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First they visited their long-lost mother in Oakland in One Crazy Summer, they returned to life with their father in Brooklyn in P.S. Be Eleven, and now the Gaither girls are back--this time visiting their paternal relatives in rural Alabama--in Gone Crazy in Alabama, the third and final installment of the series from award-winning author Rita Williams-Garcia.
Much like the previous two novels, Williams-Garcia paints an all-at-once funny, poignant, and unflinchingly realistic look at life in the 1960s for these three young black girls and their family. As their father reminds 12-year-old Delphine and her younger sisters Vonetta and Fern while he's telling them to be on their best behavior, "the South's not like Bed-Stuyvesant and you can't get more southern than Alabama."
And truer words have never been spoken: they get their milk and butter from a cow, the best entertainment is hearing their great-grandmother and great-aunt tell conflicting stories about their decades-long feud, and, perhaps most notably, they experience the very real presence of the KKK. But when a potentially deadly storm strikes, things get even more real as Vonetta goes missing after a fight with her sisters. Will the Gaither girls and their family ever be the same after their time in the deep South?
This historical fiction novel really tells it like it was, and will make a gripping read for 5th to 8th graders, whether or not they've already enjoyed the previous two books in the series.
Arianne and her family leave their home for the evening to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower. This grand spectacle gives her mother some reprieve from their financial troubles. When it's time to go back home a great light flashes which stirs their horse, Agora. Little do they know that this extraordinary light would change their lives forever.
When a pony is born the next year, Arianne's family must think of creative ways of caring for it with the little money that they have. To their surprise, the pony is a centaur. The family must now think of ways to teach the community that although he may look different, there are special qualities that the centaur possesses.
Jane Yolen creatively weaves a tale about the life of a horse and a boy, who must stand together, to help their family regardless of their personal challenges. The author also includes a historical note about medical practices during the 1960s. An interesting and eye-opening read. For 5th and up.
The second book in the Sixties Trilogy, Revolution by Deborah Wiles is
set in 1964 during Freedom Summer in a small town in Mississippi. The story is
told by twelve-year-old Sunny who not only narrates what is going on in her
family but also the story of what is happening in her town. Both her personal
life and that of her town are being invaded. Her dad has recently remarried a
woman with two children and the town is the site of college students working to
register the black vote and to integrate public venues.
It is a troubling time on all fronts and like the previous volume (Countdown) this one also includes many photographs, song lyrics, and quotes from the period. To extend the story the author has included many film clips from the period that can be found on http://ow.ly/vBGTc. This is an important story that will linger long after the book is closed.
For readers in grades 5 through 8.
NEWBERY WORTHY?
After one crazy summer with their mother, Cecile, in Oakland, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern fly back to Brooklyn and don't make it out of the airport without getting in trouble with Big Ma who is happy to see them but worried about their independence and "power to the people" mindset. More than the Gaither girls has changed while they were in Oakland, though. Pa's got a girlfriend, Uncle Darnell isn't the same as when he left for Vietnam, and the political air in Brooklyn and America is rapidly changing. Not to mention the country is being swept away by this hot new music group, The Jackson Five. While Delphine loves the tall one, Jermaine, her sisters are in love with the youngest Jackson named Michael. Delphine tries to be the responsible one and reign the girls in, but no one wants to listen to a bossy older sister anymore. How will the girls handle all this change? How will their mother play a role in their lives all the way from Oakland without a telephone or any way to reach her other than letters?
Find out in Rita Williams-Garcia's sequal to One Crazy Summer, P.S. Be Eleven, which, through prose and letters tells the story of the Gaither girls growing up in Brooklyn in the late 60s/early 70s and Cecile's reminder to Delphine to stop growing up so fast and just be eleven. Grades 6 and up.
Franny has a lot of problems. Her best friend is being mean to her. Her sister is receiving secret letters in the mail and won't tell her about them. Her brother is Mr. Perfect. Her Uncle thinks he is still in World War II. And, as if growing up a normal kid wasn't hard enough, her country is in the middle of the Cold War. Its 1962 and Franny is constantly afraid of a nuclear bomb falling from the sky. The only thing that can get her through everything is listening to music and taking life one day at a time - since she never knows which day will be her last.
Using mixed-media such as song lyrics, photographs, speeches, and other snippets from 1962, Countdown by Deborah Wiles creates a world which children in grades 5 and up can easily relate to while also learning about the Cold War and its effects on an everyday family.
For 5th grade and older.
Cecile is her mother's name, but she calls herself Nzila now that she is an artist/poet in Oakland, California. Her father insisted that Delphine and her sisters will have to spend a month of their summer with their mother. All Delphine wants is to know the truth behind why her mother abandoned the family. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia is a beautiful historical novel of a non- typical family reunion. Set in the 1960s during the Black Panther movement, three girls set off for what they think will be a sunny, Disneyland, movie star filled summer of fun, but what they get is something else. For readers in 6th-8th grade.
