The graphic novel One Crazy Summer is the perfect adaptation to Rita Williams-Garcia's original work. The illustrations fit the story perfectly and the graphic novel format brings the story to life for a bigger audience. Recommended for all Children's Graphic Novel Collections.

A great adaptation of a fantastic summer read for all ages. I love graphic novels, and I love that so many fantastic books are being adapted this way to bring in a whole new group of readers! Another well done graphic novel so that even kids intimidated by the pictureless-ness of the original can enjoy this story~

Oh man this was great. I had no idea it was based on a print book but regardless this was fantastic. Such an accessible story on the black panthers and historical events. Definitely one I highly recommend to teachers of youth looking for a historically accurate story of this time in Oakland California that is age appropriate. Thanks to NetGalley for the Arc.

The illustrations in this book were well done and the historical element was informational. I never knew about the freedom group known as the Black Panthers or about all the different approaches blacks used to draw attention to problems such as segregation and unequal rights.
However, the main plot line of the book was sad and a little confusing. The main character is an eleven year old girl who has two sisters. Their father sends them to spend a month with their mother who left them when the youngest sister was a baby. When they get to the mother’s house, they basically have to take care of themselves, get their own food, and keep themselves entertained throughout the day while the mother works alone in the kitchen writing poems about freedom and equal rights. I did not respect Cecile ( the mother) as a person and I really don’t understand why the father sent the children down to her in the first place if he knew that she did not really care about them.
The book ends rather suddenly with very little change from Cecile, although she did show some attention to her children during the last day of their stay.
That said, I am glad I read it once, but I probably won’t be reading it again.
Thank you to Net Galley for the chance to review this book.

My daughter is obsessed with realistic fiction graphic novels. When I saw this one I knew I needed to pick it up. I love the idea of taking classic novels and revamping them for kids. I have read One Crazy Summer in its original glory and I enjoyed it. The characters are complex, the history rich, and the drama is poignant. The new graphic novel takes the beauty of a classic Newberry Honor book and makes it accessible to more people. It covers an important part of United States History that not everyone may know. The Civil Rights Movement and The Black Panther Party are complex and yet still important to understand. I highly recommend people pick this book up and see into another person's history and life view. Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for a digital ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I had not forgotten how much I loved One Crazy Summer, but I sure enjoyed revisiting the first story of Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern Gaither, in the summer of 1968 when they go visit their long-estranged mother in Oakland, California. This graphic novel adaptation is fantastic, and hopefully brings even more readers to this amazing series. Sharee Miller is the perfect artist to bring the Gaither sisters to life. What I love about this story is how it blends humor with emotion and historical significance. My favorite moment in this book is still Delphine standing up to her mom, Cecile.
Being a graphic adaptation, of course there are details left out, but readers who want more will enjoy turning to the original novel edition. I would love to see adaptations of P.S. Be Eleven and Gone Crazy in Alabama!

I'm loving all these adaptions of amazing middle grade novels into graphic novels so everyone can enjoy these wonderful stories! So well done and amazing illustratinos.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

One of the most faithful graphic novel adaptations I've ever encountered; this one captures the flavor of the original story perfectly and made me fall in love with Delphine and her sisters all over again. (Seriously, I love Fern so much and want to adopt her.) The novel is really popular at my library, and I know kids are going to gobble up the graphic too!

This was a great graphic novel. I haven’t read not read the original novel, but this graphic novel made me interested in reading it. It makes me excited that many of the classic children’s novels are getting graphic novel versions because it makes these stories more accessible to a new generation.

I haven’t read the original novel, so I can’t compare this graphic novel adaptation to it. The art style was fine, but nothing that really stood out to me.

What bothered me most was the way the mother treated her daughters. She came off as incredibly cold and unkind, and I didn’t like that the story seemed to offer her some redemption by the end.

Overall, I just couldn’t connect with the story and never really got into it.

First of all, I really liked this as a chapter book when I read it years ago, so I was excited to see it come to life in a graphic novel. Unfortunately, I felt that this graphic novel version was too watered down and it didn’t have the same depth of characters and plot that I remember from the chapter book. I will continue to suggest the chapter book for my students, but I’m not sure I’ll be getting this one for the library.
Side note: this was also really hard to read on my phone, the only device I could get this eARC to load on which may have played a small part in how well I didn’t enjoy it. I’d hope that readers who read the actual book rather than an ebook, will have better engagement with it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great graphic novel. My child could not get enough of this book and is so excited to get a physical copy. This is the perfect summer read for kids.

