One Crazy Summer (Module 2)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Williams-Garcia, Rita. 2010. One Crazy Summer. New York: Amistad. ISBN: 9780060760885.

2. PLOT SUMMARY
During the summer of 1968, three sisters, Delpine, Vonetta, and Fern, travel from New York to Oakland, California to meet their estranged mother who left when Ferm was born. They arrive to find their mother an enigmatic and distant person who spends her time in the kitchen writing poetry and printing it out on a hand crank printing press. Instead of visiting Disney World or finding movie stars as they had imagined, the girls go to a day camp at the People’s Center run by the Black Panthers and get a radical new look at the world they live in.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Williams-Gracia does an excellent job of creating uneasiness in the reader as we witness these three girls walking into such a tumultuous place. There is a stark difference between their home in New York where their Big Ma is worried about them making a “grand Negro spectacle” of themselves to the People's Center of Oakland where they are being taught their rights and to have pride in being black. This difference demonstrates two radically different views of what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s. The uneasiness is also amplified to any reader who has background knowledge of the unrest of Oakland during this time and how “crazy” it was to have these previously somewhat sheltered children taking care of themselves through a good portion of their trip.

The characters are one of the most memorable parts of this novel as they seem to jump off the page. They are fully fleshed out and full of surprises. From what the mom's motivation is to how Delphine will handle her sisters, Williams-Garcia did an excellent job of creating a world that has depth and a plot that does not pander to its audience.

There are many cultural markers in this book that show a diversity of thoughts, vocabulary, and opinions during this time in America. The girls argue with one Panther that they are “colored” not “black.” The same Panther calls Fern a “white baby lover” for having her white baby doll with her at all times. As the girls' eyes are opened to the world around them, the reader also gains an education as well about 1968. There are three sisters who are dressed up like they are going to a go-go, a young boy who is mixed Japanese-Black with his Black Panther father in jail, Hippies singing songs of peace, a Black Panther who speaks fanatically about “offing the pigs,” references to freeing Huey and remembering Bobby, and white foreign tourists who try to take pictures of the young girls.

The only thing that seemed disconnected to me in the whole book was the cover on this particular version. There are other covers of this book, but the one I had was a young girl cupping her chin and looking up. She looks young and sweet. The colors are bright and fun. It looks like a book I could hand to a high reader in third grade. The topic however is something for more mature readers to handle (interest level is grades 5-8 according to Follett). I think this cover doesn't do justice to the topics inside nor prepare the reader for what s/he will encounter.

One Crazy Summer is a wonderful book full of depth. All three girls grow a great deal over the summer they spend with their mother and depart with a deeper understanding of who they are, even if they still have so many questions about who their mother is.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Coretta Scott King Award 2011
• Newbery Honor 2011
• Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction 2011
• Booklist Starred: “Set during a pivotal moment in African American history, 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.”
• Horn Book Starred: “Williams-Garcia writes vividly about that turbulent summer through the intelligent, funny, blunt voice of Delphine, who observes outsiders and her own family with shrewdness and a keen perception.”
• Kirkus Reviews Starred: “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.”

5. CONNECTIONS

• The 1968 Exhibit is a traveling exhibit that has a strong website. Use the resources here to help students understand some of the events that are mentioned in the book and to get a better picture of the national climate. The desktop timeline is particularly interesting and holds a wealth of information.
• The Black Panthers are a main part of this novel. Although readers will get a basic understanding of them through this novel, readers would benefit from greater background knowledge before reading or an in-depth study after reading this novel. Students should look beyond what was publicized about them in popular media to the things they were lesser known for, like the free breakfast program that the characters go to in One Crazy Summer.
• Create a poetry reading event for students. Allow them to read other's poetry or their own. One possible theme for this poetry and event could be oppression and how to stop it.
• Other books that have received the Newbery and Coretta Scott King Award:

Curtis, Christoper Paul. Bud, Not Buddy. ISBN: 9780385323062. Coretta Scott King Award 2000 and Newbery Medal 2000.

Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watson's Go to Birmingham—1963: a novel. ISBN: 9780385321754. Coretta Scott King Honor 1996 and Newbery Honor 1996.

McKissack, Pat. The Dark Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural. ISBN: 97806798186632. Coretta Scott King Award 1993 and Newbery Honor 1993.