One Crazy Summer / by Rita Williams-Garcia.
Bibliographic Citation:
Williams-Garcia, R. (2010). One crazy summer. New York, NY: Amistad/HarperCollins.
Summary:
Three little girls, Delphine, Vonetta and Fern take off from
New York City and head to Oakland, California to spend 30 days with the mother
who abandoned them seven years earlier. When they get to California, their
mother, Cecile, does not rush forward to claim the girls as they had hoped, but
reminds them that she did not ask for them to come. They follow her home by
taxi and bus, where they are basically left to fend for themselves. Cecile will
not let them in her kitchen and seems put out when they ask for dinner. She
gives the girls money and gives them directions to get take out from Ming’s
Chinese. The next morning, she sends them to the community center for breakfast
and tells them to stay gone all day. Delphine, who has long assumed the role of
mother to her younger sisters, makes sure they stay out of Cecile’s way and are
gone as long as possible. The community center turns out to be a children’s
camp run by the Black Panther’s. Vonetta is drawn to the other girls and is
willing to go along with whatever is happening. Delphine is a little more
cautious about getting involved and Fern stays close to her biggest sister.
Their time with their mother slowly progresses and the girls all become more
involved in the activities of the Black Panther camp. One day, the girls decide
to take a trip into San Francisco to do some sightseeing. When they return, the
see their mother being arrested along with two members of the Black Panthers.
The mother of one of the boys at the day camp lets the girls stay with them.
The girls perform one of their mother’s poems at the Black Panther rally and
Fern recites her own poem. Their mother sees them and shows a small bit of
pride. When the girls are at the airport, getting ready to board the plane,
Fern runs to her mother and gives her a hug and the other two follow,
acknowledging that a mother’s hug is what they needed.
Impressions:
The author does an excellent job of defining the three girls
and their differences in regards to their feelings of abandonment by their
mother. At the beginning of the story, Delphine, the responsible, mother-like,
oldest sister thinks a lot about what Papa and Big Ma would say if they could
see how Cecile is treating them. As the story progresses, you see subtle
changes in Cecile and each of the girls, and Papa and Big Ma become less of a
focus for Delphine. The Black Panthers day camp provides a backdrop for the activities the girls are
involved in over the summer and how these new thoughts and experiences shape the girls while there
are away from Papa and Big Ma’s influence.
Library Use Suggestions:
For older students, research can be done on the beliefs and actions of the Black Panthers and how these actions were similar and different from those of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.
Reviews:
A flight from New
York to Oakland, Calif., to spend the summer of 1968 with the mother who
abandoned Delphine and her two sisters was the easy part. Once there, the
negative things their grandmother had said about their mother, Cecile, seem
true: She is uninterested in her daughters and secretive about her work and the
mysterious men in black berets who visit. The sisters are sent off to a Black
Panther day camp, where Delphine finds herself skeptical of the worldview of
the militants while making the best of their situation. Delphine is the
pitch-perfect older sister, wise beyond her years, an expert at handling her
siblings: “Just like I know how to lift my sisters up, I also knew how to
needle them just right.” Each girl has a distinct response to her motherless
state, and Williams-Garcia provides details that make each characterization
crystal clear. 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.
(2010, January 15). [Review of One Crazy Summer]. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/rita-williams-garcia/one-crazy-summer/
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