2014 Coretta Scott King Award - Author Rita Williams-Garcia I loved One Crazy Summer and have this next book on order. Have you or your family read it? If so, please add your comments to the thread.
From Booklist *Starred Review* The Gaither sisters—Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern—are newly returned from a summer spent in California with their mother, Cecile, and the Black Panthers (One Crazy Summer, 2010). But life in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, with Big Ma and Pa is nothing like the freedom of Oakland, even if the girls carry back independent streaks. And while their summer may have been crazy, autumn is not exactly tame: Pa’s wearing cologne and whistling now that he has a girlfriend; Uncle Darnell’s back from Vietnam but sleeps a lot; and sixth grade has a new Zambian exchange teacher, Mr. Mwilla. Delphine speaks her worried mind in letters to Cecile, who always adds a postscript, reminding Delphine to “Be Eleven” and not a grown-up. (This makes for a nice recurring sentiment, if a somewhat clunky title.) Set against the tumultuous, yet vibrant, backdrop of the late 1960s—as Nixon campaigns against Humphrey and the Jackson Five are poised to play Madison Square Garden—the story is vividly narrated by Delphine, who reluctantly learns to ease control over her sisters and comes to a tough realization: “Twelve makes you know better than to wish for things that only eleven would wish hard for.” Even without the dynamic Black Panther characters, this soars as a finely drawn portrait of a family in flux and as a memorable slice of a specific time in our nation’s history. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Williams-Garcia’s One Crazy Summer (2010) won the Newbery Honor and the Coretta Scott King Award and was a National Book Award finalist. A robust marketing campaign includes author appearances. Grades 4-7, --Ann Kelley
Age Range: 8 - 12 years Grade Level: 3 - 7 Lexile Measure: 770L
Rita Williams-Garcia
I loved One Crazy Summer and have this next book on order. Have you or your family read it? If so, please add your comments to the thread.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* The Gaither sisters—Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern—are newly returned from a summer spent in California with their mother, Cecile, and the Black Panthers (One Crazy Summer, 2010). But life in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, with Big Ma and Pa is nothing like the freedom of Oakland, even if the girls carry back independent streaks. And while their summer may have been crazy, autumn is not exactly tame: Pa’s wearing cologne and whistling now that he has a girlfriend; Uncle Darnell’s back from Vietnam but sleeps a lot; and sixth grade has a new Zambian exchange teacher, Mr. Mwilla. Delphine speaks her worried mind in letters to Cecile, who always adds a postscript, reminding Delphine to “Be Eleven” and not a grown-up. (This makes for a nice recurring sentiment, if a somewhat clunky title.) Set against the tumultuous, yet vibrant, backdrop of the late 1960s—as Nixon campaigns against Humphrey and the Jackson Five are poised to play Madison Square Garden—the story is vividly narrated by Delphine, who reluctantly learns to ease control over her sisters and comes to a tough realization: “Twelve makes you know better than to wish for things that only eleven would wish hard for.” Even without the dynamic Black Panther characters, this soars as a finely drawn portrait of a family in flux and as a memorable slice of a specific time in our nation’s history. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Williams-Garcia’s One Crazy Summer (2010) won the Newbery Honor and the Coretta Scott King Award and was a National Book Award finalist. A robust marketing campaign includes author appearances. Grades 4-7, --Ann Kelley
Age Range: 8 - 12 years
Grade Level: 3 - 7
Lexile Measure: 770L