One Crazy Summer / Rita Williams-Garcia / 218 pgs.

"In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp." - From Catalog.

This is a very sweet tale of three young girls, who spend their summer attending a Black Panther summer camp.  The story introduces to the readers the issues of  African Americans in the late - 60's, as the girls are learning more about their culture and issues that their race is facing at the camp.  They (and the reader) also see that there were many facets to the Black Panther movement, and not everyone in the group held extreme radical beliefs.  Informative, charming, and entertaining; I would recommend this book for elementary / junior high school age.    

Sugar Plum Ballerinas: Toeshoe Trouble/ Whoopie Goldberg/ 136 pages

This the second in the series and is just as good as the first book. This book focuses on Brenda instead of Al as in the last book. The friends are still all together at the ballet school. The focus of this book is Brenda's cousin Tiffany. Brenda is jealous of her rich cousin and in order to top her, she tells a stupid lie which leads her to make the stupid decision to steal the special autographed ballet slippers of her dance teacher. The book deals with the drama and consequences of stealing and lying. Unlike the Wimpy Kid, this girl has integrity and doesn't justify it or "oh well" it. She knows it is a bad thing, she feels guilt and remorse, and even though she tries to correct the problem without her mom finding out, she does the right thing in the end because she basically has a good moral base and will not even let a stranger take the fall for her. I really like these books as they are funny and entertaining. Now I like them because they also show good values in a day when they seem to be lacking.