One crazy summer
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English
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In this Newbery Honor novel, New York Times bestselling author Rita Williams-Garcia tells the story of three sisters who travel to Oakland, California, in 1968 to meet the mother who abandoned them. A strong option for summer reading—take this book along on a family road trip or enjoy it at home.
This moving, funny novel won the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction and the Coretta Scott King Award and was a National Book Award Finalist. Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern's story continues in P.S. Be Eleven and Gone Crazy in Alabama.
Readers who enjoy Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham and Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming will find much to love in One Crazy Summer. Rita Williams-Garcia's books about Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern can also be read alongside nonfiction explorations of American history such as Jason Reynolds's and Ibram X. Kendi's books.
In One Crazy Summer, eleven-year-old Delphine is like a mother to her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern. She's had to be, ever since their mother, Cecile, left them seven years ago for a radical new life in California. But when the sisters arrive from Brooklyn to spend the summer with their mother, Cecile is nothing like they imagined.
While the girls hope to go to Disneyland and meet Tinker Bell, their mother sends them to a day camp run by the Black Panthers. Unexpectedly, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern learn much about their family, their country, and themselves during one truly crazy summer.
This novel was the first featured title for Marley D’s Reading Party, launched after the success of #1000BlackGirlBooks. Maria Russo, in a New York Times list of "great kids' books with diverse characters," called it "witty and original."
"This vibrant and moving award-winning novel has heart to spare," commented Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich in her Brightly article "Knowing Our History to Build a Brighter Future: Books to Help Kids Understand the Fight for Racial Equality."
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ISBN
9780060760908
9781456115111
9780060760885
9780060760892
9781449821968
9780606235556
9780061966675
9781456115111
9780060760885
9780060760892
9781449821968
9780606235556
9780061966675
Similar Series From Novelist
NoveList provides detailed suggestions for series you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Despite being set in radically different time periods, both moving, relatable series let readers really get to know a warm, loving set of sisters and the friends and family who surround them. -- Autumn Winters
These character-driven stories feature sisters who visit different family homes in each volume. Each is filled with quirky dysfunctional family dynamics, amusing situations, and a realistic portrayal of sisters, who often fight for and against each other with equal fervor. -- Lindsey Dunn
While Gaither Sisters happens over a much smaller timeframe than Family,Tree, both of these character-driven historical series explore how the issues of various time periods affect kids and the way people from different generations connect with one another. -- Stephen Ashley
Even though the Gaither sisters series is more upbeat and humorous than the Logan family series, readers interested in historical fiction about warm, loving African American families and the times in which they live will enjoy both. -- Autumn Winters
These historical series follow well-developed characters growing up in a tumultuous time and place. Moose moves to Alcatraz Island, currently holding notorious gangster Al Capone, while the Gaither sisters experience different aspects of the civil rights movement. -- Stephen Ashley
While Gaither Sisters is set during the Civil Rights era and Zora and Me in the early 1900s, these historical series focus on the relationships between African American girls and their families. Gaither is funnier, and Zora is more thoughtful. -- Stephen Ashley
These series have the appeal factors own voices, and they have the subjects "sisters," "girls," and "african american children."
These series have the appeal factors own voices, and they have the genres "historical fiction" and "african american fiction"; the subjects "american people," "african american children," and "african americans"; include the identity "black"; and characters that are "well-developed characters," "likeable characters," and "authentic characters."
These series have the genres "historical fiction" and "african american fiction"; the subjects "american people," "family relationships," and "african americans"; include the identity "black"; and characters that are "well-developed characters" and "likeable characters."
These series have the appeal factors own voices, and they have the subjects "sisters" and "siblings"; and characters that are "well-developed characters" and "likeable characters."
