one crazy summer written by rita williams-garcia

Williams-Garcia, Rita. One Crazy Summer. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011. ISBN: 9780060760908

Plot Summary:

     Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern are three sisters who travel across the country from New York to California for Summer vacation and to spend time with their estranged mother. The year is 1968,and despite the three sisters' expectations of going to California to enjoy their summer at Disneyland, they are thrown into a summer camp ran by the Black Panther Party. The girls are surrounded by a radical environment where they become educated about their family, history, and the fight for current civil rights. 

Critical Analysis:

     One Crazy Summer is a historical work of fiction that captivates readers through the detailed depictions of how life was for African-Americans during the 1960's. The novel begins with the introductions of the main characters, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern. The author, Rita Williams-Garcia, describes the girls as three sisters who travel from New York to Oakland, California to visit their estranged mother during the summer of the mid 1960's. Garcia describes every aspect of the characters, setting, plot, and theme through the narration of the oldest sister, Delphine. 

     The setting takes place in Oakland, California during the midst of the transformation of the West due to the migration of Black Americans from the South during WWII. Garcia alludes to many identifying characteristics attributed to the Black Panther Party and their movement from the description of the People's Center to the description of the fliers and the clothing of this era. Along with descriptions of the era rises the thickening plot of the sisters trying to get to know their estranged mother. Through their continuing efforts, the sisters come to understand the reasoning for their mother's abandonment revealing the underlying theme of the fight for civil rights, the understanding of a name, and the value of family. 

Awards Won:

John Newberry Medal (2011), Coretta Scott King Award for Authors (2011), Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction (2011), National Book Award Finalist (2010)

Review Excerpts:

"Regimented, responsible, strong-willed Delphine narrates in an unforgettable voice, but each of the sisters emerges as a distinct, memorable character, whose hard-won, tenuous connections with their mother build to an aching, triumphant conclusion." -Booklist

"The setting and time period are as vividly realized as the characters, and readers will want to know more about Delphine and her sisters after they return to Brooklyn..." -Horn Book

"Williams-Garcia (Jumped) evokes the close-knit bond between three sisters, and the fervor and tumultuousness of the late 1960s, in this period novel featuring an outspoken 11-year-old from Brooklyn, N.Y. Through lively first-person narrative,readers meet Delphine, whose father sends her and her two younger sisters to Oakland, Calif., to visit their estranged mother, Cecile. When Cecile picks them up at the airport, she is as unconventional as Delphine remembers (“There was something uncommon about Cecile. Eyes glommed onto her. Tall, dark brown woman in man's pants whose face was half hidden by a scarf, hat, and big dark shades. She was like a colored movie star”). Instead of taking her children to Disneyland as they had hoped, Cecile shoos them off to the neighborhood People's Center, run by members of the Black Panthers. Delphine doesn't buy into all of the group's ideas, but she does come to understand her mother a little better over the summer. Delphine's growing awareness of injustice on a personal and universal level is smoothly woven into the story in poetic language that will stimulate and move readers." - Publishers Weekly 

 "A flight from New York to Oakland, Calif., to spend the summer of 1968 with the mother who abandoned Delphine and her two sisters was the easy part. Once there, the negative things their grandmother had said about their mother, Cecile, seem true: She is uninterested in her daughters and secretive about her work and the mysterious men in black berets who visit. The sisters are sent off to a Black Panther day camp, where Delphine finds herself skeptical of the worldview of the militants while making the best of their situation. Delphine is the pitch-perfect older sister, wise beyond her years, an expert at handling her siblings: "Just like I know how to lift my sisters up, I also knew how to needle them just right." Each girl has a distinct response to her motherless state, and Williams-Garcia provides details that make each characterization crystal clear. The depiction of the time is well done, and while the girls are caught up in the difficulties of adults, their resilience is celebrated and energetically told with writing that snaps off the page." - Kirkus Reviews

