One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Garcia, Rita. One crazy summer . New York: Amistad, 2010. Print.

Coretta Scott King Award Winner 2011

AGES: Scholastic Grade level equivalent 4.6, 750L

SUMMARY:
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia is a great fictional novel from the perspective on children during the times of the Black Panther party. Delphine, the oldest of three, has to take care of her sisters when her father sends her off to Oakland to meet their mother, Cecile. Cecile wants nothing to do with them and sends them to a summer camp sponsored by the Black Panthers. The girls learn all about the Black Panthers and then about their mother Cecile. This is an emotional and interesting story that also has ties to history that any young reader would enjoy.

VOCABULARY:
Muhammad Ali, Black Panther Party, JFK and Jackie Kennedy, racism, Huey Newton, black berets, Malcolm X, MLK, JR., Bobby Hutton

TEACHING STRATEGIES: (small group instruction)
Before: Learn all about the Black Panther Party Movement and the civil rights. Make timeline with class and post on board. Ask if they believe any of their parents or grandparents witnessed any segregation.

During: Make a timeline of events from the point the girls arrive in Oakland till the time they leave. What ties does this story have to what they know about the Black Panther Party. Discuss how the Black Panther Party, this movement in history, effects the lives of these three girls.

After: Discuss how they were pushing for freedom and Cecile’s arrested just because they wanted to take the other two black panthers and she was helping them print flyers, do they believe this was right? Go over how they felt throughout story, would they like it if they had to be Delphine and take care of their brothers and sisters all on their own. Was it right they way they were treated?

ONLINE RESOURCES:
http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2010_ypl_williamsgarcia_interv.html- interview with Rita Williams-Garcia about One Crazy Summer
http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/- all about the Black Panther Party, have students use this to gather additional information about the party
http://blackhistory.50webs.com/blackpantherparty.html- Black Panther Party resources, primary sources and timeline