New York Times bestselling author Nikki Grimes is the recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, the ALA Children’s Literature Legacy Award, and the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Her books include her critically acclaimed memoir in verse Ordinary Hazards as well as picture books Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice and Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope. She won the Coretta Scott King Award for Bronx Masquerade and earned a Coretta Scott King Author Honor five times—for Words with Wings, Jazmin's Notebook, Dark Sons, Talkin’ About Bessie, and The Road to Paris. Visit nikkigrimes.com
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
★ 'Grimes returns to the novel-in-verse format, creating
voice, characters, and plot in a series of pithy tanka poems, a
traditional Japanese form similar to haiku, but using five
lines.... (w)ritten from Garvey's point of view, the succinct
verses convey the narrative as well as his emotions with brevity,
clarity, and finesse.' —Booklist, starred review
★ "(A) sensitively written middle grade novel in verse...
(readers) will fall hard for Garvey, a tender, sincere boy who
dislikes athletics. Grimes writes about adolescent friendships in a
way that feels deeply human. A short, sweet, satisfying novel in
verse that educators and readers alike will love." —School Library
Journal, starred review
★ "Grimes' newest follows a young black boy searching for his
own unique voice, lost among his father's wishes and society's
mischaracterizations. This compassionate, courageous, and hopeful
novel explores the constraints placed on black male identity and
the corresponding pains and struggles that follow when a young
black boy must confront these realities both at home and in
school.... This graceful novel risks stretching beyond easy,
reductive constructions of black male coming-of-age stories and
delivers a sincere, authentic story of resilience and finding one's
voice." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Grimes tells a big-hearted story of Garvey...(e)mploying the
Japanese poetic form of tanka—five-line poems (or, here, stanzas)
with haiku-like syllable counts—Grimes reveals Garvey's thoughts,
feelings, and observations, the spare poetry a good vehicle for a
young man's attempts to articulate the puzzle that is his life."
—The Horn Book
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