One Crazy Summer

It's the summer of 1968, and three Brooklyn girls - precociously responsible eldest sister Delphine, attention-hungry middle sister Vonetta, and unexpectedly observant baby sister Fern - find themselves in California, dispatched for a month-long visit with the mother who abandoned them years ago. But although Cecile manages, just barely, to pick them up at the airport, it couldn't be any more obvious that she has no desire to become better acquainted with her daughters, preferring to isolate herself in her kitchen, with her printing press and her poetry. Trundled off to a camp being run by the Black Panthers, Delphine and her sisters are in for "one crazy summer" - a summer in which they learn a little bit about themselves, a little bit show more about the mother they don't know, and a little bit about the wider world.

One Crazy Summer is the first book I have read by Rita Williams-Garcia, but I sincerely hope it will not be my last! Featuring a heroine whose voice fairly leaps off the page - I was hooked from the moment Delphine observes that her younger sisters are in danger of creating the great "Negro spectacle" against which Big Ma is always warning her - a fascinating moment in time that really comes alive (despite the author's blessedly non-didactic storytelling), a theme (the Black Panthers) rarely explored in children's literature, and a family narrative that is by turns humorous and tragic, this is a book that deserves every one of its honors. And my, have those honors started to roll in! From a Scott O'Dell Award to a Newbery Honor, from a National Book Award nomination to a Coretta Scott King Award win, it appears that I am not alone in finding this middle grade novel immensely appealing. How serendipitous that we chose it as our January selection in the Children's Fiction Book Club to which I belong! Highly recommended to any young reader who enjoys historical fiction, or family stories! show less

It's 1968, and Delphine is just eleven years old when she and her two younger sisters (Vonetta, age nine, and Fern, age seven), travel alone on an airplane from New York to Oakland, California, to see their mother Cecile, for the first time since Delphine was five.

Only Delphine has any real memories of their mother.

It's Delphine who tells the story, and Delphine who has to take responsibility for her sisters, even after Cecile picks them up at the airport. Cecile is cool, not at all motherly, and pays as little attention to them as possible. The girls long for the motherly affection and connection they've never had, and still don't have.

Instead, Cecile sends them off each day to Black Panther "summer camp," at the community center. It's show more where they get breakfast, and it's where they get an education in black history, civil rights, and self-assertion that their father and grandmother, more laid-back and conservative personalities, never gave them.

Cecile is a poet, and she has a printing press, and to the Panthers she's "Sister Anzilla." (Spelling is a guess; I listened to the audiobook.) She has a somewhat testy relationship with the Black Panthers, happy to send the girls to them for breakfast, summer school, and other activities during their month-long visit, but a bit resentful when the Panthers want her to use her printing press for their flyers and newspaper.

What we see in this book is a view of the Black Panthers that, as a girl just about Delphine's age, but white, I certainly didn't get at the time.

And I love Delphine. I had just one younger sister, even younger than Fern, and like Delphine, in many ways I became responsible for her. At that age, you can manage many of the tasks, but the responsibility is more of a burden than adults, overworked themselves and not remembering what it felt like to be that age, often don't recognize. Delphine does her best, mostly does quite well--and gets chewed out when she makes a wrong choice, even though no harm came of it. I wanted to cheer when she spoke up for herself then!

It's a strange, crazy summer for the girls, especially Delphine, and they learn a lot and even, to some extent, start to find themselves as individuals.

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook. show less

It’s 1968, and 11-year-old Delphine Gaither has her hands full playing mother to her two little sisters, 9-year-old Vonetta, and 7-year-old Fern. She lives in Brooklyn with her father and his prim, old-fashioned mother, called Big Ma. Where’s the girls’ mother? Cecile Johnson abandoned the family before Delphine turned 5. Now Pa thinks the three Gaither girls should spend a month this summer with their long-lost mother in Oakland, California. And it will be one crazy summer.

You see, Cecile, now going by the more revolutionary name of Nzila, is much more devoted to her poetry and the Black Panther-led revolution than she is to her own family, in which she literally has no interest. She shuffles the girls, used to a pretty staid show more existence in Brooklyn, off to a Black Panther summer camp to keep them out of her way. Serious, self-sacrificing Delphine, already too grown up for her age, finds herself having to take care of her sisters pretty much on her own. Although already resentful of the mother who preferred a life without children to hamper her art and her freedom, Delphine never expected the cold reception she and her sisters received.

