One Crazy Summer discussion

I am starting this discussion so that we have a discussion started and know where to write!

Well?! What do you think?!

So my Kindle says that I'm at 57%, which puts me right at the beginning of the chapter "Rally for Bobby" SO IF YOU AREN'T HERE YET DON'T READ THIS.

So far, Cecile has done nothing but piss me off. I am extremely (EXTREMELY) hopeful that she didn't actually leave her children because her baby daddy/parents wouldn't let her name her youngest daughter some crazy neo-Afrikaan name that she though was appropriate. I don't care if you don't think of yourself as a mother, or you thing you have some "higher calling" from whoever the heck it is you're worshiping (Huey Newton, maybe?) You DO NOT tell your children to their faces that you should have gone to Mexico to abort them. And, to that end, you had three, lady. It's not like you can claim that they were all accidents.

Big question for everyone, though. Why in the world did Pa and Big Ma send the girls their anyway? What possible good did they think it could have done? So far they hate their (horribly selfish and awful) mother and they're being brainwashed. Good decision there, grandparents.

All that being said, I am enjoying it so far. I think that it exposes readers to some interesting facts about the Black Panther party, as well as general African American life in the 60's. Like that lady at the airport, who paid them for being cute little black girls. I mean, what the heck? However, the eerie cult mentality of the Party has me more uncomfortable with them than supportive.

More to come!

Okay, so I read the whole book, so I already fail at the first question. That being said, I did jot down my predictions as I read, so here's what I think.

Eh.

The characters all fall a little too flat for me; there's no actual character development, at least in the first half of the book. (Now, because it is YA, inevitably there will be come great coming-of-age moment for Delphine where she sees the light and realizes her mother's motivations, so she might get a little more complex as the plot progresses.) Each of the characters can have one cutsie-wutsie adjective slapped onto them: Delphine, responsible; Vonetta, attention-seeking; Fern, naive; Cecile, independent. I could go on, but I don't want to.

Another problem I have is the overt historical agenda going on. I've read good historical fiction before, and what made it good historical fiction (at least in my opinion) was the seamless blending of fictional plot and historical context. But Williams-Garcia's blending is not really a smooth, creamy blend; instead, she seems to turn on the metaphorical blender for merely a second before she turns it off. The result? Chunks of unblended text. It's almost as if she has a ratio of page/historical reference that she has to meet. The plot is going along smoothly and then she forgets that she hasn't hit you with a historical allusion in the last three pages. BAM. She slaps an allusion is there. Then the plot continues on until the next three pages and then BAM. Another one.

So far, I've given it a lot of crap, so I should probably say something nice because people think I'm just a cynical asshole. Cecile is by far my favorite character. You just got to feel sorry for her. She didn't want her kids there, and then there they are. Clearly she doesn't know how to raise children, but who says that she needs to have maternal instincts? Yeah, without a doubt, she's flawed. But she was the only person to actually DO something with her life, even if that was to leave.

My prediction (before I finished): Yeah, everyone is going to realize something new about them, and the girls will go back home, but they'll never forget their memorable adventures. Also, we'll find out why Cecile left because that's a huge freakin' elephant in the room.

Also, response to Mallory's question regarding why they're sent to California in the first place.

Yeah, I never figured that out either. That was weird and a majorly uncomfortable plot hole. I mean, Cecile refused to travel to them, so their dad must have thought that shipping them across the country was the next best option. But I don't think any responsible parent would actually be comfortable with that. Especially with her record and system of beliefs. They really needed to meet in a supervised, neutral territory with full adult supervision. Their Cali get-up was just screaming of trouble and neglect.

Question (SPOILERS kinda)

Evaluate the end of the novel. In 2-3 complete sentences, address the following question: Were you satisfied by how they left each other, or were you left wanting more? Do you think the girls' relationship with Cecile will actually change once they return home?

I was not satisfied by the end of the novel, but with that being said, I was not surprised. The socio-political topic of this novel was controversial enough that I didn't think that you could glaze over it and have a happy family moment, especially with Delphine telling the story. She wasn't about to let her mama off the hook. An interesting point that you made was about the 3 kids having a one adjective personality. That drove me crazy. They all annoyed me because it was like they couldn't do anything else outside of their adjective. While there was *some* growth of character, it didn't feel like personal growth, it felt forced on them by the Black Panther agenda.

Annalise wrote: "Question (SPOILERS kinda)
No, I was not satisfied by the end of the novel. Then end of the novel really made me upset. I wanted to find out more about their return back home.
Evaluate the end of the novel. In 2-3 complete sentences, address the following question: Were you satisfied by how they left each other, or were you left wanting more? D..."

I was thinking that Ma and Pa maybe were trying to teach the girls some kind of lesson and that is why they sent them. Or maybe they wanted to show them reality and the real deal of their mother.

I feel that Delphine is a positive role model for her family and young black girls. In the novel she shows responsibility and loyalty to her family. On the other hand their mother is just awful and mean. One time in the novel, their mother said she should have gotten rid of her when she had the chance. That is the most awful thing a mother could say to a child. That would break me into pieces if my mom told me that. Also, the Blank Panthers had great historical facts throughout and were portrayed in a positive light.

Thank you!!! She literally TOLD her children to their faces that she should have aborted them! Are you serious? Ugh.

