One Crazy Summer Review

Inside the Mind of a Panther
By: Meg Thompson Author Rita Williams-Garcia opens up the door to many critical marks in history, by setting up the novel One Crazy Summer in an informative manner. After diving deep into the novel, I have found myself becoming acquainted with the historical fiction genre in a humorous and powerful way. This novel focuses on The Black Panthers and the community it has created through the helping hands of Delphine and her two younger sisters. In order to expand on the authors critical analysis of this historical time period, there is an emphasis on the structure of the overall text and how every part works together to produce a novel that meets the set criteria. The literary elements in alliance with specific elements that make up this genre produce a text that enlightens audiences. The journey begins with the extravagant trip across the country as three sisters stumble upon much deeper issues than they signed up for. Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern stand strong against their mother, Cecile who abandoned them at an early age. Their tight knit group slowly grows from a sisterhood to a rebellious humane group fighting for their basic rights and equality for all. The strong character development is evident throughout the story and carries over into creating the novels genre identity. Their mannerisms and train of thought shed light on their African American ancestry, and instill a sense of pride on the entire human race. Taking a close look into the articulation and overall style of language, it is evident that many of the characters are prime representations of individuals from this time period. This contributes to a more believable storyline and despite its fictional elements, key historic characteristics of the decade shine through. Historical fiction distributes itself across large periods and continues to make appearances in todays society. Delphines pride and determination to take on a motherly role for her two younger sisters escalates when she is confronted with a new and diverse culture of living. The Peoples Center sheds a new perspective on the girls way of life by revealing their inner layers. We observed Fern progress from a follower to a little girl who held the world at her hands when she read aloud her own poem. This seemingly small act was a surprise in disguise. Throughout the civil rights movement rallies, Fern and her sisters were able to share their opinions in their own way. Similar to their mother, they developed into a trio of individuals who refused to accept the racist acts happening in their own neighborhood. The story is set in the late 1960s in California, a time of racial exclusion and civil rights movements. Common traits of strength, inequality, and conflict appear in and out in One Crazy Summer making it a true example of historical fiction. The Black Panther was advertised throughout the novel and raised awareness to a portion of United States history. My observations have led me to determine collective themes from within the novel. Perseverance to instill change, conflict, and power are evident throughout the text and are conveyed through the actions of individuals and larger communities. Their strong minded attitudes led them to making change in the community they lived in and instilled a sense of pride on those they interacted with. This added to the conflict within this time period and how groups formed based on race alone. Within these groups blacks and whites questioned each others standings on certain issues and there were times where blacks didnt agree with other blacks and whites didnt agree with other whites. Taking a closer look at these groups in the text helped me evaluate the time period by comparing it to events in todays time. I have concluded that the author of this novel incorporated these themes of conflict and injustice to strengthen the historical fiction genre this novel identifies as.
There were numerous literary passages in One Crazy Summer that highlighted Rita William-Garcias creativity. Her detailed character develop ment and inclusion of critical themes aided in the formation of the Historical Fiction genre. Based on these literary elements, the text hit on many of the components needed to makeup this genre. William-Garcia was able to convey life as it was in the 1960s during civil rights movements, expand on knowledge towards black power groups, and capture all of this through the life of major and minor characters. The actions of Delphine, her sisters, and members of the Black Panther group modeled after this concept. At the time African Americans were still victims to racial assault whether it is publicized or not. They were on the outskirt of this island and the text proved this to be true, thus furthering the historical fiction background. I have been introduced to countless examples in the text that have allowed me to identify the genre of this book, and I believe this is exactly what young girls need to be reading.

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Inside the Mind of a Panther

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