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Nancy Keane's | Booktalks -- Quick and Simple | |
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Grimes, Nikki. ORDINARY HAZARDS Honesdale, Pennsylvania : WordSong, an imprint of Highlights, [2019] IL YA ISBN 9781629798813 2 booktalks |
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Booktalk #1 Nikki Grimes is an incredibly gifted poet. In her memoir Ordinary Hazards, she shares how her love of writing helped get her through a very traumatic childhood. Her mom, not only schizophrenic, but also an alcoholic, would relapse or become unstable and need hospitalization on a fairly regular basis. A talented musician often lost in his music, her father wasn’t dependable either, so Nikki and her sister ended up in separate foster homes for a while. She *Also recommended for grades 7 and 8 survived by reading and writing, escaping and expressing herself. “My life in notebooks began with this, a poem here, an observation there, a rage of red ink - each sheet of white a paper haven. The blank page was the only place I could make sense of my life, or keep a record of each space I called home. The daily march of words parading from my pen kept me moving forward.” Ordinary Hazards is a great choice for fans of poetry and readers of memoirs by people who overcame incredible obstacles to succeed and excel. (Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award 2021-2022) Booktalk #2 If you read the Dyamonde Daniels series in elementary school, Garvey’s Choice in middle school, or Between the Lines in high school, you have read the work of one of the pioneers of diversity in Young Adult Literature, Nikki Grimes. Her characters–whether real or fictional–are always people of color who have overcome barriers in their lives, but her own story is as compelling as any of her characters. In gorgeous, but heartbreaking, verse, Grimes allows readers a glimpse into her childhood with a mentally ill, alcoholic mother, her experiences in foster care, and her relationship with a father who loved her dearly, but was unable to be a good parent to her for a significant portion of her life. Readers go with her as she experiences the trauma of sexual abuse at the hands of a stepfather, the painful wounds inflicted by racism, and the loss of significant people in her life. Despite the heavy topics, Nikki also recounts the vibrant culture of African American art, poetry, and music her father exposed her to, and how those introductions to icons of that era provided mentors who encouraged her in her own journey as a highly successful author. Like the characters she writes, Nikki Grimes’s story is one of strength and resilience, and it will stick with you long after you have read the last page. (Jodi Kruse, R. A. Long High School for Evergreen Book Award) |
| SUBJECTS: Grimes, Nikki. African American women poets. Authorship -- Therapeutic use. Teenage girls. School children. Poets, American. Ex-foster children. Dysfunctional families. Children of the mentally ill. African American women authors. |
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