"The tumultuous summer of 1968 is the setting for this splendid story (Amistad, 2010) by Rita Williams-Garcia. Delphine, almost 12, along with her sisters Vonetta and Fern, fly across the country to visit their mother, Cecile, who long ago abandoned the family to pursue her poetry. The girls ache for hugs and kisses but desperately try not to hope too much. Good thing. When they arrive at her green stucco house in poor, mostly-black Oakland, California, their mother constantly mutters "didn't want you to come." Cecile fobs the sisters off on the local Black Panther community center, and the girls spend their summer days eating cold eggs and learning that the Black Panthers are more about serving their community and protecting the rights of black citizens than shoot-outs with the police. While U.S. politics roil and boil in the background, Delphine seethes over her crazy mother. Their final confrontation is both poignant and satisfying as we come to understand Cecile. Sisi Aisha Johnson infuses each character with a distinct personality and the tone is upbeat and even humorous. She perfectly captures each character's voice, and her delivery is silky smooth and perfectly paced. Seeing the historic summer of '68 through the eyes of sensitive, intuitive Delphine is a treat. Featuring flawless writing and narration, this is storytelling at its finest. Sure to garner numerous awards." - School Library Journal

Connections:

Customers who bought this title also purchased the following books: P.S. Be Eleven, Turtle in Paradise, and Rebels of the Kasbah.

Interactivity:

• Ask children what they do during the Summer when school is out.
• Begin a conversation stemming from inquiring what civil right arguments are currently in the news.
• Ask children what they know about the Black Panther Party.

lily's crossing written by patricia reilly giff

Reilly Giff, Patricia. Lily's Crossing. New York: Random House Children's Books, 1999. ISBN: 9780440414537

Plot Summary:

     Lily Mollahan is a ten-year girl living in St. Albans, Queens in the midst of WWII. Lily looks forward to summer vacation until she is faced with the unexpected circumstances of her best friend moving and her father being deployed overseas. Lily's summer seems to take a turn for the better through her uncanny coping mechanism of her father's absence and through a shared compassion for a drowning kitten arises a friendship between Lily and a Hungarian refugee. Lily is faced with a summer full of understanding of not only how she is affected by the war, but also how it has affected other people.

Critical Analysis:

     The story of Lily Mollahan is told through the point of view of a narrator, but includes detailing descriptions of characters, plot, and theme that takes readers away to the setting of 1944. Through the many allusions to Germany, Nazis, France, and Hungary, the author has painted a vivid setting of the life that Lily Mollahan lives during the summer of 1944.  The author, Patricia Giff, describes in great detail of the struggles that Lily overcomes from the moving of her best friend. Through these struggles, Lily encounters an unlikely friendship with the other protagonist of this story, Albert Orban. Giff describes Albert Orban as a Hungarian refugee who's in search of his sister whom he was separated from during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. 

     Not only does the narrator build the storyline of Albert's search for his sister, but the narrator also shares insight on Lily's continuation of lies. With further examination, Lily's lies can be attributed to the need to mask and cope with her best friend moving away, as well as her father being deployed overseas to fight in WWII. The details included through narration, enhance the growing plot of this work of historical fiction by identifying the underlying themes that correlate with the effects of WWII. 

Awards Won:

John Newbery Medal (1998)

Review Excerpts:

"Details...are woven with great effect into a realistic story." - The Horn Book Magazine

"Exceptional characterizations and a robust story line...this has all the ingredients that best reward readers." - Publishers Weekly

"With wry comedy and intense feeling...Giff gets across a strong sense of what it was like on the home front during World War II...The friendship story is beautifully drawn." - Booklist

