P.S. Be Eleven

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)

Author: Rita Williams-Garcia
Publisher: Quill Tree Books
Published: 05/21/2013
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.43h x 6.07w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780061938627
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.6
Point Value: 8
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 158513 / P.S. Be Eleven


Award: Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens - Recommended
Award: Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award - Nominee


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 02/15/2013 pg. 69
Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2013
Publishers Weekly 04/15/2013
Horn Book Magazine 05/01/2013 pg. 99
School Library Journal 06/01/2013 pg. 146
Shelf Awareness 05/31/2013
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 09/01/2013
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2013 - Outstanding, Noteworthy In Style
PW Best Children's Books 11/11/2013 pg. 26
Kirkus Best Middle Grade Books 11/15/2013 pg. 85
SLJ's Best Books 12/01/2013 pg. 38
Booklist Ed Choice Youth 01/01/2014 pg. 15
BookPage 06/01/2013

About the Author
Williams-Garcia, Rita: -

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. Her novel Clayton Byrd Goes Underground was a National Book Award finalist and winner of the NAACP Image Award for Youth/Teen Literature. Rita is also the author of five other distinguished novels for young adults: Jumped, a National Book Award finalist; No Laughter Here, Every Time a Rainbow Dies (a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book), Fast Talk on a Slow Track (all ALA Best Books for Young Adults); and Blue Tights. Rita Williams-Garcia lives in Jamaica, New York, with her husband and has two adult daughters. You can visit her online at www.ritawg.com.