I think that Delphine is a great role model for her sisters. Throughout the book she is the only on they have to rely on because their Pa and Big Ma are across the country and Cecile is not a guardian at all. I kept hoping that maybe there would be a turning point where they connect with Cecile and that Cecile would grow some kind of emotions toward her children. I think that the girls going to the center helped teach them what their race was currently dealing with. I didn't see much change in the characters and usually character have to evolve. I think that many young black girls and probably other young adults that are around Delphine's age could use her as a role model. I couldn't believe that Pa and Big Ma would send their girls to their mothers when heir mother clearly didn't want them there. I'm not sure how that helped them, psychologically. Maybe that was the only way the girls would have learned about the black panthers and what the group was fighting for at the time.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

I just happened upon this review because I was looking for ones that fell in the middle (three stars). It pretty much sums up how I feel, and the author says it more articulately than I would have managed to. So, if you're interested, follow the link and read it! It's the fourth one down. I didn't want to steal it so I just provided the link!

Asia and Mallory, you both mentioned earlier about that comment Cecile made about not wanting her own children and how it was the worst thing a mother could say to her children. I don't know why I feel the need to defend Cecile, but I just want to put out a new idea. While what she says is totally horrible and should never be told to a child, I think we're forgetting that Cecile doesn't identify herself as a mother, but a woman who happened to birth three children. What makes it so horrible is that we have a predetermined idea of what type of maternal woman she should be. Cecile is not a mother, and she make that quite clear. (Well, she recognizes the fact, but she projects her maternal insecurities onto her children and works to convince herself of her emotionless, uncaring state.) Cecile is broken, and she uses her words to build barriers around her heart.

You are right she doesn't portray mother qualities and she is just the person that birthed those children. So she really does not care what she says

Also, I think someone mentioned it, but I also appreciated how the Black Panther Party was painted in a positive light. We always hear the bads, so it was quite refreshing to see the party through the eyes of a child, especially a child who once was scared of it, too. Of course, not all of the party was positive, but at least Williams-Garcia was able to add an extra layer of complexity to it (unlike she did with her characterization).

And maybe that's exactly the point--she was trying so hard to make the historic background complex that her character complexity suffered as a result

Whelp, I did a one day reading of the book and I didn't get a chance to get on here earlier this afternoon to talk about my halfway point. I will say that when I was halfway through the book I felt like Delphina was taking on the mother role that Cecile left behind and was possibly harboring some resentment towards Cecile because of this. I also felt like there was so much more to Cecile's story than what was being told. I don't think a mother sticks around as long as Cecile does and then just runs off one night without there being some kind of story behind why it happened. Cecile also seemed like such a hardened character that I wondered what all had happened to her to make her so rough. I also found the black on black racism in the book interesting. The idea that there is a "correct" way to identify yourself and your shameful if you don't know what that is.

So here is my question, there were multiple points in the book that made me cringe a little because the girls seemed to be handling adult situations as children. What situation in particular bothered you the most, and why?

Mallory wrote: "So my Kindle says that I'm at 57%, which puts me right at the beginning of the chapter "Rally for Bobby" SO IF YOU AREN'T HERE YET DON'T READ THIS.

So far, Cecile has done nothing but piss me off...."

Robert wrote: "Well?! What do you think?!"

Robert wrote: "Well?! What do you think?!"

I really found myself enjoying reading this book as well. Cecile was definitely the kind of character who could piss you off because she has such as hard shell, but the shell had to have been put there for a reason. People don't become tough people for no reason.

Raegan wrote: "I think that Delphine is a great role model for her sisters. Throughout the book she is the only on they have to rely on because their Pa and Big Ma are across the country and Cecile is not a guard..."

I definitely think that she is a good role model for her sisters. She is a great sister, but I wonder is she has to take on too much responsibility and is actually taking on somewhat of the role of a mother? What do you think?

I can't figure out how to respond to a comment lol. But I think maybe she has. In fact sometimes she mentioned that if her Pa and Big Ma knew she didn't look out for her sisters in a certain situation that they would be mad, but part of being a child is making selfish decisions. She is a very good child but you can tell she grows tired of looking out for her sisters and putting them first.

With Cecile, I can understand her not wanting to have them and maybe not having a choice and being forced to have them. That's why she left. If she didn't want them then why have them visit for a whole month? I understand that gave them the opportunity to learn deeper understanding about the black panthers but why not have them visit a great aunt who is invested in helping them who actually wants them to visit? That aunt could have taught them using a more personal connection. I don't see the point of having to have them visit someone who doesn't really care about them. With that said, it did surprise me at the end when Fern ran to hug Cecile and the girls followed. It also surprised me that Cecile accepted the hugs.

Annalise wrote: "Okay, so I read the whole book, so I already fail at the first question. That being said, I did jot down my predictions as I read, so here's what I think.

Eh.

The characters all fall a little too..."

I'd be interested in seeing a feminist reading of this text. Dorothy Allison, a well known feminist, says, " Women run away because they must" in "Two or Three Things I Know for Sure" and I think that we are seeing a little bit of that here with Cecile. We forget that when we are reading the book how stifling life could be for women back then because all we can think of is how she left her children, but if we read critically we can also see how the men were stifling her creativity by telling her not to write her poetry on the wall and that she was not allowed to name her own children that she was pushing out of her body a "fake" name.