One Crazy Summer - Annotated Bib

I finished One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia last week, and it really blew me away. By the end of the book I was in tears! It was a very touching story that is narrated by 11 year old Delphine, a very responsible young girl who has acted like a mother to her sisters for years, since their mother wants nothing to do with them. The three sisters are sent to California, to live with their mother Cecile (who walked out on them) for the summer. When the sisters arrive in California they expected to be riding wild waves on surfboards, going to Disneyland, and meeting movie stars who they would then get an autograph from. Unfortunately none of that was the case for Delphine and her sisters. Their mother Cecile still wanted nothing to do with them and ends up sending them to a summer camp that is sponsored by the Black Panther ( a revolutionary group from the mid to late1960's). Throughout the story Delphine wants answers from her mother and wants to know the truth about the past, and why she left them. By the end of the book Celcile finally tells Delphine why she left, when she was 11 years old her mother died and she had to live with her aunt. She explained that her aunt made her cook and clean for her kids and made her sleep on a blanket in the kids room at night. Five years later her aunt was about to marry a man and didn't want her living there anymore so she gave Celcile 20 dollars and put her out on the streets. Some time later Delphine and her sisters father found Celcile on a park bench and took her home. She then gave birth to Delphine and her two sisters, and one decided to leave. By this point in the story my eyes were heavy as I read the last chapter. I finally lost it and started balling when the girls finally get what they wanted from their mother.....a hug. Before boarding their plane to go home the girls run back to their mother and hug her, as she finally hugs back.

I really forgot that this book was intended for a young reading audience, I was so involved with the story line. Even now a week later I feel like I made some sort of a relationship with Delphine and her sisters. It just was over all a powerful book, and if at some point I teach older grades this will be one that my class and i will read together.