I read One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. This is a historical fiction novel about three sisters, Delphine (11), Vonetta (9), and Fern (7) who live with their father and grandmother in Brooklyn, New York. The girls’ father sends them to Oakland, California one summer to stay with their mother, Cecile, who abandoned them seven years before. Cecile is a Black Panther, and spends most of her time in her kitchen writing poems and printing flyers. The Black Panthers were a political party whose purpose was to patrol African American neighborhoods to protect residents from acts of police brutality. Cecile repeatedly tells the girls that she never asked them to visit her. She sends them out of the house everyday to The People’s Center, run by the Black Panther Party, for breakfast and day camp.The setting of the book is Oakland, California in 1968.
Delphine is mature, loyal, and cautious. She is mature because she is responsible for her two younger sisters the whole time they are in Oakland. Delphine makes sure the girls have been fed and bathed, and encourages them to behave properly. Delphine is also loyal to her father and grandmother. Delphine knows that her father and grandmother would not approve of the girls eating takeout every night, so Delphine decides to go grocery shopping to make a dinner similar to one they would eat at home. Lastly Delphine is cautious. She is nervous about possible violence at the Black Panther rally and tells her sisters they will not attend.
One of the most interesting parts of the book is when Delphine rides her friend Hirohito’s go-kart for the first time. This is the first time in the book that Delphine acts like a child having fun, not like a parent to Vonetta and Fern. “As the go-kart went faster, I felt the rumbling of the wheels hitting the concrete underneath me. I screamed. So loud I startled myself. I had never heard myself scream. Screamed from the top of my lungs, the pit of my heart. Screamed like I was snaking and falling. Screamed and hiccupped and laughed like my sisters. Like I was having the time of my life, flying down that glorious hill.” This is the first glimpse of Delphine enjoying herself, without concern for her sisters. Another part of the book I enjoyed was when Fern spoke at the Black Panther rally, and announced that one of their members, Crazy Kelvin, was friendly with the police. It was exciting that Fern had made the discovery, and was praised by the Black Panthers at the rally.
I enjoyed the book because I learned more about the Civil Rights Movement and was introduced to the Black Panthers. I also liked the relationships between the three sisters, who were all very different but loved each other deeply. I would recommend this book because it teaches about the Civil Rights movement in an interesting and exciting way. I would also recommend the book because, although it addresses serious topics, can be funny. This book is similar to “Turning 15 On The Road To Freedom”. Both books have young women as the main characters and are about the Civil Rights Movement. I would rate my book four stars.
The book I’m reading is called who was King Tut, it takes place in the early 13oos, in the desert, back then, life was very different. People got married at the very young age of ten. Also, kings and queens and other people of the 13oos wore clothes that were much more different than the clothes and accessories we wear today. The Kings dressed very fancy with beads on their fancy hats and crowns. King Tut grew up in the desert. Many of the Games, toys and clothes that once belonged King tut are in museums. When the museums first opened with all the treasures inside, people went crazy trying to get in. People were amazed by all the famous King’s treasures. So who was King Tut? King Tut was a boy king and the ruler of Egypt who died before he was twenty. He is Also a three thousand year old mummy! He was born around 1343. He became the king of Egypt when he was 10 years old. Back then when someone died, they would paint pictures of them. But it was not only to remember them and honor but the people believed that the pictures could come back to life. So the artists made sure to include all the persons arms and leg so that the person would be able to walk when he/she “came back to life.” Also the artists had to draw the person when he/she was young and and healthy. If the person came back to life they would want to look young and healthy not old and sick like around the time they died. Although not born of royalty, Nefertiti looked very much like she belonged with the people of royalty. Nefertiti was Tut’s wife. Nefertiti was very beautiful. In the 3100s, people believed that there were these gods:
