HISTORICAL FICTION: ONE CRAZY SUMMER
HISTORICAL FICTION: ONE CRAZY SUMMER
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Williams-Garcia, Rita. 2010. ONE CRAZY SUMMER. New York, NY: Amistad. ISBN 9781432860332PLOT SUMMARY
Set in the turbulent years of American history during the Civil Rights era, the three Gaither sisters Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern travel from Brooklyn, NY, to Oakland, California, in 1968, to spend time with their mother who abandoned them. Expectations for both the trip and reconciliation with their mother are high, and upon arrival, they meet their mother who is an absent but driven woman who does not fit the picture of what they view a mother is supposed to be for her children. Greeted with new experiences and situations, the tenacious older sister, Delphine, passionately leads her sisters in enjoying and discovering their new home for a few weeks. During their stay, all three sisters grow in new ways of understanding others and treating others with kindness and grace, in addition to learning and taking part in action against the racial injustices that are embedded in their society.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Middle-grade readers can find a kindred spirit in eleven-year- old Delphine, who leads her sisters Vonetta and Fern with tenacity and courage to meet the mother they barely knew. The inner thoughts and feelings of Delphine, who feels a strong responsibility to care for her younger sisters, may stand out to many readers. They may be able to relate to Delphine’s character qualities, such as being responsible to a fault but needing to acknowledge her own needs, and come to terms with what she wants in her life concerning family relationships. They may also be able to relate to her innate ability she has to stand for what she believes in, her sense of justice, and her awareness of the difference between right and wrong. The middle-grade years for youth are pivotal: coming to terms with their own core beliefs and individuality, as well as acknowledging what sets them apart from others, are all experiences at this age. While Delphine grew up in the 1960s, 2020 tweens can see themselves in Delphine. Even to 21st century tweens, the character of Delphine, as well as her sisterly relationship with her sisters, are entirely believable..
In regards to the plot of ONE CRAZY SUMMER, reader’s are introduced to the Civil Rights movement early on along with Delphine and her sisters, to people and organizations that they may have preconceived biases towards, or and, possible, to entirely new concepts regarding the movement. Like Delphine, readers can be presented with the humanitarian aspect of the Black Panther Party, the side of the organization that finds the needs of the people, and cares for those who are in need of aid, where the government falls short, no matter their race.
In ONE CRAZY SUMMER, the only knowledge Delphine originally had of the Black Panther Party was that they were a revolutionary group, fighting against the oppression of the black people, with loud riots and protests depicted on the news. However, as the story continues, she is surprised to see a more gentle and peacemaking side of the group that was foreign to her, and she learns about the dangers of her preconceptions, and how people can surprise you. Delphine states, after seeing first-hand that the Black Panther Party had a daily free breakfast program for youth, and a youth education program:
“I thought Black Panthers would only look out for black people, but there were the two Mexicans, a little white boy, and a boy who looked both black and chinese. Everyone else was black. I’d never seen the Black Panthers making breakfast on the news. But then, beating eggs never makes the news.”
Through the rest of the novel, readers may grow along with Delphine, and see that their preconceived notions and biases about certain people and situations may be changed for the better. Williams-Garcia expertly portrays the Civil Rights era, and various historical movements that were in motion to bring equality to all, all the while not making the information overwhelming with too many details and information. She expertly weaves fact and fiction together into an inviting plot that both informs readers, and invites them to explore their own preconceptions of history and people.
Delphine gives vivid descriptions of the contrast between her homes in Brooklyn, and Oakland. At first, Delphine is convinced that Oakland could never be a home like her Brooklyn, but the few weeks she stays in Oakland, living with her mother, getting to know the people of the community, and learning about the unique intricacies of of the community, the new city gradually becomes a second home to her, her initial biases replaced with affection, understanding, and acceptance. Before arriving at her mother’s home, Delphine has vivid memories of her grandmother telling her as a 6-year-old that:
“Cecile lived on the street. The park bench was her bed. She lived in a hole in the wall…even though I’d finally figured out these were expressions and not plain, factual truth, I expected Cecile Johnson to, at the very least, be bad off. To be one of those “Negroes living in poverty”, as the news often put it… then I joined my sisters, taking in the shock of her house and yard. The place where she lived… the house was covered in peaks of hard green frosting, Stucco, Cecile called it.. The green prickly house was surrounded by a dried-out but neatly trimmed lawn…”.
Furthermore, as Delphine and her sisters enter the beautiful home, Delphine observes:
“ I expected to see writing on the walls. Wavy, colored hippie writing all over, since she was free to do what she wanted in her own house. I expected to read strings and strings of words tapped out from her pencil onto the walls… but the walls in Cecile’s house were clean, painted a yellow beige, and had no writing.”
