Nikki Grimes

A Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year A Book Page Best Book of the Year, Middle Grade An NCTE Best Poetry Book of the Year A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Poetry A Kirkus Prize Finalist, Young Readers' Literature At a time of rapid change in the early 20th century, women writers carved out their space as artists and intellectuals. During the Harlem Renaissance, African-American writers made some of the most lasting contributions to American literature. However, a century later, the gifted women poets of this time period are little known compared to their male counterparts. In this poetry collection, bestselling author Nikki Grimes uses "The Golden Shovel" 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, alongside a foreword, an introduction to the history of the Harlem Renaissance, author's note, and poet biographies.

In these hilarious stories by some of the top authors of middle grade fiction today, each young character is coping with a minor superpower—while also discovering their power to change themselves and their community, find their voice, and celebrate what makes them unique.Everyone knows that superheroes are supposed to have awesome powers like strength or invisibility or flight. But what happens when you’re a mostly regular kid . . . who’s just a little bit super?In these hilarious and thought-provoking stories from today’s top middle grade authors, a group of kids are each coping with a recently discovered minor superpower. One can shape-shift—but only part of her body, and only on Mondays. Another can always tell when an avocado is perfectly ripe. One can even hear the thoughts of animals in the pet store—which can be about as heart-tugging as you might imagine. It’s hard enough to be in middle school even without some weird ability, but these kids not only find their way to owning their unique powers and potential, they use them to change things for the better . . . and getting there with them is half the fun!These playful tales prompt readers to consider what their own superpower might be, and how they can use it."Award-winning contributors keep delightfully inclusive and accomplished company in this emotionally grounded, compassionate collection. . . . These are not your run-of-the-mill, cape-and-tights-clad superheroes. These are kids with relatable struggles learning to embrace that quirky bit of themselves that makes them unique." —ALA Booklist (starred review)Written by Pablo Cartaya, Nikki Grimes, Leah Henderson, Jarrett Krosoczka, Remy Lai, Kyle Lukoff, Meg Medina, Daniel Nayeri, Linda Sue Park, Mitali Perkins, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Gary D. Schmidt, Brian Young, and Ibi Zoboi; coedited by Leah Henderson and Gary D. Schmidt.

From award-winning author Nikki Grimes comes a beautiful picture book about the special bond between a child and grandparent, perfect for fans of Thank You, Omu and Fry Bread. When the squeal of tires and thrum of Grandpa's hammer fill the air, Grandma gets thirsty for a cup of quiet. "That's silly, Grandma," her granddaughter says. "Quiet can't fit in a cup and you can't drink it." But together, they venture into the garden to collect the calming sounds of nature, and their cup grows and grows. A bee's buzz, a leaf's crackle, a whistling wind, a hummingbird's whir. By slowing down and appreciating the gentler sounds of nature, Grandma and her granddaughter step away from the hubbub of daily life and refresh. Their time together made more special by sharing a cup of quiet.

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, and New York Times bestselling author Nikki Grimes introduces Glory, Too, a soul-stirring collection of poetry that delves into the depths of faith, hope, and the human experience by one of America's preeminent black poets. In a marriage of poetry, faith, and worship, Ms. Grimes' poems illuminate the Scriptures that grace every Sunday of the year. Her inimitable voice and imagination offer glimpses of glory we might not otherwise see, throughout the seasons of the year. With lyrical precision and spiritual insight, she invites readers on a journey of reflection, weaving together themes of grace, redemption, and the enduring power of God's love throughout the year. As the companion volume to her previous book Glory in the Margins: Sunday Poems, Glory, Too resonates with authenticity and depth, giving testimony to the transformative power of poetry and the enduring hope found in the embrace of God's eternal grace. High Style Louboutin stilettos are recognizable at a distance. Those shiny red soles tell you everything. When Gucci handbags are in a room, they virtually shout. Now, I'm not much for labels, but I've noticed how God's garments stand out. Take the suit, a second skin made of holiness--a rare fabric, that usually itches, at first until the wearer gets used to it; Beyond that, God's personal style is all about the layered look: the silk of compassion, golden threads of kindness woven through the vest, humility cinching in the waist, meekness and patience falling to the ankles, and love thickly draped across the shoulders. The clothing God designs is never mistaken for anyone's but his. And when we're wise enough to don his attire, we look like more than a million.

Award-winning poet Nikki Grimes presents a tender poetry collection where a young girl learns about her mother, the child of an Air Force serviceman.During a visit to her grandma's house, a young girl discovers a box of poems in the attic, poems written by her mother when she was growing up. Her mother's family often moved around the United States and the world because her mother's father was in the Air Force. Over the years, her mother used poetry to record everything she saw and did in the many places their family lived. Reading the poems and sharing those experiences through her mother's eyes, the young girl feels closer to her mother than ever before. To let her mother know this, she creates a gift: a book with her own poems and copies of her mother's. And when she returns her mother's poems to the box in the attic, she leaves her own poems too, for someone else to find, someday. Using free verse for the young girl's poems and tanka for her mother's, master poet Nikki Grimes creates a tender intergenerational story that speaks to every child's need to hold onto special memories of home, no matter where that place might be.

