The novel takes place in 1968, during a turbulent moment in American history. Three sisters—Delphine (11), Vonetta (9), and Fern (7)—live in Brooklyn with their father, Pa, and grandmother, Big Ma. Their mother, Cecile, left when they were very young, and the girls barely know her.

Pa decides it is time for the sisters to spend a month with Cecile in Oakland, California, even though Big Ma strongly disagrees. Delphine, the oldest, takes on the role of caretaker, keeping her sisters safe and calm during the trip.

Arriving in Oakland

When the girls arrive, Cecile is cold, distant, and uninterested in being a mother. She barely speaks to them, refuses to cook for them, and sends them out every morning to get breakfast from the neighborhood diner. Cecile insists they call her by her name—not “mom.”

Delphine is frustrated and confused, but she tries her best to keep things peaceful for Vonetta and Fern.

The Black Panther Center

Each day, Cecile sends the girls to a Black Panther community center where they receive free breakfast, attend summer classes, and learn about activism, self-expression, and Black pride. They meet instructors like Sister Mukumbu and Sister Pat, who welcome them warmly, and boys their age such as Hirohito.

The center becomes the heart of their summer. The girls learn about:

• racial injustice
• community organizing
• standing up for themselves
• the importance of voice, poetry, and identity

Vonetta and Fern enjoy the arts-and-crafts and poetry sessions, while Delphine begins to see the world in a more complicated way.

Learning About Cecile

The sisters start to understand why Cecile is emotionally closed off. They learn she is a poet and printer, writing under the name Nzila, and that she was deeply involved in the early Black Panther movement. She was once arrested for her activism, and the trauma of her past—including the death of Delphine’s baby brother—shaped her distance.

Slowly, the girls see glimpses of tenderness beneath Cecile’s hard exterior.

Rising Tension in Oakland

The Black Panther community faces pressure from police and government surveillance. Meetings are monitored, and Panther members are occasionally harassed or arrested.

One night, the police raid Cecile’s home because she prints Panther flyers. She is taken to jail, and the girls are terrified—but she is released soon after. The experience brings the sisters closer to understanding what Cecile has risked for her art and her beliefs.

The Rally

The center prepares for a big community rally. The sisters decide to perform onstage, reading a collective poem about unity, family, and Black pride. Their performance is powerful and well received.

During the rally, the Panthers promote love, empowerment, and self-defense—but police pressure remains heavy and visible.

The Last Day

When the month ends, the girls are surprisingly sad to leave. Delphine, who had struggled the most with Cecile’s coldness, shares an emotional moment with her mother at the airport. Cecile does not say “I love you,” but she hugs all three girls tightly—a gesture the girls will remember.

The sisters fly back to Brooklyn changed—stronger, more aware of the world, and more connected to their complicated mother.