinger rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historicalfiction

My New York Times review.

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Jan 18, 2011 Margaret rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: level-elementary

11/25/2010 - National Book Award Finalist; saw review on CCBC. The plot/setting sound interesting. This would be interesting to talk with Nicci about.
1/12/2011 ** Well, now that this has won the Newbery Honor and the Coretta Scott King Award, our library copy won't renew. If I want to read it, it will have to be before the 28th.

1/16/2011 ** On the back cover, Jacqueline Woodson writes, "an amazing and beautifully written story" and "this novel is just glorious." With such praise from a writer wh...more

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Oct 04, 2010 Nina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children

I have one major quibble with this book and am trying to figure out how much it really matters. The geography is off. There is a Magnolia street in Oakland, but there is no Orchard (they walk to Orchard, past the library, to find the Center). There was in the 1800s, but it was changed at the turn of the century to 30th street (which was near a library in 1968). I'm suspecting that Williams-Garcia got old info. Also, and to me more importantly: there's no hills in this part of Oakland. Wherever i...more

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Oct 23, 2010 Wendy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-award-possibilities, newbery-honor

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Jan 07, 2011 Mary Ronan Drew rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Absolutely no one.

Shelves: library-book

This book is a dramatic revisionist history of the Black Panther Party. The book is not particularly well written and most of the "facts" are incorrect. There is a sudden, sentimental, and entirely unbelievable character change at the end. Serious, hard-working and loving characters are disparaged. A mother who abandoned her husband and three children to become a poet and find herself is presented positively.

I read this children's book as a potential Newbery winner. I think, unfortunately, it ma...more

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Mar 22, 2012 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, girls, realistic

Maybe 2 1/2 stars because I really liked the relationship between the three sisters. The book takes place in 1968 and three sisters are sent from Brooklyn, NY to Oakland, CA to stay with their mother, who left when they were babies. Their mother doesn't want them there, so I can't imagine why their father thought this was a good idea. She's a bad mother. That's it. No redeeming qualities at all (unless you count that she's a poet who cares more about her poetry than anyone around her... and tell...more

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Oct 18, 2011 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: abandonment, csk-award, family, fiction-historical, jail, school-age, travel, history, newbery

I really enjoyed this book - the characters were very well developed, the writing strong, and the message very touching. Three sisters travel across the country in the summer of 1968 to meet a mother they never knew, only to find themselves in the middle of the Black Panther movement. I love books that look at historical events from a child's point of view while also creating a full and developed picture of who that child is and how those events shape their small worlds. Newbery Honor Book 2011.

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May 09, 2013 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literacy-class

How did you spend your last summer vacation? Delphine and her two sisters got to fly cross country to California to spend the summer with their mother, Cecile. She abandoned her daughters and the girls hadn’t seen their mother in seven years. They dreamed of the glamorous vacation they were going to have in California: going to the beach, Disneyland and meeting movie stars. Instead, their mother did nothing with them. She constantly told them that she didn’t want them there, she wouldn’t cook th...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Duffy Pratt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens

What's in a name? In this book, it's simply not the case that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. We start with Muhammad Ali/Cassius Clay, and which name is better for him. And the same runs through most of the characters here. The mother was Cecile, but is now the poet Nzilla. Her eldest daughter, and the narrator of the book, prides herself on having a unique name, and then her world turns upside down when she discovers that Delphine means dolphin, and that there are probably other...more What's in a name? In this book, it's simply not the case that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. We start with Muhammad Ali/Cassius Clay, and which name is better for him. And the same runs through most of the characters here. The mother was Cecile, but is now the poet Nzilla. Her eldest daughter, and the narrator of the book, prides herself on having a unique name, and then her world turns upside down when she discovers that Delphine means dolphin, and that there are probably other Delphines out there. The mother refuses to call her youngest daughter by her name, Fern, and reputedly abandoned her family because she could not give this girl the name she wanted.

Names are important here, and part of this revolves around the idea in the black community at that time that given names were slave names, and that a black person changing his or her name to something African was a step toward liberation. A while back, I praised The Watson's Go to Birmingham, 1963, because it hewed to the Cosby Show approach to treating a black family, and did not make race the centerpoint of the book, focusing instead on portraying a normal, believable family. This book does not take that approach at all. The book is dripping with racial commentary. The family it presents does not resemble any middle class norm at all. And many, if not most, of the concerns of the book have to do with growing up black. But in many ways, I liked this book even more than the Watsons. There, I thought the characters where normal and believable. Here, I fell like the characters are more extraordinary, and still believable.

