Sunday, October 10, 2010

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Publisher:  Amistad
Pages:  224
Source:  Library
Genre:  Middle Grade Historical Fiction

Eleven year old Delphine, nine year old Vonetta, and seven year old Fern find themselves on an airplane headed to Oakland, California.  Their father has decided it is time they spend some time with the mother who left them shortly after ferns birth.  What they find is a mother who lets them know she didn't ask for them to come.  She sends them out for take-out for supper and makes them eat on the floor in the livingroom. She won't allow them in her kitchen at all.  In the morning she sends them to the community center for lunch and for the summer camp where they are to be taught by a group of Black Panthers.  Delphine has decided it is her job to protect her sisters like always.  She wants nothing to do with her mother or the black panthers.   This book was a look at the events surrounding the Black Panthers as told through the eyes of a young girl.  I loved this story.  I thought it was awesome the way the author showed how much the characters changed and how important that little bit of change was.  I can't wait to recommend this book to my school.

(The opinions expressed here are mine and not those of the other panalists)

No comments:

Post a Comment