Similar Titles From NoveList
NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
The great good summer - Scanlon, Liz Garton
Over the course of a life-changing summer, the capable girls in these poignant, authentic books travel far from home in the hopes of becoming closer (either geographically or emotionally) to their mothers. Delphine (Crazy) grapples with politics; Ivy (Great) with faith. -- Rebecca Honeycutt
The importance of names is paramount in these stylistically complex, character-driven own voices novels featuring likable girls in new environments who face racism and forge family bonds. -- NoveList Advisor
Displaced girls with ties to the Black Panthers struggle with family issues, as well as friendship concerns (in Cloud) in these moving, character-driven, own voices novels set in California during the second half of the twentieth century. -- NoveList Advisor
With family relationships at their core, each of these issue-oriented books set in earlier times stars lively, likable girls. They also present America's Black Panthers (Crazy) and New Zealand's Polynesian Panthers (Raid), activist groups whose social programs help their communities. -- NoveList Advisor
In these first-person historical novels with lyrical writing, believable dialogue, and well-developed characters, resilient Black children confront racism as they establish their own their identities. Clem is set in Chicago during World War II; Crazy Summer is in Oakland, CA in 1968. -- NoveList Advisor
Eleven-year-old girls connect with estranged relatives and gain a deeper understanding of both themselves and their families in these warm, authentic books, both of which are populated by vivid characters and infused with lively humor. -- Rebecca Honeycutt
Smart, hard-headed big sisters meet their match when they move in with equally tough and unconventional relatives in both character-driven books. A strong sense of place and spot-on dialogue add authenticity to both stories. -- Autumn Winters
Even though Revolution in our Time is narrative non-fiction and One Crazy Summer is historical fiction, each of these own voices books, which highlights the social activism of the Black Panthers, is compelling, richly detailed, thought-provoking, and character-driven. -- NoveList Advisor
These stories of African American girls traveling across the country to learn more about their family and heritage will appeal to readers who enjoy character-driven coming-of-age stories. One Crazy Summer is set in 1968, while Some Places is contemporary. -- NoveList Contributor
Spunky, likeable tween girls witness firsthand the community-building and ethnic solidarity at the core of major social movements of the mid-twentieth century (Black Panthers in Summer, Young Lords in Revolution) in these feel-good historical fiction books. -- Hannah Gomez
Readers looking for strong African American girls in historical novels with richly detailed urban settings will enjoy these moving novels. One Crazy Summer is set in 1968 Oakland and Ice Cream is set in 1984 Harlem. -- NoveList Contributor
Both of these moving, character-driven and issue-oriented novels set in mid-twentieth century America are about 11-year-old girls in search of the parent who abandoned them. -- Julie Corsaro
Similar Authors From NoveList
NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Rita Williams-Garcia and Jacqueline Woodson write compelling, issue-oriented novels. Both authors address issues of class and race while also emphasizing the importance of friendships and family in helping their strong protagonists surmount the obstacles they face. -- Kelly White
In their moving, character-driven, own voices fiction, both Mildred D. Taylor and Rita Williams-Garcia explore the Black experience. Both write historical fiction, but Williams-Garcia also writes contemporary stories and books for younger children. -- Stephen Ashley
Both Christopher Paul Curtis and Rita Williams-Garcia paint pictures with their words, using imagery and colloquial dialogue to bring stories to life. Their character-driven novels center around the experiences of Black kids and teens and often feature richly drawn historical settings. -- NoveList Contributor
Both authors are known for their moving, reflective books for older kids about Black girls who find courage in contemporary, historical, or even magical settings. Alice Randall also writes for adults; Rita Williams-Garcia primarily writes children's books. -- CJ Connor
Though Rita Williams-Garcia's tone is more unflinching and streetwise than Angela Johnson's, both authors create vivid, compelling stories about Black teens dealing with life-changing issues. Both authors employ a rhythmic, lyrical style, though Williams-Garcia's work is more stylistically complex than Johnson's spare prose. -- Kelly White
These authors' works have the subjects "african american children," "civil rights movement," and "african american families."
These authors' works have the subjects "african american children," "eleven-year-old girls," and "african american families."
These authors' works have the appeal factors emotionally intense, and they have the subjects "african american children," "eleven-year-old girls," and "poets."
These authors' works have the appeal factors emotionally intense, and they have the genre "african american fiction"; and the subjects "african american children," "african american families," and "african american teenagers."
These authors' works have the appeal factors emotionally intense, and they have the subjects "african american children," "eleven-year-old girls," and "civil rights movement."
These authors' works have the genre "african american fiction"; the subjects "north american people," "eleven-year-old girls," and "african american families"; and include the identity "black."
These authors' works have the appeal factors emotionally intense, stylistically complex, and nonlinear, and they have the subjects "sisters," "eleven-year-old girls," and "mothers."
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