One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia
One Crazy Summer: Delphine and her sisters are in Oakland visiting their estranged mother, but shortly after arriving, she tells them "I didn't send for you. Didn't want you in the first place." It's 1968 and the streets of Oakland are full of men in berets shouting about black power.
To keep the girls out of her way, their mother sends them to the local Black Panther day camp, where they learn all about revolution-- even though what they really want to learn about is why their mother doesn't want a relationship with them.
School Library Journal called the book "emotionally challenging and beautifully written."
If your American history
curriculum includes teaching about the Civil Rights
movement, this would make an excellent choice for a classroom read
aloud or a required reading list. Beyond
the historical curriculum ties, this book covers challenging subjects
and would be a great discussion starter on family relationships, personal responsibility, and
ethnic identity.
We particularly like how this title provides
a
more nuanced picture of the Black Panther movement, dispelling some
incorrect misconceptions about the group and placing it in the larger
context of the Civil Rights Movement. Overall, well done!
Awards Won by this book
-Newbery
Award Honor 2011
-Coretta
Scott King Award Winner 2011
-National Book Award Finalist 2010
-Junior Library Guild Selection 2010
-Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction 2010
One Crazy Summer Reading Levels
Interest
Level: Grade 4-7 DRA Level: 50 Lexile Measure: 750L
Grade Equivalent: 4.6 Guided Reading: T
Book Covers for this book
There are two different book covers available for this book. We can't decide which we like best. They are both adorable and a perfect fit for this book!