This book is also one of the only young adult books I've ever seen that has an obviously unreliable narrator. Delphine gives herself away in her insistence that Hirohito is just an ordinary boy to her. But the same unreliability extends to her characterization of her mother, and to a lesser extent, of her sisters.

I would have liked to have gotten to know a few more of the Black Panthers well. It wasn't the focus of the book, but there is a lot of historical background here that just gets skimmed over. And I think the narration sometimes slips its tone. For the most part, it sounds like the narrator is talking about recent events for her, and then every once in a while she will step back and the book veers for an instant into a distant memoir. But for the most part, I thought the writing was solid and clear. (less)

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Apr 17, 2013 Krista rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: caudill-2013

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 02, 2013 Debra Goodman rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really loved this book. In the "how I spent my summer vacation" genre - this book breaks all boundaries. :) In summer of 1968, Destine goes with her two sisters out to Oakland, California and spends the summer with her "crazy" poet mother, who the girls do not know or remember well. Not interested in having the girl's hang around, Mom sends them to the Black Panthers' breakfast and summer camp. Told from a child's perspective, the historical elements ring true but don't hit you over the head -...more I really loved this book. In the "how I spent my summer vacation" genre - this book breaks all boundaries. :) In summer of 1968, Destine goes with her two sisters out to Oakland, California and spends the summer with her "crazy" poet mother, who the girls do not know or remember well. Not interested in having the girl's hang around, Mom sends them to the Black Panthers' breakfast and summer camp. Told from a child's perspective, the historical elements ring true but don't hit you over the head - and hopefully would prompt kids to want to learn more about this period. Very eleven - appropriate for middle grades. I like the respect for the girls' intelligence. So many layers for conversation... the relationship between the girls and their mother (slightly reminiscent of Dicey and her grandmother in Homecoming), the wonderful connections between the girls, the themes of trauma and "mothering," poetry, families, civil rights, discrimination, political action and the politics of the late 60s. The discussion of naming and identity are fascinating as Destine explores her own name, her mom's adopted name as a poet, and the rumor that her mother left because she was not allowed to name Destine's younger sister - named Fern by her father.

Thinking about this book after reading it, I realized that I connected to it on many levels. I remember that era and read "Soul on Ice" and the Panthers were a strong presence within political activities in and outside of school in Detroit in the later 60s and early 70s. I marched in demos around our county jail and supported the "Detroit 15," The separatist nature of the movement - and the antifeminist stance which drove some young women away from the Panthers were not really addressed - but the book is not a Panther critique... but more of a balanced view. On a personal level - I was 13 in 1968, but also the oldest of three daughters who were two and four years younger. When I was 11, I spent several weeks away from my parents in California and it was a time when I thought about life and the world in new ways.

I'm curious how kids today would respond to this book.(less)

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Mar 29, 2013 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens-chapter-books, middle-school

WoW! It's been a great day's reading...It feels like a privilege to have read this book because of its essential truths.

Delphine is only eleven, but she is the mother that her mother is not. She looks after her two little sisters, Vonetta and Fern with a determined resilience that is just too sad, and yet so powerful. One Crazy Summer the girls are sent to live with their mother for a month. Their mother that they have not seen since she walked out on them after Fern was born. Delphine believes...more

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Mar 22, 2013 Bethany rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found this book on one of the award lists and was really excited to read it since it was an intermediate book! I had no idea what it was really going to be about until I began reading. When I did start reading the book I was in complete shock! Three sisters get sent to live with their mother for the summer who left them when they were really young. The mother does not want anything to do with them and treats them horribly! She will not even call them by their names, but only by "child" or non-...more I found this book on one of the award lists and was really excited to read it since it was an intermediate book! I had no idea what it was really going to be about until I began reading. When I did start reading the book I was in complete shock! Three sisters get sent to live with their mother for the summer who left them when they were really young. The mother does not want anything to do with them and treats them horribly! She will not even call them by their names, but only by "child" or non-labeling terms. She also says repeatedly throughout the book that she "doesn't want them!" and "I didn't want you here!" The book is very realistic and deals with hard family situations.

Audience: Grade 6 through 8

Appeal: It think the topic is a very tough one, although it is insightful into the lives of others. I think we often times think that children have loving parents; but in this case, the mother is in spite of her children. It really opened my own eyes and made me realize that there are people who treat their children this way simply because of their own beliefs and feelings; which is not right.