" In 1944, Lily's eagerly awaited summer vacation becomes a time of anxiety when her widower father, Poppy, announces that he's off to Europe with the US Army Corps of Engineers. Lily's lonely in Rockaway with both her father and her summer friend, Margaret, gone, until she meets an orphan from Budapest living temporarily with her grandmother's neighbor. At first she responds coldly to Albert, but is soon drawn to him by his awkward dignity and his tragic tale of dead parents and ill sister, Ruth, left behind in France. As they care for an abandoned kitten together and wistfully watch ships passing on the horizon, a solid friendship develops, and by the time they part, Lily and Albert have helped each other through difficult times. Much of the plot, characters, and premise is conventional, but Giff (Shark in School, 1994, etc.) really pulls readers' heartstrings with Albert's memories of his family, the loss of Margaret's well-liked brother in the war, and Lily's joyful reunion with Poppy. Pull out the hankies for the final scene, in which Lily returns to Rockaway the following summer to find Albert—and Ruth—waiting for her. It's a strong ending to a deftly told story." - Kirkus Reviews

"Brilliantly told." - The New York Times Book Review 

Connections:

Customers who bought this also bought Nory Ryan's Song, Maggie's Door, and Penny from Heaven.

Interactivity:

• Ask children have they ever told a lie. If so, why?
• Describe to children the key elements of WWII and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 as to how it relates to WWII.
• Ask children if they have a best friend; what about a back up best friend just in case they move away?
• What would you do if your best friend moved away?

penny from heaven written by jennifer holm

Holm, Jennifer. Penny from Heaven. New York: Random House Children's Books, 2007. ISBN: 9780375836893

Plot Summary:

     Penny Falucci is an eleven year old girl who begins her Summer vacation with hopes of adventure and lots of ice cream. Despite half of Penny's family being Italian during the 1950's, she has a relationship and shares the cultures of both her Italian and American side of the family. Throughout the Summer Penny explores her family history by the accidental finding of her grandfather's secret money resulting in a tragic incident with a laundry wringer. Through this incident, Penny learns of the truths of her father's death that were kept from her. 

     

Critical Analysis:

     Penny from Heaven is a title of historical fiction that is characterized by its usage of traditional literary elements including: characterization, plot, setting, theme, and style. Penny, the obvious protagonist of this novel, introduces herself and the origin of her name within the first couple of pages. Here, the author has set the tone by introducing the main protagonist and introducing the first clues of the setting of this novel. From the inclusion of the descriptions of a 1940 Plymoth Roadking, to the fear of catching polio in the pool, to listening to baseball games on the radio allude to the perception that the setting of this work was in the 1950's. The author, Jennifer Holm, further strengthens the elements of this particular era by including descriptions of the usage of wringers and rollers where the plot arises.

     Through the story of Penny, the author sets the style by detailing how the life of an Italian American girl was impacted following WWII. By incorporating Penny's Italian side of the family, she provides readers with descriptions of the Italian language, customs, and history. Holm provides readers with the thickening plot that is unveiled through Penny's incident with a laundry wringer. Through this incident, the author conceptualizes the main theme of this novel; the struggles that Italians faced after the signing of Proclamation 2527. 

Awards Won:

John Newbery Medal (2007)

Review Excerpts:

"A youthful voice serves Sealey well as narrator of this offbeat period piece chronicling the colorful experiences of 11-year-old Penny Falucci during the summer of 1953. Penny plans to have a dream summer vacation spending time at the local pool, eating butter pecan ice cream and listening to her beloved Brooklyn Dodgers on the radio with one of her many uncles or cousins. But not all happens according to plan when she suffers a devastating household accident. As Penny struggles to recover, she learns an ugly truth about her father's death years ago and comes to understand the estrangement between her mother's family and her father's boisterous Italian clan. Holm's plot has surprising twists and turns and plenty of evocative flavor, all of which give Sealey room to stretch a bit. Her crisp, even rhythm complements the pace of the unfolding drama." - Publishers Weekly

