First published 2024
Eleven-year-old Delphine has raised her younger sisters Vonetta and Fern since their mother Cecile abandoned them seven years ago. When the three girls travel from Brooklyn to spend the summer with Cecile in Oakland, they dream of Disneyland visits and fairy tale reunions. Instead, Cecile ships them off to a Black Panther day camp while she focuses on her radical activism. The sisters must navigate their disappointment in a mother who refuses to play the role they expected. As the summer unfolds in 1968 Oakland, Delphine struggles to protect her sisters while questioning her own responsibilities. The girls discover truths about their family's past and their place in a changing America. Through their experiences at the camp and with their complicated mother, the three sisters forge new understanding of themselves and each other during one transformative summer.
Genres: historical-fiction, coming-of-age, family-drama, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Brooklyn, Oakland
Period: 1968
256 pages · Paperback · Quill Tree Books