Legacy, Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance

Annotation: 

Using Shovel Poetry, Nikki Grimes builds on the works of the black women poets of the Harlem Renaissance. 

 

Book Talk: 

Shovel Poetry is a style of poetry in which an author takes an existing line of poetry from another author and then uses that line to build an entirely new poem. 

 

In this work, Nikki Grimes takes a line of poetry, and highlights the words of the old poem in her new work. In most of her poetry, these words are at the end of each new line, and they are highlighted, going down the right-hand side of the page.  

What I love the most is the way that this book is laid out, with each poem commanding 3 pages. The original piece of poetry is included, with author attribution. Grimes’ new poem is just after the page turn with the original words of poetry highlighted. And then, a beautiful piece of visual art from the same time is on the facing page.  

There is information about every artist and poet whose work is shown in the book in the back matter. This inclusion helps to elevate their works and draw interest to their overall works. 

I loved this book. That is not a phrase I often utter about poetry... 

Nikki Grimes Website: https://www.nikkigrimes.com/

Nikk Grimes is the 2022 Recipient of the Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

The Harlem Renaissance

Image: Worldcat.org

Even When Your Voice Shakes

 TRIGGER WARNING: sexual assault

Even When Your Voice Shakes is based upon the true stories of young girls in Africa who are sent to the big city to serve as maids to support their family and are then raped by a member of the family. This story combines these stories into the character of Amerly, the oldest of 4 children who is "given" to a family in exchange for rent. 

Too poor to speak out, these young girls are left with no option but to continue in an untenable situation with their abuser. Not only do they fear the shame and stigma of being the victim of a sexual assault in a culture with a predominate “blame the victim” mentality, they fear that speaking out will lose them their jobs and income for their family. This compassionate story highlights the extreme poverty that forces these young women into difficult situations. Best of all, the author iterates again and again that sexual assault is NEVER the fault of the victim. 

The Beatryce Prophecy

image: taken by me.

 “It is written in the Chronicles of Sorrowing that one day there will come a child who will unseat a king. The prophecy states that this child will be a girl.  Because of this, the prophecy has long been ignored.”

The Monks of the Chronicles of Sorrowing fear Answelica the Goat more than anything else. She is a devious goat that likes to butt the monks across a great distance and then bite them. But one strange day, Brother Edik finds Answelica curled up on the floor of the barn with a young girl who has tight hold of her ear. As much as Answelica enjoyed bothering the monks, she loved and protected this young girl more.

But who is this young girl? Where did she come from? She remembers nothing about where she is from - but she does remember her name.  Beatryce. A name that frequently appears in the Chronicles of Sorrowing.

Meanwhile, the king is searching for this mysterious young girl named Beatryce. He thought he had destroyed her once, but somehow she managed to slip away and survive. He has all of his men out looking for her. Because she is the key to the prophecy.  If she is gone, he is convinced he  will be able to remain on the throne forever.

Beatryce sets out to confront the king with his dark deed accompanied by the most unlikely of companions - a stubborn goat, an old king, a monk, and a young boy with a terrible sword.

Is Beatryce the girl child who will bring about great change?

image: Penguin Random House

Just Roll With It

 

Maggie keeps a D-20 die with her at all times. She rolls it every time she needs to make a decision. Everything from whether to make a new friend to answering quesitons in class - it is detrmined by a roll of the die.

As Maggie settles into middle school she joins the RPG Club and makes a wonderful new group of friends who love Role Playing Games just as much as she does. 

But, there's a problem. A monster is stalking the grounds of Lilac Middle School. A mysterious monster that is rustling around the school grounds and eating bicycles. (no problem there, right?)

As the monster draws nearer to the school, will Maggie be able to conquer her fears and track down the monster?

I loved this book for so many reason - but most of all, I love the view of Maggie's struggle with OCD/Anxiety Disorder. The compulsions are very real, and the author and illustrator do a fantastic job of showing how Maggie struggles with her compulsions while showing very real bravery and tenacity. The family and friends support Maggie no matter what,  helping her grow into her very best version of herself. 

Veronica Agarwall Website: http://www.wisbafolio.com/store

Lee Durfey Twitter: https://twitter.com/leedurfey

Adora and the Distance

Adora is a young princess who must go on a journey to vanquish The Distance in order to save her people. Because when The Distance comes for you, it will stop at nothing to get you. It has been known to demolish entire cities and destryoed people along it's path to find the chosen person.

Adora decides that instead of waiting for the distance to come to her, she will meet it in order to save her people from a terrible fate. Adora has the help of her faithful servants and meets unexpected help in unusual places along her path. All the while knowing that the distance is waiting to devour her and that evil people are chasing her, hoping to stop her from completing her quest.

Will Adora be able to find the Distance and save her people?

Note from Bettina - I enjoyed every minute of this book.  From the phenomenal artwork, to the very strong story to the unexpected conclusion - it was a beautiful story that kept me spellbound.  

The Investi - GATORS

 The Investi - GATORS!

Note from Bettina: Okay, so this one is aimed at kids in 3rd - 5th grade, but the puns in this series are fabulous! I love a good pun, and this series is FULL of groan worthy puns!

Mango and Brash are the Special Undercover Investigation Team (suit) who fight crime with their Very Exciting Spy Technology and travel through toilets and sewers to capture the Bad Guys and save the day! 

In this installment of the series, Mango and Brash are attempting to find out what

is behind the mysterious disappearance of the Boulder Buddies across the city.

As Mango and Brash dig deeper into the mystery, they find themselves

face to face with the notorious Red, the Rock Mobster,

who is behind much of the crime in the town.  

Can Mango and Brash discover the secret behind the Boulder Buddies and save the day? 

Unplugged by Gordon Korman

 

Vladimir Baranov is the creator of Fuego and he is the richest man in the world. His son Jett has always gotten everything he wants and does whatever he wants. One of his favorite sayings is "fertilizer meet fan".

But Jett goes too far when he sends a drone into the flight path at the San Francisco International Airport and finds himself relegated to an out of the way camp in Arkansas known as the Oasis. Upon arrival, Jett has to surrender his electronics and become accustomed to the Oasis life, which is designed to make him "healthy and whole" with activities such as meditation and eating vegetarian foods. While the adults who attend the camp love Oasis and would do anything to keep it running, Jett is not a fan of anything about it.

Then comes the day when Jett finds a tiny little lizard in the hot springs. He rescues the lizard, and with the help of several other kids in the camp they hide him from the adults in charge and try to find food that he will eat.

As the baby lizard continues to grow, a question begins to emerge: Just what kind of lizard is he? Why does he love to lie submerged in the water with only his eyes showing? And what about that mouse?

The biggest questions of all? Who owns the mysterious mansion up the river from Oasis? And what, exactly, goes on in the special one on one meditation sessions that Ivory has with the adults?  

Be prepared for a wild and bumpy ride as Jett closes in on the answers to all of these questions and more!