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One Crazy Summer (2011)

by Ines Bautista-Yao(Favorite Author)

3.77 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction

publisher

Summit Books

review 1: This was a pretty captivating read. Delphine is 11 years old. Her mother Cecile abandoned her, Vonetta, and Fern when Delphine was 4 years old. Delphine always takes care of her sisters. The three sisters go to stay with Cecile in the summer in Oakland, CA where she ignores them. She won’t cook for them and won’t let them in the kitchen, so they have to resort to Chinese takeout. Cecile also never explains to the girls who the people are that visit her (the Black Panthers). Cecile sends the three girls to a summer camp, sponsored by the Black Panthers, where they realize a major aspect of life that they did not see before. They develop a better relationship with Cecile and Delphine being the oldest has conversations with Cecile which helps her understand why her life i... mores the way it is. Themes of this book are family (sisterhood and motherhood) along with race, prejudice, culture, and perspective. The biggest part of this book that I noticed was the reality the girls were so oblivious to. The mother believes so strongly in her culture and race that she is involved with the black panthers which is a huge part of history. This can be taught during black history month if there is no other proper time, but more seriously it should be used in history classes.Williams-Garcia, R. (2010). One crazy summer (1st ed.). New York: Amistad.
review 2: This was a cute read with a serious undercurrent. It was about 3 sisters who travel from New Jersey to see their mother who left them in Oakland Ca. Come to find out that their mom was heavy involved with the black panther movement and not a very considerate host. By the end of the book she is a tad nicer to the girls, but mostly just plays a background role. The story is narrated in the voice of Delphine the oldest sister. Some of the activities I came up with for this book are:- Topics: Civil Rights, Freedom of Speech, Protests, Missing parents, Parents in Jail, Black panthers.-Journal topics on those listed above as they are encountered in the book.-Hold a civil rights rally in your school similar to the black panther one. The classes could recite poetry, sing songs, and the like.-Write poetry, could tie into a SS ELAR unit. I know I loved little Ferns poem: how could you tie in an important fact of something you witnessed into poetry. ( I wanted to cheer for her)-Tie into an in depth study of civil rights movement and all of the key players.-Take a virtual field trip to San Fransisco.- Have the kids look at travel brochures for San Fran and pick out where they would go if they had a day like the three girls. Where would they eat, how much money do you think you would need.Watch a video on Hippie culture in San Francisco and tie to Vietnam War- as they had an uncle there.- Compare Contrast the Black Panther day camp that the girls went to to say a modern summer day camp that our students would go to. How are they the same/ different. less

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