P.S. Be Eleven, Rita WilliamsGarcia
P.S. Be Eleven, Rita WilliamsGarcia
6 Rating(s)
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

P.S. Be Eleven

Author: Rita Williams-Garcia

Narrator: Sisi Aisha Johnson

Unabridged: 6 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/21/2013


Synopsis

The Gaither sisters are at it again! A sequel to the Newbery Honor Book One Crazy Summer, this Coretta Scott King Award-winning novel will find a home in the hearts of readers who loved Brown Girl Dreaming and As Brave as You. After spending the summer in Oakland, California, with their mother and the Black Panthers, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern arrive home with a newfound streak of independence. That doesn't sit well with Big Ma, who doesn't like the way things are changing. Neither does Delphine. Pa has a new girlfriend. Uncle Darnell comes home from Vietnam, but he's not the same. And her new sixth-grade teacher isn't the fun, stylish Miss Honeywell—it's Mr. Mwila, a stern exchange teacher from Zambia. But the one thing that doesn't change during this turbulent year is the advice that Delphine receives from her mother, who reminds her not to grow up too fast. To be eleven while she can. Readers who enjoy Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham and Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming will find much to love in this book. Rita Williams-Garcia's books about Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern can also be read alongside nonfiction explorations of American history such as Jason Reynolds's and Ibram X. Kendi's books. Each humorous, unforgettable story in this trilogy follows the sisters as they grow up during one of the most tumultuous eras in recent American history, the 1960s. Read the adventures of eleven-year-old Delphine and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, as they visit their kin all over the rapidly changing nation—and as they discover that the bonds of family, and their own strength, run deeper than they ever knew possible. “The Gaither sisters are an irresistible trio. Williams-Garcia excels at conveying defining moments of American society from their point of view.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

About Rita Williams-Garcia

Rita Williams-Garcia's Newbery Honor Book, One Crazy Summer, was a winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award, a National Book Award finalist, the recipient of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and a New York Times bestseller. The two sequels, P.S. Be Eleven and Gone Crazy in Alabama, were both Coretta Scott King Author Award winners and ALA Notable Children’s Books. She is also the author of the NAACP Image Award–winning and National Book Award finalist Clayton Byrd Goes Underground; A Sitting in St. James, a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winner and Los Angeles Times Book Award winner; Like Sisters on the Homefront, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book; Blue Tights; and four ALA Best Books for Young Adults: Jumped, a National Book Award finalist; No Laughter Here; Every Time a Rainbow Dies, a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book; and Fast Talk on a Slow Track. Rita Williams-Garcia lives in Jamaica, New York, with her husband and has two adult daughters. You can visit her online at ritawg.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jennifer on July 21, 2013

It's entirely possible that I love this continuation of the Gaither sisters' small saga even more than the first award winning smash of a novel, but that could just be proximity talking. Since I just finished this lovely sequel and am still hearing the Jackson Five in my head, smelling Big Ma's cook......more

Goodreads review by Josiah on September 17, 2023

Truth be told, I didn't understand the Rita Williams-Garcia hype before reading P.S. Be Eleven. I'd read a couple of her books, notably 2011 Newbery Honoree One Crazy Summer, but wasn't convinced she belonged in the discussion with the top children's authors of her day. Her writing was never dull, c......more

Goodreads review by Monica on May 09, 2013

Reviewed on blog and below. A huge fanof Rita Willliams-Garcia's One Crazy Summer, I was incredibly happy when it got a great deal of award-love and recognition. I mean, who could not be taken with those three sisters going off to spend the summer in California with the Black Panther mother they ne......more

Goodreads review by Elizabeth on May 09, 2020

This is such a wonderful series!......more

Goodreads review by Imani on June 21, 2024

I know it's a book for children but I felt like Williams-Garcia included some mature topics like PTSD without any support to help kids think through this and honestly it might go over their heads. I loved it as an adult reader. I enjoyed seeing Delphine grow up. I also wish Williams Garcia chose les......more