Application: I cannot say that I would want to use this book in my classroom. It deals with such heavy topics that I could not recommend this book except for on an individual level. Throughout the book the children are involved in riots (though they may be right and fighting for freedom) and the mother is involved in secret organizations. The children are also neglected there are some words and vocabulary that I would not use in my own speech. I would require parental consent and make sure the child is ready for this book before even recommending it.

Award: Coretta Scott King Book Award 2011

As I mentioned before, I could not recommend this book to a child without parental consent and explaining what these issues are dealing with. Although the book aims for a younger audience, I think it could be used all the way through high school. It is "easy" reading: big words, short chapters; but the topic is heavy and the terms are somewhat difficult to understand.
All in all it was a good book, but read with caution for younger audiences. (less)

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Mar 15, 2013 Vanessa Kirk rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-lit-2013

Audience: I would say grades 3-5 would be a perfect audience for "One Crazy Summer." It is a longer book with a more in depth story line, so it may be a little bit harder for the younger students to be able to fully comprehend this book.

Appeal: The third through fifth graders will absolutely love the humor in this book. They will get excited about all of the adventure this book has to offer. I don't think there would ever be a time in the book in which this age group would become bored. It is a...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Kristina Miranda rated it 4 of 5 stars

In the summer of 1968, eleven year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, are sent on an airplane from Brooklyn, New York to Oakland, California to spend the summer with a mother who abandoned them just days after Fern was born. She is a complete stranger to the girls, and Delphine is not expecting much, but the reception is less than lukewarm, it’s icy. Their mother Cecile lets them know right from the start that she wants nothing to do with them. She even refuses to use Fe...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Robin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mcba-2013

I have mixed feelings about this book. It does several things successfully: Sister relationships, kids who have to take on extra responsibility at a young age, homeless teens, and political action in America in the 1960s. And all within a palatable mid-elementary storyline. I worry, though, that kids far removed from that time and place will somehow get the picture that the black panthers condoned abandoning your children. The panther characters in this book seem angry, dogmatic, and tone-deaf t...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Jill Sanders rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: chapter-book, edci-311, historical-fiction, print, realistic-fiction, grade-4, 750l

This book also takes place in 1968, when African-American's were fighting for their freedom and being beaten and arrested for nothing wrong. This powerful story is told by Delphine, whom is the oldest of three girls. She is eleven, her sister Vonetta is nine, and her youngest sister Fern is seven. Their mother left New York when Fern was not even on the bottle and her father's mom, Big Ma, moved in with them from Alabama. The girls call their father Pa decided to finally meet their mother, Cecil...more This book also takes place in 1968, when African-American's were fighting for their freedom and being beaten and arrested for nothing wrong. This powerful story is told by Delphine, whom is the oldest of three girls. She is eleven, her sister Vonetta is nine, and her youngest sister Fern is seven. Their mother left New York when Fern was not even on the bottle and her father's mom, Big Ma, moved in with them from Alabama. The girls call their father Pa decided to finally meet their mother, Cecile, since they were grown up now. Cecile lived in California so they took a plane and were planned to stay there for a little more than twenty-five days. They arrived and Cecile showed no excitement of the girls coming to visit. She actually said that she did not want the girls there and she never asked for them to come. She took their money Pa gave them for Disney Land and only gave them so much at a time while they stayed.

Cecile would not let the girls in the kitchen so they had to eat on the living room floor. Most of the time, they would eat chinese food from a place down the street. A few days into their stay, they were sent to a Courtyard that served free breakfast. After breakfast, they would go to a little African-American school and learned about "black power" and their rights. Fern carried around a baby doll and was made fun of by other peers and older kids. Vonetta was probably embarrassed and drew all over the dolls face, not allowing Fern to carry it around anymore because it was ruined. Fern surprisingly got over it fast and actually became more of a leader than Delphine toward the end. Cecile was arrested for expressing her life in poetry and being with a couple Black Panthers. Delphine became scared, but her two sisters stood tall and vocalized a poem of their mothers and Fern's own. Fern also discovers something about herself that she would have never guessed. In the end, they became closer to their mother and shared many things with her as well.

I notice that the front cover shows Fern walking in the front, leading. In the beginning of the story, Delphine is the leader, takes care of the girls, and has the other girls mock her. In the end of the story, Fern is the brave one that stands up for what she believes in. This story made me feel sad that their mother was so ignorant towards her three girls and was busy doing poetry instead of enjoying her time with them. It also made me sad because I know there are parents out there that have abandoned their children and do not think twice about it because of their selfishness.

