Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Crazy Summer, Crazy Travel, Crazy Family


One Crazy Summer
Written by Rita Williams-Garcia
Illustrated by Rita Williams-Garcia
Scholastic, 2012
215 pages
Historical Fiction

            I was ordering books for my son and myself and noticed this book.  I thought the little girls on the front were very pretty, and I loved the orange cover.  So while I was working at my son’s book fair, I saw the book, bought it, and I am very glad I did so.  The book is set in Oakland, California, in 1968.  Three sisters that were abandoned by their mother when the youngest was an infant are sent for by their father on a plane from Brooklyn.  The girls are being raised by their father and Big Ma.  The oldest keeps the younger two in line, but the adventure begins once they set foot in Oakland.  The woman they call Cecil aka “mom” is late and is not happy to have the girls for the summer.  This is a wonderful book and is a great lazy day read, so grab this book and a blanket and read away.

            The illustrations in the book are in pen and are black and white.  The illustrations are mostly vignettes throughout the text.  Although this book does not have as many pictures as most do, this is still considered a picture book.

            This book would be good for fifth and sixth grade.  This book would be good for a history lesson on the presidents and civil rights.  It would also be good for a language arts lesson for the students to read the book and write journal entries on what they would do if they were sent across the country to visit someone they did not know.  It would also be good for a social studies lesson on how cultures within our own country are different.   This book has won the Scott O’Dell Award, Newberry Honor, National Book Award Finalist and the Coretta Scott King Award.


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