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Book Review- One Crazy Summer

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Book Review- One Crazy Summer The genre historical fiction focuses young readers to inform them about historical and significant cultural events in history, but to do in a way that is comfortable for readers in this age group. One Crazy Summer is a good example of young adult literature of highlighting cultural/historical events and entertaining to its audience. Two characteristics that make this a great novel for middle school readers is that 1- It encourages further inquiry( historical) and 2-The situations and characters are relatable (Y/A novel). The story is set in 1968 in Oakland, California three young girls Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern who leave their father in Brooklyn to go Oakland to meet their mother who abandoned them. Oakland at this time is a boiling pot with political and racial turmoil, with the Black Panthers at the head of a movement fighting for civil rights. In a historical context many readers at this age level have not been exposed to the many freedom fighter organizations like The Black Panthers, middle school students are usually only exposed to a limited number of figures in the civil rights movement like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. In One Crazy Summer, the racial and social tones are very accurate for the time, this is something that also resembles in today’s society since race relations have improved but as still has a long way to go. This story gives a nice glimpse of the societal issues of the time with the mention of rioting in

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