Summary
Things are changing in the Gaither household. After soaking up a "power to the people" mind-set over the summer, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern return to Brooklyn with a newfound streak of independence. Pa has a girlfriend. Uncle Darnell is home from Vietnam, but he's not the same. And a new singing group called the Jackson Five has the girls seeing stars.
But the one thing that doesn't change Big Ma still expects Delphine to keep everything together. That's even harder now that her sisters refuse to be bossed around, and now that Pa's girlfriend voices her own opinions about things. Through letters, Delphine confides in her mother, who reminds her not to grow up too fast. To be eleven while she can.
An outstanding successor to the Newbery Honor Book One Crazy Summer, P.S. Be Eleven stands on its own as a moving, funny story of three sisters growing up amid the radical change of the 1960s, beautifully written by the inimitable Rita Williams-Garcia.
Author Notes
Rita Williams-Garcia graduated from Hofstra University. She has written several books including Blue Tights, Every Time a Rainbow Dies, Fast Talk on a Slow Track, One Crazy Summer, and No Laughter Here. Like Sisters on the Homefront was named a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. She won the PEN/Norma Klein Award. She currently teaches at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in the Writing for Children and Young Adults Program. She won the Coretta Scott King awards in 2016 with her title Gone Crazy in Alabama in the author category.
(Bowker Author Biography)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-7-In Williams-Garcia's sequel (2013) to her Coretta Scott King award-winning One Crazy Summer (2010, both Amistad), the three Gaither sisters-Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern-return home to Brooklyn after an eventful 28-day reunion with their estranged poet mother in Oakland, California. They are full of "Power to the People" and independence as they finish up their summer and begin another school year. Told through the eyes of sixth grader Delphine, the eldest sister, listeners join the girls as they navigate the changes in their lives during 1968, including the return of their beloved Uncle Darnell from Vietnam who just isn't the same, their Pa's new girlfriend, and the arrival of the Jackson Five on the music scene. Delphine confides her worries and thoughts in letters to her mother, who reminds her daughter not to grow up to fast-to "be eleven." The novel has strong African-American female characters. The Gaither girls mature and adapt to the changes happening around them. Sisi Aisha Johnson does a superb job of creating a unique voice for each character. The sisters like to finish each other sentences, and Johnson's distinct vocal changes keep each girl's voice clear. She captures the humorous moments as easily as the thoughtful ones, producing a smile one moment and bringing tears to your eyes the next. Featuring an excellent text and superb narration, this is a must-have for school and public libraries looking for well-written historical fiction offering insight into the African-American experience of the 1960s as seen through a young girl's eyes.-Terri Norstrom, Cary Area Library, IL (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Delphine and her sisters return to Brooklyn from visiting their estranged mother, Cecile, a poet who sent them off every day to a camp run by the Black Panthers in Williams-Garcia's Newbery Honor-winning One Crazy Summer. It wasn't the California vacation they expected, but the experience rocked their world. Big Ma, their grandmother, is no longer just a stern taskmaster, she's an oppressor. Delphine, who again narrates, loses interest in magazines like Tiger Beat and Seventeen: "When there's Afros and black faces on the cover, I'll buy one," she tells a storeowner. Reflecting society at large in 1968, change and conflict have the Gaither household in upheaval: Pa has a new girlfriend, Uncle Darnell returns from Vietnam a damaged young man, and the sixth-grade teacher Delphine hoped to get has been replaced by a man from Zambia. Though the plot involves more quotidian events than the first book, 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. Ages 8-12. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Against Big Ma's objections, in One Crazy Summer (rev. 3/10) Delphine and her sisters Vonetta and Fern flew off to Oakland to get to know their mother, Cecile, and learned about the Black Panthers. Here, they've returned, and before they even get home to Bedford-Stuyvesant, they outrage Big Ma, making a "grand Negro spectacle" of themselves at the airport by refusing to be invisible and docile. For Delphine, this new stage of life is tricky to maneuver. Pa is suddenly happy, with a new "lady friend"; their uncle returns from Vietnam but seems greatly changed; and her sisters have learned to stand up for themselves, refusing to let Delphine take charge in her usual way. She tries to better understand why her parents never married, but Cecile sets her straight in letters, establishing boundaries ("My feelings about your father are mine. They are not feelings that can be understood by a young girl") and reminding her repeatedly to "be eleven." Williams-Garcia evokes the late-sixties time period perfectly with word choices ("right on!"), clothing details (Delphine longs for bell-bottoms), and other specific references, especially the instant, passionate devotion the sisters feel toward the Jackson Five. And as in the multi-medaled previous book, she brilliantly gets to the very heart of Delphine and each of her family members and friends, using Delphine's keen perceptions ("Big Ma put a smile over her real face...") to create complex, engaging, and nuanced characters. Funny, wise, poignant, and thought-provoking, this will leave readers wanting more about Delphine and her sisters. susan dove lempke (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Readers will cheer the return of the three sisters who captured hearts in the Newbery Honorwinning One Crazy Summer (2010). The sequel finds sisters Delphine, Vonetta and Fern returning to their Brooklyn home, full of excitement about visiting their mother in Oakland, Calif. The girls, especially Delphine, are also eager to begin a new school year. However, home is a little different: Their father has a girlfriend, the teacher Delphine had been eagerly expecting has exchanged places with one from Zambia, and their beloved Uncle Darnell is returning home from Vietnam. But their favorite singing group, the Jackson Five, is coming to town, too. With the help of their father's girlfriend, Miss Hendrix, the girls set out to save to attend the concert. Through all of their experiences, Delphine uses her new connection with her mother to understand things, questioning, challenging and reaching for a mother's guidance. Whenever she pushes a bit too hard, Cecile's tart, repeated advice to "be eleven"--even when she turns 12--resonates. 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. Disappointments are not glossed over, even when they involve heartbreaking betrayal. This thoughtful story, told with humor and heart, rings with the rhythms and the dilemmas of the '60s through characters real enough to touch. (Historical fiction. 9-14)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* The Gaither sisters Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern are newly returned from a summer spent in California with their mother, Cecile, and the Black Panthers (One Crazy Summer, 2010). But life in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, with Big Ma and Pa is nothing like the freedom of Oakland, even if the girls carry back independent streaks. And while their summer may have been crazy, autumn is not exactly tame: Pa's wearing cologne and whistling now that he has a girlfriend; Uncle Darnell's back from Vietnam but sleeps a lot; and sixth grade has a new Zambian exchange teacher, Mr. Mwilla. Delphine speaks her worried mind in letters to Cecile, who always adds a postscript, reminding Delphine to Be Eleven and not a grown-up. (This makes for a nice recurring sentiment, if a somewhat clunky title.) Set against the tumultuous, yet vibrant, backdrop of the late 1960s as Nixon campaigns against Humphrey and the Jackson Five are poised to play Madison Square Garden the story is vividly narrated by Delphine, who reluctantly learns to ease control over her sisters and comes to a tough realization: Twelve makes you know better than to wish for things that only eleven would wish hard for. Even without the dynamic Black Panther characters, this soars as a finely drawn portrait of a family in flux and as a memorable slice of a specific time in our nation's history. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Williams-Garcia's One Crazy Summer (2010) won the Newbery Honor and the Coretta Scott King Award and was a National Book Award finalist. A robust marketing campaign includes author appearances.--Kelley, Ann Copyright 2010 Booklist