"Penny has heard two different theories about her name. One is that her father's favorite song was Bing Crosby's "Pennies from Heaven." The other is that Penny, whose real name is Barbara, was called Penny after her dying father said, "That baby is like a lost penny I'll never hold. A lost penny." Sometimes the appropriate name has a way of attaching itself onto an individual no matter what name may be on a birth certificate. Newbery Honor writer Holm has penned a compelling book about a twelve-year-old growing up and finding her place in the larger scheme of things in 1953 New Jersey. She has also introduced the young adult reader to a little-known injustice during World War II: the registration and labeling of Italians living in the USA as "enemy aliens," the prohibition against their living in costal zones, and even the imprisonment of these people if they were caught speaking or writing Italian or even owning a radio capable of short wave communication. Penny is an enchanting character. She is a fiercely loyal Brooklyn Dodgers fan, calling them, "Dem Bums," she'll avoid her maternal grandmother's cooking as much as she will salivate over her paternal grandmother's Ricotta-ball soup and pasteria. Her mother, a nurse, refuses to let her go to the public swimming pool or the movies because of the polio scare. Penny endures these restrictions but she demands to know the truth about her father, whom no one will talk about. Penny's life is full of family. Her cousin, Frankie, is her best friend, she lives with her mother and maternal grandparents in one house and spends much of her time with her father's family just blocks away. These two worlds are very different and veryseparate, but they are forced to come together when Penny is seriously injured by a washing machine wringer. Holm's writing is warm and fine; reading this book is as good as time travel into the life of the 1950s. A real treat awaits the reader at the book's end when the author writes about loosely basing Penny on her mother, complete with family pictures, a photo of the old Ebbets Field, plus a picture example of the records kept on Italian Americans during the World War." - Children's Literature

"Holm impressively wraps pathos with comedy in this coming-of-age story, populated by a cast of vivid characters." - Booklist 

 "Penny, almost 12, is caught between two extremes: her mother's small, uptight, WASP family, and her dead father's large, exuberant, Italian one. Summers, she moves freely between them, mediating as best she can between the two. Her best pal is her cousin Frankie, with whom she delivers groceries from her uncle's store, worships at the shrine of the Brooklyn Dodgers and gets into trouble. No one talks about her father's absence, and that's beginning to bother her more and more. And even worse, her mother has begun dating the milkman. Holm has crafted a leisurely, sprawling period piece, set in the 1950s and populated by a large cast of offbeat characters. Penny's present-tense narration is both earthy and observant, and her commentary on her families' eccentricities sparkles. Various scrapes and little tragedies lead to a nearly catastrophic encounter with a clothes wringer and finally the truth about her father's death. It takes so long to get there that the revelation seems rather anticlimactic, but getting to know Penny and her families makes the whole eminently worthwhile." - Kirkus Reviews

"Eleven-year-old Penny lives in New Jersey and walks a tightrope between two families. On one side are her widowed mother, her irascible grandfather, and her cooking-disabled grandmother with whom she lives. On the other side are her deceased father's Italian family with an abundance of loving aunts and uncles and a Nonny who makes the best cannoli around. The two families don't interact and Penny understands it has something to do with her father's death, but nobody will talk about it. Penny's biggest problems this summer are convincing her mother she won't catch polio from the community pool, keeping her cousin Frankie from scrapes with the law, and discouraging the milkman from courting her mother. Told in vignette style, Amber Sealey's narration enhances the telling. She effortlessly slips in and out of voices ranging from a young girl, a mischievous boy, a sobbing Italian grandmother, and a Brooklyn inflection that would make Tony Soprano proud. Inspired by the author's Italian-American family, the plot is a bit weak, but warmth and humor abound." - School Library Journal

Connections:

Customers who purchased this book also bought the following titles: The Road to Paris, Olive's Ocean, and The Green Glass Sea.

Interactivity:

• Ask children what they know about WWII, who were fighting, and for what reason.
• Teach children what prejudice means and the impacts of prejudices. 
• Ask children what it is they normally do during the Summer, and then ask them how they would feel if they couldn't do that anymore because of certain prejudices.