Gone Crazy in Alabama: A Coretta Scott King Award-Winning Novel About Three African American Sisters in the 1960s South for Kids (Ages 8-12)

The Coretta Scott King Award–winning Gone Crazy in Alabama by Newbery Honor and New York Times bestselling author Rita Williams-Garcia tells the story of the Gaither sisters as they travel from the streets of Brooklyn to the rural South for the summer of a lifetime.

Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern are off to Alabama to visit their grandmother Big Ma and her mother, Ma Charles. Across the way lives Ma Charles’s half sister, Miss Trotter. The two half sisters haven’t spoken in years. As Delphine hears about her family history, she uncovers the surprising truth that’s been keeping the sisters apart. But when tragedy strikes, Delphine discovers that the bonds of family run deeper than she ever knew possible.

Powerful and humorous, this companion to the award-winning One Crazy Summer and P.S. Be Eleven will be enjoyed by fans of the first two books, as well as by readers meeting these memorable sisters for the first time.

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)

Coretta Scott King Award winner * ALA Notable Book * School Library Journal Best Book of the Year * Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year * ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice * Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year * Washington Post Best Books of the Year * The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book * Three starred reviews * CCBC Choice * New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing * Amazon Best Book of the Year

This powerful conclusion to the Gaither sisters trilogy delivers:

• A Decades-Old Family Feud: Discover the truth behind the silent war between great-grandmother Ma Charles and her half-sister, Miss Trotter, who live across the creek from each other but haven't spoken in years.
• Unforgettable Sibling Relationships: Follow Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern as their unbreakable sisterly bond is tested by deep-rooted family drama in rural Alabama.
• 1960s American History: Set against the backdrop of a tumultuous summer, this story brings a pivotal era to life for young readers through the eyes of three unforgettable sisters.
• A Heartfelt Coming of Age Story: As Delphine uncovers her family's past, she learns that forgiveness, love, and loyalty run deeper than she ever knew possible.

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.