For the class, this would be an interesting book to read to the children for Black History Month. It talks about Huey Newton and the Black Panthers. The students could research about someone in that era that was of importance and present their research to the class. The students can provide a poster board with information and pictures of the person. Through this activity, the students will learn about an inspirational and life changing African-American. The students will also learn by researching and studying about the person. Since the student will only be assigned one person they get to choose, the other students will have to have someone different so they can learn about others.

The lexile for this book is 750 and the guided reading level is T. The interest level of this book would probably begin around third grade, but I would not expect a student to read this independently until the end of fourth grade. (less)

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Feb 19, 2013 Sam Diener rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

It's a YA historical novel centered on the lives of three African-American sisters who travel to Oakland around 1968 to spend a summer with the mother who left them years ago. It features a precocious but almost always believable 11-year-old narrator's voice that leaps off the page.

The evocation of the free breakfast and radical education work of the Black Panthers in Oakland is lovely. The depiction of the reluctant mother (who also strives to keep the Panthers at arms length, apparently for s...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Ann Carpenter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: newbery, historical

Things to love: The way the white people kept trying to take pictures of the girls. How Delphine was constantly aware that they were “representing the entire Negro race”. How Delphine is aware that the Black Panthers do a lot of different things, but it is pictures of guns that make it onto the news shows. The way that Big Ma’s opinions on the BP’s show that just because someone is of a certain race doesn’t mean that they all hold the same opinion (obvious, I know, but still a stereotype.) I do...more

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Dec 09, 2012 Kaitlin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens-novels, historical-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. More of a 4.5 star, really.

This book is fascinating, from the unique voices of the three sisters to the way their mother will drive you mad trying to figure her out. By the end of the book, I still wasn't sure whether I liked her or not. She definitely wasn't a very good mother though, that's for certain. She treated her daughters more like chess pieces in the revolution she was a part of and only occasionally seemed to remember they were her own flesh and blood and she was supposed to have some...more

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Dec 07, 2012 Derek Cooke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Delphine, Vonetta and Fern are all flying into Oakland California to see their mother that abandoned them years ago. Big Ma doesn't want them to go on the trip, but Pa says that they need to know their mother and that she needs to know her children. When they get off the plane in Oakland, nobody comes running up to them but they spot a woman standing by herself that looks like she is going to come and get them. The stewardess takes the girls over and asks the woman if she's here to pick the girl...more Delphine, Vonetta and Fern are all flying into Oakland California to see their mother that abandoned them years ago. Big Ma doesn't want them to go on the trip, but Pa says that they need to know their mother and that she needs to know her children. When they get off the plane in Oakland, nobody comes running up to them but they spot a woman standing by herself that looks like she is going to come and get them. The stewardess takes the girls over and asks the woman if she's here to pick the girls up. She says yes and then walks away telling the girl to follow her. The girls want to know about Disneyland and television which gets an ugly response from their mom. She repeatedly tell them that she doesn't want them and she should have gotten rid of the she had a chance. The mom forces Delphine to hand over the money Pa gave her for Disneyland. She gives the girls some money to walk around the corner and buy Chinese food for dinner which they have to eat on the floor because the kitchen is off limits to them. Some men come to the house wanting Cecile to make flyers for them. She strikes a deal and tell them she will make the Flyers if they take the girls with them. The girls go to the community center where they learn about the Black Panthers. They find out the Black Panthers aren't as bad as the news shows them to be. The girls go back to the house only to find more Chinese food for dinner which makes them sick. Delphine asks to go buy groceries so she could cook a meal for her sisters. The girls keep going to the community center and learn more and more and eventually are asked to come to one of the rallies. Delphine is concerned about the safety of her sisters and tries to get out of the meeting. The girls end up going on a trip around the city and they get back in time to see their mom and two others being arrested by police. They have a rally to protest the arrests and the girls get to speak at it. Soon Cecile is released and finds the girls she then starts yelling at Delphine for not calling Pa and making arrangements to fly home. Eventually Cecile sits down with Delphine and tells her story and what a terrible story it is. Mom and daughter learn more about each other in that time than ever before. It comes time for them to fly home and the girl sense that their mother has changed somehow. They get what they came for a hug from their mom.(less)

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Dec 05, 2012 Ed added it

Williams-Garcia, Rita. (2010). One Crazy Summer. New York: HarperCollins/Amistad. 218 pp. ISBN 978-0-06-076088-5 (Hard Cover); $15.99.

