One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This title has received a lot of hype recently as a possible Newbery contender, but I have mixed feelings about it. Williams-Garcia does a brilliant job of capturing the point of view of Delphine, the young narrator who is shepharding her two younger sisters on a cross country visit to Nzila, their mother who walked out on the family seven years ago. Both humor and poignancy come through the narration and Williams-Garcia evokes the Black Panther movement and the 1960's with a deft hand. But I am tripped up by the characterization of Nzila; she is not merely distant and self absorbed, but negligent [not even thinking about feeding the girls:] and cruel [taking all the money away from Delphine:]. This is a woman who is a poet, supposedly probing how events and relationships have effected her life .... and yet, she denies any consideration toward these three girls. She seems more sympathetic to the Panthers, although it is clear she is not an activist in their cause. I suppose the case can be made that she knows the Black Panther community center will feed the girls, and Delphine is capable of looking out for Vonetta and Fern. Yet, given what we learn by the end of the book about Nzila's early life, I can have no sympathy for her inflicting similar burdens on Delphine.

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