Rita Williams-Garcia

Author of One Crazy Summer

18+ Works 6,884 Members 349 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

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 show more 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) show less

Includes the names: R. Williams-Garcia, Rita Williams Garcia, Rita Williams-Garcia

Series

Gaither Sisters Trilogy

Works by Rita Williams-Garcia

Popular Recent

One Crazy Summer (2010) 4,086 copies

P.S. Be Eleven (2013) 700 copies

Gone Crazy in Alabama (2015) 523 copies

Clayton Byrd Goes Underground (2017) 388 copies

Jumped (2009) 326 copies

Like Sisters on the Homefront (1995) 227 copies

No Laughter Here (2004) 140 copies

Every Time a Rainbow Dies (2001) 138 copies

A Sitting in St. James (2021) 137 copies

Fast Talk on a Slow Track (1991) 69 copies

Blue Tights (1988) 51 copies

She Persisted: Florence Griffith Joyner (2021) 32 copies

Catching the Wild Waiyuuzee (2000) 31 copies

Gaither Sisters Trilogy Collection (2018) 14 copies

Bottle Cap Boys Dancing On Royal Street (2009) 11 copies

Diamond Land (2004) 9 copies

No laughter here 1 copy

Un verano loco: One Crazy Summer (Spanish edition) 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America (2019) — Contributor — 539 copies

We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices (2018) — Contributor — 221 copies

First Crossing: Stories About Teen Immigrants (2004) — Contributor — 197 copies

Funny Girl: Funniest. Stories. Ever. (2017) — Contributor — 181 copies

War Is...: Soldiers, Survivors and Storytellers Talk about War (2008) — Contributor — 141 copies

No Easy Answers: Short Stories About Teenagers Making Tough Choices (1997) — Contributor — 138 copies

Who Done It? (2013) — Contributor — 135 copies

Free? Stories About Human Rights (2009) — Contributor — 120 copies

Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls (1998) — Contributor — 111 copies

Pick-Up Game: A Full Day of Full Court (2011) — Contributor — 108 copies

Guys Read: Terrifying Tales (2015) — Contributor — 104 copies

Girl Meets Boy: Because There Are Two Sides to Every Story (2011) — Contributor — 99 copies

When I Was Your Age, Volume Two: Original Stories About Growing Up (1999) — Contributor — 92 copies

The Hero Next Door (2019) — Contributor — 89 copies

Our Story Begins: Your Favorite Authors and Illustrators Share Fun, Inspiring, and Occasionally Ridiculous Things They… (2017) — Contributor — 89 copies

Necessary Noise: Stories About Our Families as They Really Are (2003) — Contributor — 82 copies

Join In: Multiethnic Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults (1943) — Contributor — 78 copies

Face Relations: 11 Stories about Seeing beyond Color (2004) — Contributor — 53 copies

Second Sight : Stories for a New Millennium (1999) — Contributor — 45 copies

Trapped!: Cages of Mind and Body (1938) — Contributor — 43 copies

Dirty Laundry: Stories About Family Secrets (1998) — Contributor — 39 copies

Twelve Shots (1997) — Contributor — 39 copies

The Golden Shovel Anthology: New Poems Honoring Gwendolyn Brooks (2017) — Contributor — 17 copies

Period Pieces: Stories for Girls (2003) — Contributor — 15 copies

Tagged

1960s (124) abandonment (38) African American (208) African Americans (79) award winner (31) black (50) Black Panthers (176) California (93) chapter book (71) children (30) children's (69) children's fiction (37) children's literature (30) civil rights (192) Civil Rights Movement (42) coming of age (43) Coretta Scott King Award (69) family (204) fiction (256) girls (27) grade 6 (30) historical (33) historical fiction (491) history (34) middle grade (62) mothers (55) multicultural (46) National Book Award Finalist (31) Newbery (36) Newbery Honor (111) novel (31) Oakland (60) racism (46) realistic fiction (109) series (37) sisters (171) summer (38) to-read (183) YA (101) young adult (85)

Common Knowledge

Birthdate: 1957-04-13
Gender: female
Nationality: USA
Birthplace: Queens, New York, USA
Places of residence: New York, New York, USA
Education: Hofstra University
Occupations: creative writing teacher
fiction writer
Organizations: Vermont College
Awards and honors: ALSC Children's Literature Lecture Award (2023)

Members

Reviews

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

(Newbery Honor Book; Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction; Coretta Scott King Award; National Book Award Finalist)

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ICSLibrarySquad | 226 other reviews | Apr 26, 2024 |

One Crazy Summer - copy 2 by Rita Williams-Garcia

Newbery Honor Book; Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction; Coretta Scott King Award; National Book Award Finalist

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ICSLibrarySquad | 226 other reviews | Apr 26, 2024 |

A Sitting in St. James by Rita Williams-Garcia

Gr 9 Up—In this stunning portrayal of a white French family who will do anything to maintain their iron grip around
the necks of the enslaved Black people on their antebellum Louisiana plantation, Williams-Garcia has crafted an
intense saga. Masterly characterization, nuanced machinations, and incisive language are on full display in this
novel that also sheds light on current conversations about race and power.

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BackstoryBooks | 7 other reviews | Apr 1, 2024 |

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

This is the first time I've come across a historical fiction about the Black Panthers, and I loved it! Appropriately thoughtful in its subject matter, and the precocious narrator charmed me to no end. A tiny, underappreciated work of art.

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boopingaround | 226 other reviews | Mar 6, 2024 |

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