Rita Williams-Garcia’s junior fiction novel One Crazy Summer is plastered with so
many awards that the jacket illustration is practically covered. A National
Book Award finalist and Newbery Honor book, as well as the recipient of the Coretta
Scott King Award, One Crazy Summer
narrates the experience of three young girls during California’s civil rights
movement in 1968.
Eleven-year-old
Delphine is convinced that her mother Cecile is downright crazy. Her father,
wanting them to be acquainted with the woman who left them just after the birth
of her youngest daughter, has sent Delphine and her two sisters all the way to
Oakland, California to visit. It soon becomes evident, however, that Cecile
doesn’t want anything to do with them. Forbidden to disturb Cecile’s
poetry-writing sanctum, the girls are turned loose to explore the streets of
Oakland, and to join a confusing civil organization called the Black Panthers.
Delphine can’t help but be interested in the Panthers’ message of rights and
recognition for African-Americans, but she’s been charged with taking care of
her sisters, drama-queen Vonetta and forthright Fern. As militants within the
Panthers demonstrate their discontent, the police push back, and Cecile refuses
to act like a normal mother, Delphine tries to decide how to keep her sisters
safe.
One
of the most interesting elements to this story is the way the Black Panther’s
cause is filtered through the impressions of a young girl. Rather than offer a
history lesson disguised as a character’s experience, Williams-Garcia shows
readers the revolutionary group as it relates to Delphine’s primary concerns,
such as taking care of her sisters and trying to show an obnoxious boy that
he’s really not as great as he thinks he is. In fact, the civil rights movement
often serves as a background for sister squabbles and Delphine’s frustration
with Cecile. Because of this, One Crazy
Summer isn’t exactly a comprehensive source for learning about the
Californian Black Panthers, but it sure makes for a realistic and entertaining
read. Delphine’s story is continued in the sequel P.S.: Be Eleven.
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