Rita Williams-Garcia Books In Order

Publication Order of Gaither Sisters Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Picture Books

Publication Order of She Persisted Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Rita Williams-Garcia is an American author.

She was born in Queens, New York on April 13, 1957. She says that her mother Miss Essie named her ‘NoMo’ immediately after her birth. Even though she was her last child, she took her time making up her appearance to the world. Now she says that she likes to believe that she was dreaming up a good story and wouldn’t budge until she was finished. She says that today her daughters call her Pokey Mom because she is constantly being a slow poke when they want to go go go.

Rita says that she learned to read when she was young and was aware of events going on as she grew up in the sixties. In the middle of real events, she daydreamed and wrote stories. Writing stories for young people is her passion and mission since teens read. Williams-Garcia says that they ‘hunger for stories that engage them and reflect their images and experiences.

She is the author of several novels and the One Crazy Summer series. She has had at least four of her novels win awards and continues to break new ground in young people’s literature. Her works are known for their realistic portrayal of teens of color. They have been recognized by the Coretta Scott King Award Committee, the PEN Norma Klein, Parents’ Choice, and the American Library Association.

Williams-Garcia recently served on the National Book Award Committee for Young People’s Literature. She is on the faculty at Vermont College MFA Writing for Children and Young People.

One Crazy Summer is the first book in the series by the same name by Rita Williams-Garcia. If you have been looking for new literature to check out, look into this book!

In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn, New York to Oakland, California, to spend a month with a mother that they barely know, 11 year old Delphine and her two younger sisters show up to a cold welcome and not the warm one that they were hoping for.

They find out their their mother, who is a dedicated poet and a printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a Black Panther summer camp that is being held nearby– presumably to educate the children while also keeping them out of her hair. In this humorous and breakout book, the children end up meeting the Black Panthers. Read this book personally to find out more and follow along in this shining debut of a series.

P.S. Be Eleven is the second novel in the One Crazy Summer series by Rita Williams-Garcia. If you liked the first book in this series then check out this sequel where the Gaither sisters come back to Brooklyn and find that many changes have come into their home.

Delphine, Vonetta and Fern have spent the summer in Oakland with their mother and the Black Panthers. Now they come home with a new found sense of independence, and the sisters are not the only ones who have changed and for whom life has evolved.

Their Pa now has a girlfriend. Uncle Darnell has come back from Vietnam changed and a much different man. But Big Ma still wants Delphine to keep her sisters in line and look after them. That’s going to be much more difficult now that Vonetta and Fern won’t allow themselves to be bossed around anymore.

That’s not the only thing that Delphine has to worry about. Besides her sisters, Delphine has to worry about starting sixth grade, being the tallest girl in her class, and dreading the arrival of a school dance which is going to be the first one that she has ever been to.

The only person that she confides in is Cecile, her mother. She is able to use letters to pour her heart out to someone and gets some advice: to just be eleven years old while she can be. This sequel is a moving and funny story that features three sisters who are coming of age together during the turbulent times of the sixties. Read this book if you are looking for something funny, original, and new!