Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
One Strong Girl!
One Crazy Summer (Amistad, 2010) by Rita Williams-Garcia is set in 1968 and would be eye-opening for younger readers to learn how blacks, then called Negroes, were treated. Even for me living at that time in a community where I didn’t see much prejudice, it’s rather shocking.
12-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters are flying from Brooklyn to California to spend time with their mother Cecile who left them 7 years ago right after Fern was born. Cecile doesn’t want them–takes the money Pa sent and spends it on takeout food. Girls had been hoping for a trip to Disneyland. Mom sends the kids to a Black Panther summer camp to get rid of them!
I loved Delphine and her determination!
I also loved reading about Rita herself on her website. (NoMo? You’ll only know what it is if you visit…) She’s written four award winning books! Find out about them and what else she’s written under the My Books tab.
“I was thirteen the first time I saw a police officer up close. He was arresting me for driving without a license. At the time, I didn’t even know what a license was. I wasn’t too clear on what being arrested meant either.” This is another of those great openings which made me definitely want to read on.