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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
I think this book would make a good movie. It's the final installment of the series about the Gaither sisters, yet it stands well on its own.
The book takes us into the Deep South of 1969. Against the backdrop of the moon landing - which sets the context for the time period - the Gaither sisters visit their grandmother Big Ma and great-grandmother Ma Charles in Alabama. Slowly and gradually, the girls learn old family secrets - the family tree at the end of the book is helpful - with Ma Charles trying to impress upon them the importance of knowing where you came from, while Big Ma was content to let sleeping dogs lie.
This summer - perhaps with a bit of a push from the Mrs. always saying that Vonetta and Fern are capable beings, too - Vonetta and Fern started to stretch their wings. Delphine was left at a bit of a loss, as her identity, until then, had been wholly tied to being a substitute mother to her two younger sisters. I felt sad for Delphine, and happy for Fern, who was discovering herself. Regretfully, I came to dislike Vonetta. I couldn't see why Uncle Darnell and Jimmy Trotter favored her. Yes, she was entertaining and lively, but she was also selfish, stubborn, and sometimes downright mean.
The book ambled along until about 3/4 of the way through, when it took a totally unexpected and dramatic turn.
Without giving away too much of the surprise, I hope it's enough, but not too much, to say that something happens to Vonetta. It tore me apart that Delphine felt the need to defend herself against blame, that even Cecile said to Delphine, "I told you to look out for Vonetta,"(p. 232) and Jimmy Trotter said, "You're hard on Vonetta." (p. 255) As if Delphine hadn't spent most of her young life being a mother instead of a sister to Vonetta because her own mother had abandoned them and her father and grandfather expected her to be her sisters' guardian. It was hypocritical of Cecile to expect Delphine to look out for Vonetta, when she just spent an entire book - P.S. Be Eleven - trying to tell Delphine that she ought to act like the child she was, rather than trying to be her sisters' mother. That anyone could blame 12-year-old Delphine for what happened to Vonetta, and not Vonetta's own stubbornness and choice of behavior, was frustrating and infuriating. I was indignant on Delphine's behalf, and I wanted to reach through the book and hug her and tell her she was loved.
Towards the end of the book, there is an especially poignant moment between Delphine and Big Ma after Big Ma returns from the court house. In that brief interaction, we see how truly devoted and loyal and loving Delphine is to her Big Ma - and by extension, to her family as a whole.
Overall, I think the themes in this book surpass the middle grade audience it's intended for. I'm an adult, and this book gave me so much to think about.
The book takes us into the Deep South of 1969. Against the backdrop of the moon landing - which sets the context for the time period - the Gaither sisters visit their grandmother Big Ma and great-grandmother Ma Charles in Alabama. Slowly and gradually, the girls learn old family secrets - the family tree at the end of the book is helpful - with Ma Charles trying to impress upon them the importance of knowing where you came from, while Big Ma was content to let sleeping dogs lie.
This summer - perhaps with a bit of a push from the Mrs. always saying that Vonetta and Fern are capable beings, too - Vonetta and Fern started to stretch their wings. Delphine was left at a bit of a loss, as her identity, until then, had been wholly tied to being a substitute mother to her two younger sisters. I felt sad for Delphine, and happy for Fern, who was discovering herself. Regretfully, I came to dislike Vonetta. I couldn't see why Uncle Darnell and Jimmy Trotter favored her. Yes, she was entertaining and lively, but she was also selfish, stubborn, and sometimes downright mean.
The book ambled along until about 3/4 of the way through, when it took a totally unexpected and dramatic turn.
Without giving away too much of the surprise, I hope it's enough, but not too much, to say that something happens to Vonetta. It tore me apart that Delphine felt the need to defend herself against blame, that even Cecile said to Delphine, "I told you to look out for Vonetta,"(p. 232) and Jimmy Trotter said, "You're hard on Vonetta." (p. 255) As if Delphine hadn't spent most of her young life being a mother instead of a sister to Vonetta because her own mother had abandoned them and her father and grandfather expected her to be her sisters' guardian. It was hypocritical of Cecile to expect Delphine to look out for Vonetta, when she just spent an entire book - P.S. Be Eleven - trying to tell Delphine that she ought to act like the child she was, rather than trying to be her sisters' mother. That anyone could blame 12-year-old Delphine for what happened to Vonetta, and not Vonetta's own stubbornness and choice of behavior, was frustrating and infuriating. I was indignant on Delphine's behalf, and I wanted to reach through the book and hug her and tell her she was loved.