Bringing One Crazy Summer into the graphic novel world was a fantastic addition!
It will reach a whole new groups of readers and convince many of them to go back and read the chapter book.

I haven’t read the chapter book, and didn’t know what was about. I wasn’t expecting to find so hard topics: racism, children abandonment, and social injustices towards the black community and immigrants.. The language is simple, it can be read in one sitting but, it can be confusing.

I loved the sister’s relationship. I liked their adventures, and how they faced new challenges, always working together. However, Cecile’s negative attitude made me furious. The rejection to her daughters, her language, her refusal to acknowledge their needs or even listen to them is unbearable.

Any reader will need at least a basic knowledge of 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. Not too satisfied with how the story was executed.

It’s the summer of 1968, a time of much social unrest. Sisters Delphine, Vonetta and Fern travel by plane from Brooklyn to Oakland to stay with their mother Cecile. Why? Who knows. Cecile abandoned her daughters when the youngest Fern was merely days old. Instantly, we see why Cecile abandoned her daughters – she is cold, angry, toxic and an unfit, neglectful mother. She sends her daughters off in Oakland, which never had the reputation of being a very safe city, to fend for food on their own because she could not be bothered to tend to their needs. Cecile is brusque, mean and in Delphine’s words “crazy”. Cecile also has some connections to the Black Panthers group who are intimidating to anyone who comes in close proximity. Cecile is quite secretive about her life and forbids the girls from entering the kitchen. It certainly is going to be a one crazy summer with one crazy woman (I won’t even honor Cecile wit the tag of “mother”).

I know I’m in the minority but I didn’t warm up to this story. Even though I grew up in a major city during this era (I was slightly younger than Delphine) and witnessed social unrest firsthand, I should have been nostalgic, but I wasn’t. I just felt total annoyance at Cecile and questioned the girls’ father and grandmother motive for sending the girls to Oakland. The story is told from Delphine’s viewpoint, the oldest daughter at eleven years old.

I am familiar with the illustrator’s work and enjoyed it for the most part. The only complaint I have is sometimes the strange and awkward way the mouths are drawn. It almost seems like a Picasso rendering.

I loved this middle-grade chapter book when it came out years ago and the graphic novel did not disappoint. I love that this title exposes young readers to the history and people we don't hear about in textbooks or in the news: the Black Panther Party, Fannie Lou Hamer, Huey Newton, Angela Davis, etc. And man, what an emotional roller-coaster. Adults will even enjoy this one. Read it to your kid.

Thank you to Netgalley for the free Arc!

This graphic novel is a greet adaptation of the original book, One Crazy Summer. The graphic artist is very talented and brings the story to life. At the same time, I appreciate how there is more text on some of the pages than in other graphic novels, preserving some of the original text. This book does a great job providing history into the late 1960s. This helps the reader to understand what a month long summer trip is like for three black sisters who travel from Brooklyn, NY to Oakland, CA to visit their birth mom.

I think that this book would be most appropriate for middle school readers, although many high schoolers may appreciate it as well.

Wow wow wow! I didn't know what to expect going into this but I was blown away. Three sisters fly across the States to visit a mother who abandoned them early in life. They do not get the warm welcome they expected. Learning about civil rights, the Black Panthers, and other important life lessons, this is one I'm happy exists for kids!

A great adaptation of the middle grade novel. Delphine and her two younger sisters are heading to California for a summer with the mother, Cecile. The sisters daydreamed about a sunny California summer, but their experience turned out to be much different. They aren't greeted with the warm hugs and kind words they were anticipating. Their mother, Nzila, who is now a part of the Black Panther party, is less than enthuasistic about their arrival. She sends them to a summer day camp run by the Panthers. Despite their initial hesitation the girls learn a great deal about themselves and the world around them.

This graphic novel adaptation provided historical knowledge on topics such as the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panthers. It thoughtfully depicted these experiences in a way that is attainable for kids. I appreciated the way traumatic previous experiences with their mother (Nzila/Cecile) were depicted with other inks to make the reader experience more clear. This was also such an emotional full-circle story of generational trauma, depicted in a beautifully healing way.

What a fantastic adaption of One Crazy Summer! I flew through this graphic novel! The art is wonderful, and I was immediately engaged with our 3 sisters. I loved this slice of history and activism!

Thanks to NetGalley, Rita Williams-Garcia, and HarperCollins for the chance to read and review! My opinions are my own!