From false information from trusted family members, Delphine expected the worst of her mother; she expected her living conditions to reflect her choice of abandoning her children and family. However, Delphine’s preconceptions of her mother and her home were faced with truth, and she was able to consider if it was really fair of her to judge Cecile.
ONE CRAZY SUMMER presents readers with timeless and universal themes that span the vastly different time periods of 1968 and 2022. Readers can discover, with Delphine, of the importance of family, friendships, safety, and justice for all, as well as the danger of having preconceived biases towards other people based on nonfactual information. Readers of 2022 may notice that 1968 and 2022 parallel each other in similar ways. In both periods,youth in these years have gone through life-changing events that bring about protests and movements to make things better for the good of all. The murder of a young teenage boy named Bobby Hutton spurred the Black Panthers to protest against unjust treatment of the black people, and led Delphine to question her biases about the Black Panthers. Similarly, the the senseless murders of George Floyed and Ahmed Aubrey in 2020 led many people of the US to face their preconceived biases, and question their own definition of right and wrong, as well as what justice means, and if race has anything to do with the treatment of people. These major events were turning points, and made clear to the youth of the nation that the current status was not right, and brought about the realization that they were then, and now part of history being made.
Delphine sorrowfully recalls, of a moment when the tension and civil unrest were growing due to unneeded violence:
“Bobby Hutton was the first member of the Black Panthers, other than the leaders. He was so young… He was also the youngest Black Panther to die for the cause. He was only six years older than I was… the newspaper had said how the police ambushed the Black Panthers while they were in a car, and how the Panthers fled inside a house for shelter. That there was a shoot-out. That the police fired at the Panthers and the Panthers fired at the police. That when Little Bobby came outside to surrender, and took off all of his clothes except his underwear to show he had no gun, they shot him anyway. Over and over and over. That was this past April. Two days after Reverend King was killed.”
Like young Delphine’s awareness of the injustice in the society she was living in, tweens of the 2020s were and have also been highly affected by the violence and injustice, and like Delphine, feel at a loss with what the news is showing.
Williams-Garcia, with all of the literary elements mentioned above, creates a unique voice to tell Delphine’s story amid a turbulent time period within the US, and captures the feelings and emotions of the times during 1968. The author uses words and phrases that readers can understand, but stays true to the time period, by including different songs and catchy phrases the Gaither sisters sing, dance to, and say. These songs and music artists, such as the Monkees, may not be familiar to today’s youth, but the story may encourage further research.
ONE CRAZY SUMMER presents the reader with a powerful story, where the author conducted careful and thorough research. She balanced historical facts with a diverse fictional story to create a memorable and vivid story set 60+ years ago. Williams- Garcia introduces young readers to a time period and series of events that they may have only read about briefly in their school textbooks. She leads readers to possibly question areas of their lives where they may have automatically presumed they had all the information about a person, people group, or place, but in reality didn’t. Readers can take note from Williams-Garcia and Delphine’s story that not everything is what it seems to be at first, and that all people deserve grace, kindness, and respect.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
School Library Journal
Emotionally challenging and beautifully written, this book immerses readers in a time and place and raises difficult questions of 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.
Booklist
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.
CONNECTIONS
Did you like ONE CRAZY SUMMER? Read the rest of the series, GAITHER SISTERS!
Book 2: P.S. BE ELEVEN
Book 3: GONE CRAZY IN ALABAMA
Awards:
Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Newbery Honor Books
Coretta Scott King Award Winner
National Book Award Finalist
Similar Middle Grade Coming- of-Age Stories:
Fiction books that talk about the African American Experience:
Cline-Ransome, Lesa. FINDING LANGSTON. ISBN: 9780823439607
Magoon, Kekla. THE SEASON OF STYX MALONE. ISBN:
Smith, Pauline. DAWN RAID. ISBN: 9781646140411
Stone, Nic. CLEAN GETAWAY. ISBN: 9781432882167
Watson, Renee. SOME PLACES MORE THAN OTHERS. ISBN: 9781681191089
Woodson, Jacqueline. LOCOMOTION. ISBN: 9780435130909
Zoboi, Ibi. MY LIFE AS AN ICECREAM SANDWICH. ISBN: 9781432877095
Activities: After Reading ONE CRAZY SUMMER
Tween and Teen Bookclub
Like Delphine and her sisters, make a sign of what you believe is RIGHT, and what you are passionate about others knowing. Share with the group why you think it is important to share with others.
Card stock, paint, pencils, markers
Create a soundtrack of music that was popular in the late 1960s, or what you think matches the tone of the book as a playlist of 7-10 songs. Keep in mind the tones, themes, and time period of the story and of the songs you are choosing. Share one of the songs that stand out to you, and share with the class the lyrics to the song, and why you saw this song as part of a soundtrack to ONE CRAZY SUMMER.
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