Gone Crazy in Alabama - by Rita Williams-Garcia

About the Book

"Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern are off to Alabama to visit their grandmother, Big Ma, and her mother, Ma Charles. Across the way lives Ma Charles's half sister, Miss Trotter. The two half sisters haven't spoken in years. As Delphine hears about her family history, she uncovers the surprising truth that's been keeping the sisters apart. But when tragedy strikes, Delphine discovers that the bonds of family run deeper than she ever knew possible"--From publisher's website.

Book Synopsis

The Coretta Scott King Award-winning Gone Crazy in Alabama by Newbery Honor and New York Times bestselling author Rita Williams-Garcia tells the story of the Gaither sisters as they travel from the streets of Brooklyn to the rural South for the summer of a lifetime.

Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern are off to Alabama to visit their grandmother Big Ma and her mother, Ma Charles. Across the way lives Ma Charles's half sister, Miss Trotter. The two half sisters haven't spoken in years. As Delphine hears about her family history, she uncovers the surprising truth that's been keeping the sisters apart. But when tragedy strikes, Delphine discovers that the bonds of family run deeper than she ever knew possible.

Powerful and humorous, this companion to the award-winning One Crazy Summer and P.S. Be Eleven will be enjoyed by fans of the first two books, as well as by readers meeting these memorable sisters for the first time.

Readers who enjoy Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham and Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming will find much to love in this book. Rita Williams-Garcia's books about Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern can also be read alongside nonfiction explorations of American history such as Jason Reynolds's and Ibram X. Kendi's books.

Each humorous, unforgettable story in this trilogy follows the sisters as they grow up during one of the most tumultuous eras in recent American history, the 1960s. Read the adventures of eleven-year-old Delphine and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, as they visit their kin all over the rapidly changing nation--and as they discover that the bonds of family, and their own strength, run deeper than they ever knew possible.

"The Gaither sisters are an irresistible trio. Williams-Garcia excels at conveying defining moments of American society from their point of view." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Coretta Scott King Award winner * ALA Notable Book * School Library Journal Best Book of the Year * Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year * ALA Booklist Editors' Choice * Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year * Washington Post Best Books of the Year * The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Book * Three starred reviews * CCBC Choice * New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing * Amazon Best Book of the Year

Review Quotes

Praise for P.S. BE ELEVEN: "Williams-Garcia's skilled writing takes readers to a deeper understanding of Delphine as she grows up and is forced to watch her family take a new shape. This thoughtful story, told with humor and heart, rings with the rhythms and the dilemmas of the '60s through characters real enough to touch." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Praise for P.S. BE ELEVEN: "Funny, wise, poignant, and thought-provoking, this will leave readers wanting more about Delphine and her sisters." - Horn Book (starred review)
Praise for P.S. BE ELEVEN: "..the Gaither sisters are an irresistible trio. Williams-Garcia excels at conveying defining moments of American society from their point of view--this is historical fiction that's as full of heart as it is of heartbreak." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Praise for P.S. BE ELEVEN: "P.S. Be Eleven is a must-read for fans of the first book, but it can also stand alone as an engrossing novel that will leave readers pondering important issues of race, gender, and identity." - School Library Journal (starred review)
PRAISE FOR ONE CRAZY SUMMER: "Delphine is the pitch-perfect older sister, wise beyond her years, an expert at handling her siblings...while the girls are caught up in the difficulties of adults, their resilience is celebrated and energetically told with writing that snaps off the page" - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
PRAISE FOR ONE CRAZY SUMMER: "The setting and time period are as vividly realized as the characters, and readers will want to know more about Delphine and her sisters after they return to Brooklyn..." - Horn Book (starred review)
"Williams-Garcia's novel has the feeling of a saga, an American story of several generations, related effectively from Delphine's first-person point of view-and with help from some feisty elders." - Horn Book Magazine
This final installment is rich in atmosphere and clearly conveys the sisters' distinct personalities, their loyalty to one another, and their special place in their complex family. An author's note elucidates the connection between Native and African Americans, and a family tree details the Gaither girls' roots. - School Library Journal (starred review)
A must-have conclusion to this beloved middle grade series. - School Library Journal (starred review)
There are similarities here with Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming, which would make an excellent next step and consolation for readers wistful for the apparent end of the series. But if readers do have to say goodbye to the Gaither sisters and their crew, this is a warm and spirited valedictory. - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
PRAISE FOR ONE CRAZY SUMMER: "Emotionally challenging and beautifully written, this book immerses readers in a time and place and raises difficult questions of cultural and ethnic identity and personal responsibility. With memorable characters (all three girls have engaging, strong voices) and a powerful story, this is a book well worth reading and rereading." - School Library Journal (starred review)
PRAISE FOR ONE CRAZY SUMMER: "Delphine's growing awareness of injustice on a personal and universal level is smoothly woven into the story in poetic language that will stimulate and move readers." - Publishers Weekly
"This well-crafted depiction of a close-knit community in rural Alabama works beautifully, with language that captures its humor, sorrow and resilience. Rich in all areas, Delphine and her sisters' third outing will fully satisfy the many fans of their first two." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"it's reward enough just to spend more time with this feisty, close-knit family, whose loyalty to and love for each other trump everything else. - Publishers Weekly (starred review)