One Crazy Summer

That's the title of a great middle grade novel I just reviewed, posted at Joyce Hostetter's blogs.

Set in Oakland, California, in 1968, One Crazy Summer is funny, warm, fascinating historical fiction about the Black Panthers (sort of). Told in the unforgettable voice of 11-year-old Delphine, it's a book that I keep thinking about. Rita Williams-Garcia has really scored with this one.

And I love what she says in a Horn Book interview, linked at Joyce's blog, about writing historical fiction:
I’m hoping younger readers will uncover more personal stories through the “live historians” in their homes and neighborhoods.

And, because she also writes for the YA market:

I like my younger readers to discover more; I like my older readers to wrestle with more.

Well said. And a book worth reading.