I haven’t read the chapter book, and didn’t know what was about. I wasn’t expecting to find hard topics: racism, children abandonment, and social injustices towards the black community and people of color.. It’ can be read in one sitting. I loved the sister’s relationship. I loved their adventures, and how they faced new challenges, always working together.

However, Cecile’s negative attitude made me very uncomfortable. The rejection to her daughters, her language, her refusal to acknowledge their needs or even listen to them. I think young people who read this book need basic knowledge about the social and personal issues presented in the story. The book provides very little background and it can be confusing.

Overall, it is a fine book for older kids who enjoy historical fiction, humor and adventure. The characters are believable and it can be read in one sitting. The story will create curiosity, which is perfect for group discussion.

5 stars

This is a fantastic graphic novel version of a tremendous middle grade read, and I will be recommending this to my students as well as any prospective readers.

Three sisters hop on a plane from their home in Brooklyn to their estranged mother in Oakland. It's the '60s and the height of Black Panther living, and the girls' mother, who has acted and continues to act more like a disinterested and put upon rando versus a caring guardian (she has her reasons!), is a mysterious and bizarre figure that remains distant even when she is in close physical proximity. Through this read and modality, the girls' burgeoning realizations about race, culture, their mother, and themselves come to light. This is a memorable and enriching experience made even more powerful through the updated graphic novel version.

I expected to enjoy this based on my original feelings about the novel, but it exceeded those already high expectations.

An absolutely perfect graphic novel adaptation by Rita Williams-Garcia of her award-winning middle grade classic, illustrated by Sharee Miller (whose work we fell in love with reading Curlfriends!). I laughed, I cried, I learned. This edition will make the very personal story of the civil rights movement accessible to so many more young readers at a time when it is most needed. I'm recommending it to the local public and school library. Highly recommend!

I read this book when I was ten and it was one of my favorites. I was thrilled when I found out that it was being adapted into a graphic novel. The illustrations are so expressive and colorful, and does a great job following the original story while adding so much substance. Every little black girl should read this amazing story of sisterhood and self-discovery, thank you so much netgalley for the opportunity to read this early!

I found One Crazy Summer to be a very informative story about three girls figuring out their connection to Black culture during a tumultuous time. The story was strong enough as a graphic novel, although I could definitely feel holes in the story and characters as the plot was translated from novel to graphic format. Maybe the hardest part to really fathom was the relationship between the girls and their mother, because I feel like we lost a lot of the mother's character as well as the girls' experiences with her in order to keep the plot and story moving.

The coverage of the good and bad of the Black Panthers, with more focus on the good and the values that they were trying to instill, and the various steps that were being taken to in the 1960s to gain attention for the rights of minorities in the US. The book feels fitting given what is going on in the US right now, so reading a story that shows how people can and do resist made me feel hopeful that things would improve and there may even be resistance for some of the things that are being done.

I did really want to smack around the parents and adults of these girls for most of the book. Their dad effectively ships them off, knowing that their mother doesn't want them there which feels cruel. And then their mother washes her hands of them for most of the summer. Also cruel. I get that maybe she didn't want a relationship with her children; and their father wanted to force that. I'm just not convinced that sending them across the country to effectively live their lives without supervision was irresponsible and hurtful. The one shining light was in the neighbour who comes to care for the girls.

The artwork is nice. The story is solid. Just wish that it had plugged a few more holes or jumped around a little bit less.

I so love the original text, but am excited to see this particular story made more attainable for all of my readers.
The graphic novel version will aid understanding and help my students visualize when they struggle to do so with a longer text.
This is easy to read and will be a good addition to my classroom shelves.

I really enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend it to others! The illustrations were adorable, and the plot was engaging from start to finish.

I originally read Rita Williams-Garcia's book in 2021 and was absolutely mesmerized by the storyline, character development, and emotional pull throughout the novel. It is an outstanding book. Here, in the graphic novel adaptation, new readers will discover the story and its enhancements with the graphic illustrations. I didn't think the book could be topped, but the graphic novel is fantastic. I loved seeing the characters portrayed, watching the girls stretch waayy outside of their comfort zone (and in the process, an empathetic reader is simultaneously stretched!), and experiencing the book in a whole new way.

This is a must-read for classroom teachers, and I recommend it for book clubs everywhere. The fictional story of 3 little girls who visit their mother during a summer in the height of the Black Panther movement will open a window to many readers and show a little-known aspect of children's involvement in this historic time.

