One Crazy Summer Lib/E: (1 Gaither Sisters Series Lib/E)

Eleven-year-old Delphine and her younger sisters Vonetta and Fern travel to Oakland to meet their mother, Cecile, who abandoned their family years earlier. But even when Cecile gets them to her house, she shows no interest and seems to view them as nothing but a nuisance. Cecile's cold, unloving attitude leaves the girls wishing for the mother-daughter connection they've never had. But Cecile acts remarkably different after she sees her daughters at the Black Panther rally, where they recite a poem Cecile herself had written. At that point, Cecile's attitude toward her daughters begins a remarkable change. Rita Williams-Garcia has been a finalist for the National Book Award, and her novel One Crazy Summer was recognized as a New York Times Editor's Choice. Narrator Sisi Aisha Johnson relates the story with the refreshing honesty of a tale told through young Delphine's innocent eyes. "With memorable characters . and a powerful story, this is a book well worth reading and rereading."-School Library Journal, starred review

About the Author :
Rita Williams-Garcia is the author of the Newbery Honor-winning novel One Crazy Summer, which was also a winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, a National Book Award finalist, and winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. She is also the author of several other novels for young adults, including Jumped, a National Book Award finalist; Every Time a Rainbow Dies, a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book; Fast Talk on a Slow Track, an ALA Best Books for Young Adults; and Like Sisters on the Homefront, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. She is on the faculty at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in the program for writing for children and young adults. Sisi Aisha Johnson has narrated numerous audiobooks and has twice won the AudioFile Earphones Award.

Review :

"One Crazy Summer absolutely blew me away. What an amazing and beautifully written story. I find myself still thinking about Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern and all the many other people Rita brought to life. Rita took me right into the world of the Black Panthers and Oakland in the 1960s. This novel is just glorious."

"One Crazy Summer is a genuine rarity: a book that is both important in its contents and utterly engaging in its characters...with the tremendous bonus of being beautifully written."

"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."

"Emotionally challenging and beautifully written, this book immerses readers in a time and place and raises difficult questions of the cultural and ethnic identity and personal responsibility. With memorable characters (all three girls have engaging, strong voices) and a powerful story, this is a book well worth reading and rereading."

"In One Crazy Summer Williams-Garcia presents a child's-eye view of the Black Panther movement within a powerful and affecting story of sisterhood and motherhood."

"Narrated in Johnson's warm tones, the novel follows the sisters as they meet their unemotional mother...Civil discontent seen through the eyes of children reveals another side of African-American history in this compelling novel."

"Sisi Johnson's sensitive portrayal of Delphine, mature beyond her years, is pitch-perfect. With deliberate pacing and restrained tonal variations, the other characters are also thoughtfully delineated. Johnson's delivery places the spotlight on Delphine's unfolding understanding of her mother as well as her discovery of her place in the African-American community."

"This vibrant novel shows the subtle ways that political movements affect personal lives; but just as memorable is the finely drawn, universal story of children reclaiming a reluctant parent's love."