Towards the end of the book, there is an especially poignant moment between Delphine and Big Ma after Big Ma returns from the court house. In that brief interaction, we see how truly devoted and loyal and loving Delphine is to her Big Ma - and by extension, to her family as a whole.
Overall, I think the themes in this book surpass the middle grade audience it's intended for. I'm an adult, and this book gave me so much to think about.
I just love these three little girls and their family.
In this third book about Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern, they are off to spend the summer of 1969 down home in Alabama with their grandmother Big Ma and their great-grandmother, Ma Charles. The main focus of this book is family, as Delphine finds it harder and harder to get along with Vonetta. The three girls also become embroiled in a decades old family feud between Ma Charles and her "over the creek" half sister, Miss Trotter. While there has been certainly been tragedies in the past, their family story is told with love, laughter, and a hope for the future. The contrasts between their life in Brooklyn, their mother's life in Oakland, and what life is still like in Alabama are drastic but believable. Readers of the first two will not want to miss this final installment. It does stand alone but readers will appreciate it much more if they have read the other two. Recommended for grades 4-7.
ARC provided by publisher.
ARC provided by publisher.
Loved this wrap up of the story of the Gaither sisters. I loved the Alabama backdrop.
Sisters Delphine, Vonetta and Fern continue their journey through African-American experiences of the 1960s in Gone Crazy in Alabama, in a satisfying and entertaining novel that continues their individual journeys as well as that of the nation.
In the first book, One Crazy Summer, the girls left their Brooklyn home to spend time with their mother, a poet and free spirit living in Berkley. Back home for P.S. Stay Eleven, they tried to reconnect with family, even as that family grew, while seeing that the protest movement did not find fruitful ground in their grandmother’s heart.
In this third novel, the girls go to Alabama to visit their grandmother while their father and his new wife await the birth of a new child. There are old connections to rekindle with cousins. Their grandmother and her half-sister speak of each other every day and live within a stone’s throw, but don’t speak to each other. The moon landing is nearing (and fears the older generation has of this event recall what my own elders maintained about the effect on the planet). Delphine and Vonetta try to find ways to assert their own independence in kinship with their mother while still loving the rest of their family, while Delphine is especially struck by the Jim Crow hierarchy of the rural South.
When a possible tragedy looms, the girls and the rest of the family find ways to support each other they may not have tried earlier.
All three books are wonderfully fun and smart books about sisters. The differences in the three parts of the United States is woven into the stories in marvelous fashion, especially the contrast to being in Alabama compared to Brooklyn. The historical settings of the books bring back those days to readers who were there and will introduce them to those who need to know what happened before they came along in an entertaining fashion.
In the first book, One Crazy Summer, the girls left their Brooklyn home to spend time with their mother, a poet and free spirit living in Berkley. Back home for P.S. Stay Eleven, they tried to reconnect with family, even as that family grew, while seeing that the protest movement did not find fruitful ground in their grandmother’s heart.
In this third novel, the girls go to Alabama to visit their grandmother while their father and his new wife await the birth of a new child. There are old connections to rekindle with cousins. Their grandmother and her half-sister speak of each other every day and live within a stone’s throw, but don’t speak to each other. The moon landing is nearing (and fears the older generation has of this event recall what my own elders maintained about the effect on the planet). Delphine and Vonetta try to find ways to assert their own independence in kinship with their mother while still loving the rest of their family, while Delphine is especially struck by the Jim Crow hierarchy of the rural South.
When a possible tragedy looms, the girls and the rest of the family find ways to support each other they may not have tried earlier.
All three books are wonderfully fun and smart books about sisters. The differences in the three parts of the United States is woven into the stories in marvelous fashion, especially the contrast to being in Alabama compared to Brooklyn. The historical settings of the books bring back those days to readers who were there and will introduce them to those who need to know what happened before they came along in an entertaining fashion.
Look at me! I read an entire series. That has happened like never.
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A satisfying conclusion (I think?) to the series - and as always the audio version is great.
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