Williams-Garcia often tackles tough topics. Every Time a Rainbow Dies describes Thulani’s attempt to show a rape victim that he is not like her attackers, but he hasn’t really learned the vocabulary yet. Williams-Garcia gets into her characters heads and writes poignant life into them. Her books stay with you long after you finish. She is, perhaps, one of our more...more Williams-Garcia, Rita. (2010). One Crazy Summer. New York: HarperCollins/Amistad. 218 pp. ISBN 978-0-06-076088-5 (Hard Cover); $15.99.

Williams-Garcia often tackles tough topics. Every Time a Rainbow Dies describes Thulani’s attempt to show a rape victim that he is not like her attackers, but he hasn’t really learned the vocabulary yet. Williams-Garcia gets into her characters heads and writes poignant life into them. Her books stay with you long after you finish. She is, perhaps, one of our more under-appreciated authors and I say this knowing full well that she is no stranger to awards and recognition. Jumped was a National Book Award finalist. Every Time A Rainbow Dies was a BBYA top ten book. One Crazy Summer is a National Book Award finalist. Yet, I think she deserves inclusion in the Laurie Halse Anderson, Walter Dean Myers, Chris Crutcher circle of writers—someone we automatically think of when we want to point to a writer who writes quality books for students that matter.

One Crazy Summer is, as of this minute, my favorite to win the Newbery. I am writing this in early October and I still have many more books to read. I feel the same way about this book as I did last year about When You Reach Me. I turned the last page and said to myself, “I just finished the Newbery winner.” I know that authors and publishers will hate hearing these words now, lest I jinx their chances, but One Crazy Summer is excellent! It is a must buy for libraries serving students of all ages. About the only knock against the book is its cover, which makes the book seem like it is exclusively the domain of a younger audience.

Delphine and her sisters have been sent to visit their mother, Cecile, in Oakland, California. Cecile, the mother who abandoned them, takes the girls into her home but still has very little regard for her daughters (“Don’t kill yourself to get back here. Stay out till sundown.” p. 60). Delphine and her sisters envision hugs and Disneyland and home-cooked meals. They get Cecile who clearly does not want them around. They get the Black Panther community center and take-out Chinese food—but only if they use their Disneyland money to pay for it (“Fine. I got plenty of air sandwiches here. Go on back to the room, open your mouths, and catch one.” p. 32). Readers have plenty of reason to loathe Cecile. Somehow during this tour de force exploration of the explosive sixties and the Black Panther Party we find ourselves understanding Cecile. This happens one shown detail at a time. Just as our understanding of Cecile grows, so does Delphine. The beginning chapters clearly set the tone of the time. The girls are worried about becoming a “Negro spectacle” that Big Ma has warned against. Meanwhile the Black Panthers seek to become a very visible spectacle that takes pride in being Black, not Negro. Delphine is forced to confront her upbringing commencing with what she has learned from her Pa and Big Ma, what she sees in Cecile’s neighborhood, and her experiences with the Panthers. One detail at a time, Delphine grows into her own person, which reflects her experiences with all the various influences in her young life. The economy of language in this book is exquisite. Using a single first name and a single hug, Williams-Garcia has me weeping. Weeping because I care a great deal about a woman that I would never want to mother my own children. Weeping because I envision a future for these girls and their mother and it is a future that includes all of them together. You heard it here first: This is the Newbery winner for 2011!
(less)

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Dec 04, 2012 Brittany rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the story of a family of girls who travel to California to see their mother. They have not seen their mother very much and are so excited for her to take them to Disneyland and other fun attractions in California. When they get there however, they realize that they are not as appreciated as they had expected. Their mother doesn't want them in the house all day, so she sends them to a summer kind of school. They eat out and she really seems like she doesn't even have time for them. Later...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Kristen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: middle-school, upper-elementary

One Crazy Summer is the story of three sisters' journey to California over a summer. Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern have day dreams of visiting Disneyland and seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, but their vacation has other plans. The girls' father has sent them on a plane to visit the mother that abandoned them when they were very young. Cicile is not the typical mother that the girls might have wanted. Going almost strictly by her pen name, Nzilla, their mother shuts herself in her kitchen all day wit...more

