Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia ADVISABLE

Williams-Garcia, Rita Gone Crazy in Alabama, 293 pgs. HarperCollins (Amistad), 2015. $16.99. Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.  

In this final book in the Gaither Sisters series, Delphine, Vonetta and Fern are spending the summer in Alabama with Big Ma and her mother Ma Charles.  Across the creek and through the woods live’s Ma Charles sister Miss Trotter and their cousin JimmyTrotter.  These city girls learn about gathering eggs, milking cows and how to behave properly in 1969 Alabama.  They’ve learned from their mother Cecile last summer in Oakland to stand up for themselves and not “take it from the man” but that attitude is out of place, even in Brooklyn. The girls must mind their manners and behave themselves. Family drama (Uncle Darrel is back, and Vonetta won’t forgive him for stealing their concert money) is abounding, fueled by the girls who run messages back and forth between the elderly sisters.  

In this conclusion to a trilogy (One Crazy Summer, and P.S. Be Eleven)  the sisters have experienced three different lifestyles, “hippie-Black Panther” with their mother in Oakland, Brooklyn, and Alabama;  three very different cultures.  The inclusion of the moon landing was fun and nostalgic.  Each of these books can stand on their own, but no library is complete without the whole set.  

EL, MS - ADVISABLE  Lisa Librarian