Be Eleven is a delight to read and a nice stand alone novel. And watching Delphine navigate her growing pains as she narrates them to the reader is what makes her such an endearing character and the novel so wonderful. Delphine is in the throes of growing pains, changing but still on the coming of age threshold. Be Eleven might sound like a coming of age novel, but it isn't. Be eleven.īut her mother, even if she is a distant mother, knows that Delphine is taking life too seriously and taking too much responsibility on her shoulders for an 11 year old. Delphine pours out all her worries and concerns to Cecile and doesn't understand why her mother always ends her letters with the words P.S. Meanwhile Delphine has started writing back to her mother Cecile. And then, the Jackson Five money gets stolen. All he does is sleep the days away and go out at night. And when Uncle Darnell comes home from Vietnam, its as if he is a completely changed person and not for the better. Mwila, who actually expects his students to do the work assigned and do it well. Delphine doesn't get the sixth grade teacher she was supposed to have and ends up with a strict exchange teacher from Africa, Mr. Now she has to trust Vonetta with all her hard gotten cash. And she puts middle sister Vonetta in charge of the money usurping the power over her younger sisters older sister Delphine always had. And so it is agreed: the girls will save their money and pay half the cost and Marva will pay the other half.
Papa isn't too crazy about the idea of the girls going to their concert, but Miss Marva Hendrix is all for it. The Jackson Five have hit the pop charts hard and soon they will be coming to Madison Square Garden. But Delphine, Vonetta and Fern soon learn that sisterhood begins at home.
Now they know about the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panthers and the new Feminist Movement. And they beloved Uncle Darnell is coming home from Vietnam. For one thing, their father is a changed man now that he has a girlfriend, Miss Marva Hendrix, and it looks like they are getting serious. Gone for one short summer, when they get back home things are definitely different. The girls have just returned to Herkimer Street in Brooklyn after spending the summer with the mother Cecile in Oakland, CA (see One Crazy Summer). And for anyone who doesn't know the Gaither sisters - they are a delight to meet. For all of you who became fans of the Gaither sisters - Delphine, Vonetta and Fern - in One Crazy Summer, the girls are back.
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