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Nov 22, 2012 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I think this book did something grand. Ok. So in American in 1968, white is the dominant color, right? And how to talk about history is always a problem, right? How do we talk about being black in America? What part of the story makes one feel proud of being black? What part of the story makes one feel like ones ancestors were brave like George Washington? Or smart like Jefferson? Or scientific like Edison? Or adventurous like Amelia Earhart? Of beautiful like Marylin Monroe? Or entrepreneurial...more I think this book did something grand. Ok. So in American in 1968, white is the dominant color, right? And how to talk about history is always a problem, right? How do we talk about being black in America? What part of the story makes one feel proud of being black? What part of the story makes one feel like ones ancestors were brave like George Washington? Or smart like Jefferson? Or scientific like Edison? Or adventurous like Amelia Earhart? Of beautiful like Marylin Monroe? Or entrepreneurial like Ford? I know we have tried to tell the history of black people in America, but how does the story about slavery make one feel like one has choices in one's life? The story of jazz coming out of the black New Orleans and Kansas City is spectacular, but one has to skirt around the heroin addictions and just get lost in the music. Jackie Robinson is a true hero, but he moved from the negro leagues and went to the white leagues. And his story is once again one of survival by excellence in a white dominated world.

In ONe Crazay Summer, three girls, 11, 8 and 6ish leave their daddy and gramma, Big Ma, on a 727 from New York and fly by themselves to spend 6 weeks with the mother that abandoned them at the birth of the youngest.

Their mother did not ask them to come and is not pleased to have the girls as house guests. She is a mystery. She arrives at the airport to pick them up in a scarf, black glasses and men's pants. She lives in a house with a palm in the courtyard. She will not allow the girls in her kitchen and she does not cook for them or pay them any mind except to use their Disney Land Money from their papa for carry out Chinese. In the daytime she sends them down to the People's Center, a place where members of the Black Panthers fed the neighborhood poor and taught the children in a sort of summer school about revolution and black pride.

The emotional tug aware within Delphine, the oldest of the 3 sisters, between how to act and think, like she has been taught to be proper and keep her head down by Big Ma, or to push at the world as she was being taught be the black panthers. How was she to feel about her mother, Cecile, turned NZala who spent all her time writing poetry and printing the poems on her very own kitchen printing press with each letter spelled with movable type.

So this story is grand because it is not white dominating black and the where the hero of the story is black asserting himself against bloody odds. The story is in the heart of Delphine encapsulating the story of the struggles of the 60's within the black community itself. The reconciliation between the mother and the girls, happens t through poetry, but the poet is not the mother herself, it is the girls themselves.(less)

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Nov 21, 2012 Amanda Healy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was first intrigued to read this book because of the cover, as it displays bright colors and the main picture is a young girl who seems to be thinking deeply about an occurance. After reading this short chapter book, I really did enjoy it. I grew very fond of the narrator, Delphine, and loved learning about her "crazy summer" in Oakland. Being that Delphine and her younger sisters travel to find their mother who abandoned them as young children, it really makes this book a suspense never knowi...more

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Nov 17, 2012 Laurie rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Citation: One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia. (Amistad, 2010). 218p. Historical Fiction.

Summary: Eleven year old Delphine is tasked with taking her two younger sisters to spend a month with their estranged mother in California during the Civil Rights Movement.

Critique: (a.)This strength of this book is the main character’s voice. Delphine has a clear head, in a crazy situation. Oakland in the late 1960’s is an unusual setting for a children’s book, but the author reminds us that there wer...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Hannah rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed One Crazy Summer. The characters were great in this book and the historical background is really interesting. The only negative in this book was that there wasn't more of a nonfiction explanation of this time period. This book would be great to use for literature while teaching about civil rights, though. I was really drawn to the mother-daughter relationships in this story. This is such an unusual relationship shown here, but there might be children who can connect to a book li...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Mackenzie Wilson added it

For my Newbery award winning book, I decided to read "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia. This book is about an eleven-year-old named Delphine who has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even though her father and Big Ma will send them from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to stay with Cecile for the summer. And even though Delphine will have to take care of her sisters, as usual, and learn the truth about...more

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About Rita Williams-Garcia

"I was born in Queens, N.Y, on April 13, 1957. My mother, Miss Essie, named me 'NoMo' immediately after my birth. Although I was her last child, I took my time making my appearance. I like to believe I was dreaming up a good story and wouldn’t budge until I was finished. Even now, my daughters call me 'Pokey Mom', because I slow poke around when they want to go-go-go.

"I learned to read early, and...more

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“We all have our la-la-la song. The thing we do when the world isn't singing a nice tune to us. We sing our own nice tune to drown out ugly.” — 9 people liked it

“It was a strange, wonderful feeling. To discover eyes upon you when you expected no one to notice you at all.” — 6 people liked it

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