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One Crazy Summer  By  cover art

One Crazy Summer

By: Rita Williams-Garcia
Narrated by: Sisi Aisha Johnson
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Publisher's summary

Eleven-year-old Delphine and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, travel to Oakland to meet their mother, Cecil, who abandoned their family years earlier. But even when Cecil gets them to her house, she shows no interest and seems to view them as nothing but a nuisance.

Cecil’s cold, unloving attitude leaves the girls wishing for the mother-daughter connection they’ve never had. But Cecil acts remarkably different after she sees her daughters at the Black Panther rally, where they recite a poem Cecil herself had written. At that point, Cecil’s attitude toward her daughters begins a remarkable change.

©2010 Rita Williams-Garcia (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

“With memorable characters … and a powerful story, this is a book well worth reading and rereading." ( School Library Journal)

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What listeners say about One Crazy Summer

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great family road trip book!

Would you listen to One Crazy Summer again? Why?

Most definitely. My 11 year old grand daughter enjoyed the story

What did you like best about this story?

The inner workings of the Black Panthers really intrigued my grand daughter and she was able to relate history to this fictional story.

Have you listened to any of Sisi Aisha Johnson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Any additional comments?

This story kept an 11 year old, a 23 year old and a 50 year old all glued to the car. There were parts so good we didn't want to get out for gas and bathroom breaks!

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50 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Truly Memorable Characters For A Memorable Time!

One Crazy Summer is the first book in a truly remarkable and wonderful series featuring Delphine and her little sisters. In it, the three of them meet the mother who abandoned them and find a seemingly unloving mother who considers them to be a nuisance. After all, Cecil can't understand why just giving birth to children is supposed to make you nurturing. (By the way, the only, only flaw of the book is that Cecil didn't have a choice in the way she grew up, but she did have a choice in the way she herself was a mother. There, I said it. The only flaw).
But what the sisters discover is that Cecil is a strong woman who wants the girls to discover their own strength, their own pride.
And along the way, Delphine, who has always had to be the responsible one, has to navigate her way through all this, through her sisters' squabbles, through the craziness of the time. Getting take-out for dinners, dealing with the mutilation of Fern's doll, having breakfast with the Black Panthers.
This has wonderful, wonderful characters and terrific writing, and Sisi Aisha Johnson voices everything perfectly. I truly didn't want it to end, but when it did, I was thrilled that there are two more books that chronicle changes in the girls' lives.
Power to the People, and Power to Delphine!!!!

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32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Perfect.

This is the best story/characters/YA that I have ever heard on Audible. Hands down. No question. If you have any interest in MG fiction or recent history or crazy awesomeness, you should hear this story Right. Now.

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24 people found this helpful

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WONDERFUL

It was​ great and I hope it becomes a must-read for schools. I love how it wove history and fiction. Now, inn my top three for historical fiction!

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10 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars

Delightful !!!

Excellent – I enjoyed this book, good historical fiction – It brought back memories of 70’s – weaving facts about the Black Panther Party and human drama –through the eyes of a 11 year-old girl.

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10 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

Great Story

I loved this story and use it in my classroom. The only thing I yearn to want to know is what happened when the girls got home.

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7 people found this helpful

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excellent read!

good book that gives a different perspective of the civil rights movement from a kid

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5 people found this helpful

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We need more books like this.


Three Sisters go take a plane from New York to California to visit their mother who left them with their father and grandmother. They get to know their mother, history and the resilience of love.

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5 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

It was the worst book I ever read

It was horrible and the beginning didn't make sense to me. This so called historical fiction book did not really have things about history they just through it in every once in a while. This book even had bad words in the book like crap and ass what kind of children's book is that.

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5 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars

Black Panthers

overall a good book, that follows the story of Three Sisters as a visit there long lost mother in Oakland California. They become familiar with the Black Panthers, and they aren't what they expect. the only thing I don't like about it is it never gives the other side of the coin. So they paint police officers, white people, and society as their enemy. it still has a victim, racist viewpoint.

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4 people found this helpful