Nikki Grimes

"Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, [poet] Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by babysitters, shunted from foster family to foster family, and preyed upon by those she trusted. At the age of six, she poured her pain onto a piece of paper late one night--and discovered the magic and impact of writing ... In this ... memoir [in verse] that will resonate with young readers and adults alike, Nikki shows how the power of those words helped her conquer the hazards--ordinary and extraordinary--of her life"--Publisher marketing.

A Memoir

Ordinary Hazards

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year Garvey's father has always wanted Garvey to be athletic, but Garvey is interested in astronomy, science fiction, reading--anything but sports. Feeling like a failure, he comforts himself with food. Garvey is kind, funny, smart, a loyal friend, and he is also overweight, teased by bullies, and lonely. When his only friend encourages him to join the school chorus, Garvey's life changes. The chorus finds a new soloist in Garvey, and through chorus, Garvey finds a way to accept himself, and a way to finally reach his distant father--by speaking the language of music instead of the language of sports. This emotionally resonant novel in verse by award-winning author Nikki Grimes celebrates choosing to be true to yourself.

Garvey's Choice

When Gabby's parents separate, her tendency to daydream becomes essential to coping with life's difficuties, which only increase when she moves with her mother to a new home and a new school.

Words with Wings

From Children's Literature Legacy Award-winning author Nikki Grimes comes a feminist-forward new collection of poetry celebrating the little-known women poets of the Harlem Renaissance--paired with full-color, original art from today's most talented female African-American illustrators. For centuries, accomplished women--of all races--have fallen out of the historical records. The same is true for gifted, prolific, women poets of the Harlem Renaissance who are little known, especially as compared to their male counterparts. In this poetry collection, bestselling author Nikki Grimes uses "The Golden Shovel" poetic method to create wholly original poems based on the works of these groundbreaking women-and to introduce readers to their work. Each poem is paired with one-of-a-kind art from today's most exciting female African-American illustrators: Vanessa Brantley-Newton, Cozbi A. Cabrera, Nina Crews, Pat Cummings, Laura Freeman, Jan Spivey Gilchrist, Ebony Glenn, April Harrison, Vashti Harrison, Ekua Holmes, Cathy Ann Johnson, Keisha Morris, Daria Peoples-Riley, Andrea Pippins, Erin Robinson, Shadra Strickland, Nicole Tadgell, and Elizabeth Zunon. Legacy also includes a foreword, an introduction to the history of the Harlem Renaissance, author's note, and poet biographies, which make this a wonderful resource and a book to cherish. Acclaim for One Last Word A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor winner A New York Public Library Best Kids Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, Middle Grade A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Nonfiction

Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance

"One Last Word is the work of a master poet." --Kwame Alexander, Newbery Medal-winning author of The Crossover From the New York Times bestselling and Coretta Scott King award-winning author Nikki Grimes comes an emotional, special new collection of poetry inspired by the Harlem Renaissance--paired with full-color, original art from today's most exciting African-American illustrators. Inspired by the writers of the Harlem Renaissance, bestselling author Nikki Grimes uses "The Golden Shovel" poetic method to create wholly original poems based on the works of master poets like Langston Hughes, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Jean Toomer, and others who enriched history during this era. Each poem is paired with one-of-a-kind art from today’s most exciting African American illustrators--including Pat Cummings, Brian Pinkney, Sean Qualls, James Ransome, Javaka Steptoe, and many more--to create an emotional and thought-provoking book with timely themes for today’s readers. A foreword, an introduction to the history of the Harlem Renaissance, author's note, poet biographies, and index makes this not only a book to cherish, but a wonderful resource and reference as well. A 2017 New York Public Library Best Kids Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2017, Middle Grade A School Library Journal Best Book of 2017, Nonfiction

Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance

One Last Word

Discover the incredible story of a young daughter of immigrants who would grow up to be the first woman, first Black person, and first South Asian American ever elected Vice President of the United States in this moving picture book biography of Kamala Harris. When Kamala Harris was young, she often accompanied her parents to civil rights marches—so many, in fact, that when her mother asked a frustrated Kamala what she wanted, the young girl responded with: “Freedom!” As Kamala grew from a small girl in Oakland to a senator running for president, it was this long-fostered belief in freedom and justice for all people that shaped her into the inspiring figure she is today. From fighting for the use of a soccer field in middle school to fighting for the people of her home state in Congress, Senator Harris used her voice to speak up for what she believed in and for those who were otherwise unheard. And now this dedication has led her all the way to being elected Vice President of the United States. Told in Nikki Grimes's stunning verse and featuring gorgeous illustrations by Laura Freeman, this picture book biography brings to life a story that shows all young people that the American dream can belong to all of us if we fight for one another.

Rooted in Justice

Kamala Harris

A series of poems describes all the baffling changes at home and at school in twelve-year-old Joylin's transition from tomboy basketball player to not-quite-girly girl.

Planet Middle School

Spunky third-grader Dyamonde Daniel misses her old neighborhood, but when she befriends a boy named Free, another new student at school, she finally starts to feel at home.

Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel

Cinderella manages to get to the prince's ball with the help of her fairy godmother and to inspire the prince's undying love.

Walt Disney's Cinderella

Girl Named Mister

Bronx Masquerade

While studying the Harlem Renaissance, students at a Bronx high school read aloud poems they've written, revealing their innermost thoughts and fears to their formerly clueless classmates.

Alternating poems compare and contrast the conflicted feelings of Ishmael, son of the Biblical patriarch Abraham, and Sam, a teenager in New York City, as they try to come to terms with being abandoned by their fathers and with the love they feel for their younger stepbrothers.

Dark Sons

A biography of Elizabeth Coleman, who battled segregation, poverty, and gender discrimination in order to become the first licensed African-American female pilot.

The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman

Talkin' about Bessie

Eric Velasquez

Fourteen poems present the thoughts of people involved in the Nativity, including reflections from Mary, the angel Gabriel, the innkeeper, and Herod.

Voices of Christmas

Bestselling author Nikki Grimes, author of Dark Sons, Barak Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope, and Voices of Christmas, presents the story of Mister, a teenage girl who honestly and poignantly tells her story of temptation and teenage pregnancy through free verse, and who finds support and forgiveness from God through a book of poetry presented from the virgin Mary's perspective.

A Girl Named Mister

/DIV Sam can't believe it when his father leaves the family to marry another woman--and a white woman, at that. The betrayal cuts deep--Sam had been so close to his dad, he idolized him. Now who can he turn to, who can he trust? Even God seems to have ditched him. DIV Ishmael is his father's first son, the heir, his favorite. But when his father is visited by mysterious strangers who claim that Abraham's wife, Sarah, will finally give birth to a legitimate son, Ishmael is worried. And when baby Isaac arrives, Ishmael becomes more isolated from his father. Could Abraham's God, who had spoken to Ishmael's mother, to whom he has made countless sacrifices, now betray him in favor of this new son?

A young girl learns much about her mother as she reads a collection of poems written before she was born that capture her mother's memories of living around the world and growing up as a child of an Air Force serviceperson. Includes author's note, list of Air Force bases, and explanation of the free verse and tanka poetry forms used.

Nikki Grimes

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