《One Crazy Summer》陪伴孩子的不是枯燥知识，而是一套获奖无数的成长小说

[attach]182[/attach]
在儿童与青少年文学中，有一些故事不仅仅讲述成长的烦恼与温情，更把读者带入真实的历史背景中，让孩子们在阅读中理解社会变迁。《Gaither Sisters》系列正是这样一套作品。

这套系列由美国作家 Rita Williams-Garcia 创作，一共三本：

《One Crazy Summer》（2010）Lexile（蓝思值）：750L

《P.S. Be Eleven》（2013）Lexile（蓝思值）：770L

《Gone Crazy in Alabama》（2015）

三部曲以 20 世纪 60 年代的美国为背景，讲述了三姐妹——Delphine、Vonetta 和 Fern 的成长故事。通过她们的视角，读者能够看到家庭关系、种族身份、历史事件与个人成长的交织。

📖 第一部：《One Crazy Summer》

这本书是系列的开篇，也最为人熟知。出版后，获得了 纽伯瑞荣誉奖（Newbery Honor）、美国国家图书奖青少年文学奖（National Book Award Finalist）、Coretta Scott King 作者奖

等多项重要奖项。

故事梗概

1968 年，三个姐妹——11 岁的 Delphine、9 岁的 Vonetta 和 7 岁的 Fern，从纽约飞往加州奥克兰，去见多年未见的母亲Cecile。



然而，这位母亲并不是她们幻想中的慈爱模样。Cecile 冷漠疏离，甚至不愿意为她们做饭，把她们“托管”到一个由 **黑豹党（Black Panthers）**开办的夏令营。

在这个夏天，三姐妹接触到了社会运动、黑人自我认同和自由的观念，同时，她们也在与母亲的复杂关系中学会了理解、坚强和成长。

亮点解析

历史背景：故事置于美国民权运动和黑豹党崛起的年代，孩子们的眼睛让这段历史不再是教科书上的冷冰冰事实，而是充满生活气息。

人物塑造：Delphine 的成熟、Vonetta 的渴望表现、Fern 的天真，让每个孩子都能在其中找到共鸣。

家庭主题：母女关系的疏远与靠近，姐妹间的争吵与支持，构成了温暖又真实的家庭画面。



Secret Agent Mother

The Negro lady with the snappy oval bag didn’t give us a glance as she click-clacked on by. That was fine with me, although I’d tell Big Ma otherwise if she asked, just to keep her from worrying. And I’d make it short and simple. I only get caught if I try to spin too much straw.

With both feet safely on the ground, Vonetta became her old self, her face shiny and searching. “What do we call her?”

I’d gone over this with Vonetta and Fern many, many times. I told them long before Papa said we were going to meet her. I told them while we packed our suitcases. “Her name is Cecile. That’s what you call her. When people ask who she is, you say, ‘She is our mother.’”

Mother is a statement of fact. Cecile Johnson gave birth to us. We came out of Cecile Johnson. In the animal kingdom that makes her our mother. Every mammal on the planet has a mother, dead or alive. Ran off or stayed put. Cecile Johnson—mammal birth giver, alive, an abandoner—is our mother. A statement of fact.





📖 第二部：《P.S. Be Eleven》

故事延续第一部，三姐妹回到纽约，面对新的挑战。她们的父亲开始新恋情，叔叔经历了战争的创伤，Delphine也要适应青春期的变化。标题中的“Be Eleven”来自母亲 Cecile 给 Delphine 的信，提醒她在成长过程中不要过快失去童年。

My Girl

Big Ma said Pa had been circling around the airport to give her enough time to fetch us. That way he wouldn’t have to pay more than the law should allow to sit his car in an airport lot.

The tan-and-black Wildcat crawled up to the curb, its growl low and tame. Vonetta and Fern hopped around as if the concrete below them was too hot to stand on. They flapped their arms crazily and shouted, “Papa! Papa!” before he got the car door open. There was nothing Big Ma could do about it with Pa right there, and I enjoyed that like I enjoyed a Mr. Goodbar all to myself. My feet, however, didn’t dare leave the ground, nor did my arms rise up to fly with my sisters’.

All of the windows in Pa’s car were cranked down, and Big Ma scolded, “It’s your fault they’re out of hand,” shaking her pointer finger at her oldest son.

My tears had long dried but I wiped my face anyway. Pa swung open the door and stepped out of the car. My heart leapt toward him. No one was as handsome as my father was, even when his face was long, plain, and sad, which was always. Today, he looked chipper, I supposed from being glad to see us after all this time.

Although I didn’t jump all over him like Vonetta and Fern did, no one had missed him more than I. In Oakland I saw pieces of Cecile in me, but I knew Pa had his stamp all over me, and I was happy to grow in his shade.





📖 第三部：《Gone Crazy in Alabama》

这一部带着姐妹们回到南方的亲戚家，家族历史、南北差异和家庭秘密纷纷浮现。她们在冲突中更加理解彼此，也逐渐建立起更坚韧的家庭纽带。

It Takes a Licking

Vonetta, Fern, and I didn’t sleep well last night or the night before. There’s something about preparing for a trip that draws my sisters and me closer together than we already are. Maybe it’s the planning and excitement of going places or seeing who we’re going to see.

As soon as we dragged our suitcases out of the attic, my sisters and I race-walked along Herkimer Street and headed to Mr. Mack’s store on Fulton to buy a bag of candy that would last the whole trip down south. We planned to fill our hands with different-flavored Jolly Rancher sucking candy, wax lips, and Pixy Stix, plus Bazooka bubble gum to last the whole trip, starting from Brooklyn, New York, then to New Jersey, all the way down to Georgia and lastly to Alabama. Vonetta was good at keeping track of things and divvying them up between us, so I let her be in charge of handing out the “new state” candy. Candy was enough to send Vonetta and Fern over the moon, but it didn’t mean the same thing to me. It was too hot for Mr. Goodbar, and a box of Good & Plenty only reminded me of watching movies at the RKO with my pa. All of that was different now that I shared him with Mrs., but as long as Pa’s wife stayed with us in our house on Herkimer Street, even after their fights, I gladly shared my father.

We were about to go inside Mr. Mack’s when three girls who had been in Vonetta’s third-grade class two years ago came out laughing and chewing on long red licorice. “Hi, Vonetta!” they all sang at her.

“Hi,” Vonetta returned weakly.

“Hi!” Fern echoed, but louder.

✨ 适合谁读？

《Gaither Sisters》系列不仅是青少年读物，也非常适合家长和孩子一起共读。它让孩子们看到：

成长并不只是学习知识，还有理解自我和他人；

历史不仅是过去的大事件，也是普通家庭和孩子的生活经历；

爱与亲情，有时需要穿过误解与距离才能抵达。

💡 如果你正在寻找一套既有历史厚度、又能引发孩子共鸣的读物，《Gaither Sisters》系列无疑是一个极佳的选择。而《One Crazy Summer》更是一个让人难以忘怀的开端。