One Crazy Summer is one part the tale of a family torn apart, but it’s also a glimpse into the early days of the Black Panther movement and a reminder of what life was life for African-Americans not so very long ago. In addition, the novel serves as a glimpse into the mind of a perceptive, moral and very intelligent young girl who is wise beyond her years — and who knows it’s because she has to be.

And as for Cecile? I have to agree with Delphine’s sentiment on the first day of meeting her mother in Oakland: “I didn’t want to say Big Ma was right. Cecile was no kind of mother. Cecile didn’t want us. Cecile was crazy. I didn’t have to.”The poet formerly known as Cecile Johnson seethes with revolutionary fervor, admittedly essential for social change; I get that. But no mother should tell her children to their faces that she should have aborted them — even if she harbors that feeling in her heart. And no one — man nor woman — should feel that the only way to assist the revolution is by criminally neglecting his or her children. Ruth First and Joe Slovo managed to lead the ANC struggle in South Africa without abandoning their children like unwanted kittens. I think Nzila, nee Cecile, could have followed the example of Ruth First, who was feeling the same pulls between family and justice during the same years.

Did her only terrible, abusive upbringing justify a selfishness that led her to abandon three children — one still on the breast — because she couldn’t get her own way? Cecile may think so, but I can’t agree, even if she succeeds, at least partially, in gaining Delphine’s sympathy. I find that other reviews find it in their hearts to — well, if not to forgive, to understand. Me? I’m in Big Ma’s corner, who couldn’t forgive Cecile’s selfishness, indifference, and irresponsibility.

One Crazy Summer recaptures the excitement and the changes of the 1960s, while also exploring the resilience of children in a less than perfect world crafted by adults. This is a children’s book that’s perfect for adults. show less

Deftly written story of the 3 Gaither sisters, Delphine, Vonetta and Fern, as they travel to Oakland to meet their mother in a time of revolution and unrest. It's a powerful examination of love and abandonment, a moving portrait of a city and a people in the midst of fury over civil rights, and, oh yeah, also a really engaging children's book that's full of funny characters who have a lot of heart.

It's only a little bit depressing to see how far we haven't come. I was delighted to discover that Cecile is printing on a letterpress in her kitchen -- she who has the press makes the news.

A pesonalized and eye-opening retelling of a time in recent history that is often missed and misunderstood by White America. As this happens in a modern media age, it was especially powerful to see what is missed in coverage: the Black Panthers doing more that just engaging in violent rebellion. The characters of the girls and their mother are well-developed and the dialogue is spectacular. Growing up in that time, I could hear the language and rhythms of my African-American friends in how the girls spoke.

This book is set in America during 1968 and follows Delphine and her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, as they go to spend the summer with their mom in California and attend a summer camp run by the Black Panther Party.

I like that this book combines more authentic family relations and examples of activism to show how the private and public spheres of people's lives intertwine and connect. Delphine decides for herself what activism means and can look like while simultaneously watching and trying to understand her mother's journey with it. While the girls aren't treated particularly well by their mom, I do think that this book provides a sweet example of a sisterly bond in spite of parental difficulties. I also appreciate that the show more ending isn't a typical "happily ever after," since the girls are still growing up and learning about their mother, Cecile/Nzilla, and what their individual relationships with her are going to look like in the future. Cecile's self-centered behavior is shocking and deeply concerning, so it wouldn't be believable or satisfying to have the ending all wrapped up with a bow. Even the hug she gets at the end is a little generous, but I suppose it's intended to show the growth and beginnings of a relationship that the girls feel. I would recommend this book to 3rd through 6th grade students, especially if they are interested in the civil rights movement or activism. This book could be empowering and eye opening to many students at any age! show less

It's 1968, and Delphine's father sends her and her sisters to Oakland for the summer to get to know their mom, Cecile. Instead of spending time with her daughters, though, Cecile sends them to a summer camp run by the Black Panthers. Delphine's heard all about the Panthers from Papa and Big Ma, who think they're angry militant trouble-makers. But maybe there's more to the Black Panthers than what gets shown on the news - Delphine is definitely curious and decides to keep an open mind.

This amazing novel by Rita Williams-Garcia is a glimpse into a tumultuous era through the eyes of a child. Delphine is a rich, nuanced character who tries so hard to be stronger and wiser beyond her years. Readers who are older siblings will definitely show more relate to her desires to simultaneously protect and smack her younger sisters (at least I did!). show less