Week 6 - Realism: Historical and Contemporary Fiction 721 Children's Literature

 

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia is a historical fiction about three sisters that had to spend a summer with their biological mother in Oakland, California, who repeatedly reminded the girls that “I didn’t want you girls here in the first place.” (p.49) So she decided to send the girls to Black Panther camp. At least they were provided meals, shelter, and somewhere to be out of Cecile’s way until sundown. The narrative descriptions of the setting take readers back to the 1960’s throughout the chapters. Readers get a sense of standing in the same room with Black panthers or only going as far as the living room in Cecile’s house, because the girls were told kitchen is off-limits.

Theme is two-fold. There are mentions of Black Panther events, and they become known to the girls as “the black berets”. At one point, the author has the oldest sister, Delphine to equate Cecile and the Black Panthers as the “Establishment” where, the girls bring their demands and protests to the “Establishment” (p. 199) to request at television set so Cecile could be left alone with her poems and her peace and quiet, and the girls can have some sort of summer entertainment.

Portions of the plot do relate to the historical times in the text. Delphine recalls a time
when her Papa was stopped on the side of the road by a police officer. The officer calls
her Papa a name that the author does not repeat in text, depicting some bad, not so
nice names we’ve heard before in Civil Rights times. Following MLK beliefs, Papa
settled it peacefully with holding back a punch, instead tried to move right along,
reporting to Big Ma when asked how the trip was, “Same old, same old,” (p. 212).
Reading partially as an audiobook, there is definitely correct speech dialect reflecting
the historical times. The lifestyle reflects to readers a familiarity from depictions in
movies or if traveling on vacation, and meeting people from around the states. Williams-
Garcia references using books, articles, and interviews that covered the time period, to
get the real climate of the times (p. 364).

Williams-Garcia, Rita. One Crazy Summer. Quill Tree Books, 2011. 374 pages. Tr
       $9.99. ISBN 9780060760885

Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson is a realistic fiction novel in verse written with ages 10-13 years old in mind, however, in an interview with Woodson from her web page, jacquelinewoodson.com she states, “The work I do is for young people’s literature, but I like to write for all people who are curious and thinking about the world,” (#MacFellow, 2020). Characters ZJ, his parents, and ZJ’s friends are easy to like and relatable from a parent’s perspective, a wife’s perspective and a middle schooler’s perspective in this book with a look at how to respond to a broken body from playing professional football.

With every new page readers may have a challenging time to put this book down.  The narrative text just keeps inviting readers to turn the pages to see how the story unfolds to the end. As on page 77, ZJ sees the reddest cardinal leaving readers to think some changes are about to happen. Woodson exhibits her way of writing that keeps a reader engaged and like you are in the room with the family living through difficult moments.

The mood of the book is bittersweet. There are times when Zachariah, ZJ’s father, is feeling great and life is like ZJ remembers it most. There are other moments in the book when one of ZJ’s friends’ requests, “I need the trail,” (p. 103) showing a calling of support from his friends were usually a phone call away. Even though life can be difficult and thwarted, ZJ can always count on his trail.

 

Works Cited

 

Woodson, Jacqueline. Before the Ever After. Nancy Paulsen Books, 2020. 176 pages. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780399545450 (eBook).

 

https://jacquelinewoodson.com/