I took a while to get sucked into One Crazy Summer. I was intrigued, yes, both by the setting and by the characters. Yet, I needed more. I wanted to like the characters, which I could not really do–also because you’re not meant to.
Delphine, Vonetta and Fern go to Oakland to visit their mother Cecile. Cecile is unwelcoming–she does not want them there, she never asked them to come, and she makes it clear that they must stay out of her way. Delphine, the eleven-year-old narrator, is shocked that she does not even call herself Cecile anymore. She is a poet, Nzila, actively involved with the Black Panthers, and she sends them off for a summer camp where they can get free breakfast and stay occupied all day.
It is a turbulent time and Delphine is more than a little nervous. She is supposed to take care of her sisters, but how is she supposed to do that when her mother sends them away to take part in rallies and make posters about people she does not know?
Plus, as far as her father and her very proper grandmother are concerned, the Black Panthers are dangerous. How can Delphine get involved in politics that could lead to consequences beyond her imagination?
I think what kept me going through the story is the simplicity of the narrative. Delphine plods on, ever-sensitive to her sisters’ needs, and increasingly aware of her own. At one point, Cecile tells her that it would not hurt to be a little selfish, but that’s one thing that Delphine is not. A completely believable character, Delphine is someone whose life revolves around keeping those she loves happy. Without giving anything away, though, I will say that what won me over to the book was the end, probably the last quarter of the story. The way the story ends, with so many ideas coming together, made the whole book worth it.
| Title | One Crazy Summer |
| Author | Rita Williams-Garcia |
| Tags | Middle-grade, Historical Fiction, Black Panthers |
| Rating (out of 5) | 3 |
| Age-group | 10+ |
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