About the Author

Rita Williams-Garcia’s Newbery Honor-winning novel, One Crazy Summer, was a winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award, a National Book Award finalist, the recipient of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and a New York Times bestseller. The sequel, P.S. Be Eleven was also a Coretta Scott King Author Award winner and an ALA Notable Children’s Book for Middle Readers.

Reviews

"Delphine is the pitch-perfect older sister, wise beyond her years, an expert at handling her siblings...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 (starred review) "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 (starred review) "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 (starred review) "Emotionally challenging and beautifully written, this book immerses readers in a time and place and raises difficult questions of cultural and ethnic identity and personal responsibility. With memorable characters (all three girls have engaging, strong voices) and a powerful story, this is a book well worth reading and rereading." -- School Library Journal (starred review) "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 "In One Crazy Summer Williams-Garcia presents a child's-eye view of the Black Panther movement within a powerful and affecting story of sisterhood and motherhood. -- Monica Edinger, The New York Times

Set in the tumultuous summer of 1968, Rita Williams-Garcia's splendid Newbery Honor-winning novel (Amistad, 2010) starts off with Delphine and her sisters visiting their mother, who abandoned them years earlier to pursue poetry. When they arrive at her house in a poor, mostly black neighborhood in Oakland, CA, their mother constantly mutters, "didn't want you to come." The sisters are soon fobbed off on the local Black Panthers' community center, where they learn that the group's primary mission is to serve the community and protect the rights of African Americans. Narrator Sisi Aisha Johnson infuses each character with a distinct personality and her tone of voice is upbeat and often humorous. This is storytelling at its finest. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.