By Rita-Williams Garcia
The books are, One Crazy Summer, P.S. Be Eleven, and Gone Crazy in Alabama.
These are so cute! I’ve already told you what I thought about them, actually. But I think they’re such a great, friendly introduction into American history, specifically Black history, from a very race-positive and just socially-conscious perspective; even though we’re seeing these things through a child’s eyes, the book doesn’t try to censor the things that have happened, it just makes them understandable. I wish all children’s books could deal with all issues the way this book deals with the themes of race, injustice, forgiveness, and family.
Also, the way P.S. Be Eleven dealt with the issue of their Uncle’s apparent PTSD after the Vietnam war and subsequent drug addiction was just so subtle. As an adult, you give words to these ideas. But as a child, she just lays out the symptoms and tries to work understanding from that basis alone. It’s the sort of thing I would hope to be able to do for our children one day.
Also, grandmas are so cute in the last book!
Every Year, New Women, More Colour 