"One Crazy Summer" does an effective job exploring both the nuances of motherhood and the power of necessary political drive. Really loved how the complexities of familial dynamics were presented, properly recognizing how the depth of personal purpose and drive function in turn with dire outcomes like unintentional abandonment. How putting your cause, in this case the Black Panthers, above all else can harden you. At the same time, you wouldn't have changed anything about your decisions showcasing how necessary choices, for the wellbeing of everyone, are neither objectively good or bad in the end. The Black Panther representation here is so multifaceted, portraying how skewed media perception can be drastically different than reality. The art was very colorful and cozy, which is perfect for the middle grade audience.

A nice adaptation of the children's novel. by the same name. Familiarity with the original novel is not required, but can be a benefit. Good for both children and folks learning English

Eleven-year-old Delphine, accustomed to a maternal role for her younger sisters after their mother's departure, faces a starkly different reality during a summer spent with Cecile (their mom) in Oakland. Contrary to their hopes for a lighthearted vacation, they attend a Black Panther-run day camp, prompting profound discoveries about their family, personal identities, and the era's social landscape. This graphic novel adaptation, which I found engaging, features vibrant illustrations that effectively complement the text, particularly in capturing the characters' emotional states. While it serves as an accessible introduction to the Black Panthers, it also addresses sensitive family dynamics, including maternal abandonment, which might be emotionally challenging for some readers.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for this review.

I’m a big fan of the original One Crazy Summer and was excited to see a graphic novel version so this story can reach a broader audience. Same as the original, it’s a great introduction to the Black Panthers and exploring the hard topic of a mother who left her children. Some aspects of the original are lost but the illustrations bring new life to the story. The facial expressions alone speak volumes, particularly Cecile’s portrayal. Highly recommend for graphic novel readers! ARC via NetGalley

GREAT graphic adaptation of a fan favorite in my classroom!! This is a wonderful addition to any collection with gorgeous vivid images, intriguing plot moves, and a great expansion of the original novel.

Sharee Miller does a fantastic job of distilling the most important, and most emotional and powerful, parts of the print novel into a really distinct piece of art. The visuals help convey a really strong sense of time and place, and the character design helps situate young readers in the Black Panther counterculture really well. Some adults come across more as caricatures than characters, but that's also easy to chalk up to seeing the world through our preteen protagonist's eyes.

"One Crazy Summer: The Graphic Novel" is the graphic novelization of Rita Williams-Garcia's award winning novel, illustrated by Sharee Miller. The book is set in 1968 and follows three sisters who go to stay in San Francisco for part of the summer with their mother who abandoned them years ago. The sisters learn about what their mother is doing (writing poetry and using her home printing press for the local Black Panthers). We learn a lot about the Black Panther movement and what they were doing for children in the late 60s. Emotional, informative, and realistic, this graphic novel is a must buy for all middle grade graphic novel collections.

This book was originally published in 2010, and won many awards, so it's not a surprise that it was adapted into a graphic novel. Since it is historical fiction, the story holds up well. Delphine and her sisters Vonetta and Fern are sent by their father and grandmother from New York to Oakland, California to live with their mother, Nzila, who abandoned them when Fern was a baby. Nzila is very involved with the Black Panthers, so the girls attend the group's summer program while the mother concentrates on her art. The highlights of the original are preserved, but as with any graphic novel adaptation, a lot of the details and back story are neglected. The illustrations are bright and engaging, but not as reflective of the 1960s as they could have been. The girls' skirts are much too long, and there is Chinese take out shown in a very modern day plastic bag. Plastic bags were not much used until the late 1980s. They are so ubiquitous that people forget that. Even into the 1990s, it was more common to get paper bags where I lived.

Giving more readers access to this story is so important in today’s political climate. Focusing on a summer with their mother who does printing for the Black Panthers helps Delphine and her sisters see another side of things after being raised by a southern grandmother and dad in Brooklyn, NY.

The story flowed well and the characters were well developed. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

The Gaither Sisters trilogy is one of my favorite series, and Rita Williams-Garcia is an author who really know how to write for kids. I am so excited to see this amazing novel in graphic format.
I loved how an already great story is given more life by illustrating it. I thought that the graphic version makes an already well-written and fun book even more engaging for reluctant readers.
I am beyond pleased to see more books by Black authors released in graphic novel format Please keep these coming. Our kids need them.

This was a great graphic novel that looked at many different issues outside of the historical issues the story is set around. I liked the way that the daughters felt at odds with their mother while also trying to understand her motivations for leaving. I think this also serves as a great way for students to learn about new historical ideas and be motivated to learn more on their own