ONE CRAZY SUMMER- RITA WILLIAMS-GARCIA

OK, so I really do know that almost everyone in the Kidlitosphere world has already read ONE CRAZY SUMMER. People already know it's the story of Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern, three girls who were abandoned by their mother when they were very young. Now, seven years later, the girls are being sent cross country, from New Jersey, where they live with their father and grandmother, to California, to become reacquainted with their mother. Their mother, Cecile, however, is less than pleased about the trip. She is a poet, deeply involved with the Black Panthers, and doesn't really want to be disturbed by her daughters. Each morning, she sends the girls out the door to a day camp run by the Black Panthers.

This is a great piece of historical fiction. Kids will learn a lot about Huey Newton and the Black Panthers. More important to me, however, it's a terrific story about abandonment, and forgiveness, and people doing the best that they can, given their life circumstances. This year, for whatever reason, we have a ton of kids who are not living with their moms. And that deep grief is always at the surface, bubbling over and impacting their learning on a daily basis.. I can't wait to share this book with some of them, then, so that they know they are not alone…

A really great read for upper intermediate or middle schoolers…

P.S. I also know that almost everyone else in the world has had a Kindle, or a Nook, or some other e-reader for a while. BUT, I didn't have one, and my mom bought me a Kindle for an early Valentine's present, and I love it. Way, way fun!