Available Formats
Hardback
Published: 1st February 2010
Paperback
Published: 22nd March 2012
Hardback
Published: 26th August 2025
Paperback
Published: 26th August 2025
One Crazy Summer: A Newbery Honor Award Winner
By (Author) Rita Williams-Garcia
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Quill Tree Books
22nd March 2012
5th January 2012
United States
Children
Fiction
FIC
Short-listed for California Young Reader Medal (Middle School) 2014
Paperback
240
Width 130mm, Height 194mm, Spine 12mm
154g
Set during one of the most tumultuous years in recent American history, One Crazy Summer is the heartbreaking, funny tale of three girls who travel to Oakland, California, in 1968 in search of the mother who abandoned them.It's an unforgettable story told by a distinguished author of books for children and teens, Rita Williams-Garcia.
"Delphine is the pitch-perfect older sister, wise beyond her years, an expert at handling her siblings...while the girls are caught up in the difficulties of adults, their resilience is celebrated and energetically told with writing that snaps off the page" -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Regimented, responsible, strong-willed Delphine narrates in an unforgettable voice, but each of the sisters emerges as a distinct, memorable character, whose hard-won, tenuous connections with their mother build to an aching, triumphant conclusion." -- Booklist (starred review) "The setting and time period are as vividly realized as the characters, and readers will want to know more about Delphine and her sisters after they return to Brooklyn..." -- Horn Book (starred review) "Emotionally challenging and beautifully written, this book immerses readers in a time and place and raises difficult questions of cultural and ethnic identity and personal responsibility. With memorable characters (all three girls have engaging, strong voices) and a powerful story, this is a book well worth reading and rereading." -- School Library Journal (starred review) "Delphine's growing awareness of injustice on a personal and universal level is smoothly woven into the story in poetic language that will stimulate and move readers." -- Publishers Weekly "In One Crazy Summer Williams-Garcia presents a child's-eye view of the Black Panther movement within a powerful and affecting story of sisterhood and motherhood. -- Monica Edinger, The New York Times
Rita Williams-Garcias Newbery Honor-winning novel, One Crazy Summer, was a winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award, a National Book Award finalist, the recipient of the Scott ODell Award for Historical Fiction, and a New York Times bestseller. The sequel, P.S. Be Eleven was also a Coretta Scott King Author Award winner and an ALA Notable Childrens Book for Middle Readers.