In this moving account of loss, a boy takes a walk in the woods and makes a discovery that changes his understanding of his father. A week after the funeralI stare in the morning mirror, angry that my father's eyes stare back at me. Confused and distraught after the death of his father, a boy opens an envelope he left behind and is surprised to find a map of the woods beyond their house, with one spot marked in bright red. But why? The woods had been something they shared together, why would his father want him to go alone? Slowly, his mind settles as he sets off through the spaces he once explored with his dad, passing familiar beech and black oak trees, flitting Carolina wrens, and a garter snake they named Sal. When he reaches the spot marked on the map, he finds pages upon pages of drawings of woodland creatures, made by his father when he was his age. What he sees shows him a side of his dad he never knew, and something even deeper for them to share together. His dad knew what he really needed was a walk in the woods. New York Times bestselling author Nikki Grimes and the Caldecott Award winning illustrator Jerry Pinkney spent the early days of the pandemic emailing back and forth and talking about collaborating on a book, with Jerry sharing all of the pictures he took of the woods around his house. From this, they conjured a story of a boy's struggle with grief, and all the things he sees and feels on a walk through the forest. Jerry sadly passed away in the fall of 2021, but not before he delivered tight pencil sketches of the forests he loved. When his son Brian took on the task of completing the illustrations, he found himself connecting with his father in a whole new way, his experience mirroring that of the boy in the book. The result is a simultaneously touching and deeply authentic story about the ways shared pastimes keep us close to those we've lost. A New York Times Best Children's Book of the YearA Smithsonian Magazine Best Children's Book of the YearAn NPR Book We LoveA Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of the YearA Horn Book Fanfare BookA Bookstagang Best Illustrated Picture Book of the YearA Publishers Weekly Best Book of the YearA Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year One of BookPage's Ten Best Books of the YearA CSMCL Best Multicultural Children's Book of the YearA Bank Street Best Children's Book of the YearA Junior Library Guild Gold Standard SelectionAn Evanston Public Library Great Book for Kids

Kirkus ReviewsBest Book of the Year School Library JournalBest Book of the Year This emotionally resonant novel in verse by award-winning author Nikki Grimes celebrates choosing to be true to yourself. 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.

Award-winning author Nikki Grimes's beloved novel in verse Garvey's Choice is now a graphic novel, imaginatively and dramatically illustrated by Little Shaq artist Theodore Taylor III. 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. Garvey's Choice was a School Library Journal Best Book, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book, a Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book, and a Paterson Prize for Books for Young People Honor Book. With Theodore Taylor III's full-color illustrations, this graphic novel edition is enthralling and inspiring.

A child's job is to play-Mom knows this and makes sure they're up and ready to get to work! When it comes to play, this kid is an expert. Mom watches as they dance in puddles, swing high, jump into piles of leaves, and make snow angels. They're hard at work, and when Daddy comes home, they play even more!

Winner, 2023 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Capturing the shock and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through the eyes of Garvey, a beloved character, Nikki Grimes's newest novel in verse shows readers how to find hope in difficult times. Garvey's finally happy--he's feeling close to his father through their shared love of music, bullies are no longer tormenting him, and his best friends Manny and Joe are by his side. But when the schools, stores, and restaurants close because people are getting sick, Garvey's improved life goes into lockdown as well. And when Garvey's father gets sick, Garvey must find a way to use his newfound musical skills to bring hope to both his father and himself. Moving, powerful, and beautifully told, this remarkable novel shows readers how even small acts have large reverberations, how every person can make a difference in this world, and how--even in the most difficult times--there are ways to reach for hope and healing. Nikki Grimes is a New York Times bestselling author who has won the ALAN Award for outstanding contributions to young adult literature, the Children's Literature Legacy Award, the Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, and NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. She has also received several ALSC Notables, a Coretta Scott King Author Award, Coretta Scott King Author Honors, Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors, a Printz Honor, and a Sibert Honor.

In this Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book, Children's Literature Legacy Award-winner Nikki Grimes explores though her celebrated poetry how a supportive teacher can be the key to unlocking a dreamer's imaginative power through creative writing. Gabby's world is filled with daydreams. However, what began as an escape from her parents' arguments has now taken over her life. But with the help of a new teacher, 'Gabby the dreamer' might just become 'Gabby the writer' and the words that once carried her away might allow her to soar. Written in vivid, accessible poems, this remarkable verse novel is a celebration of imagination, of friendship, of one girl's indomitable spirit, and of a teacher's ability to reach out and change a life. Coretta Scott King Author Honor bookNCTE Notable Children's Books in the English Language ArtsKirkus Reviews Best Book

Michael L. Printz Honor BookRobert F. Sibert Honor BookBoston Globe/Horn Book Nonfiction Honor BookArnold Adoff Poetry Award for Teens Six Starred Reviews--★Booklist ★BCCB ★The Horn Book ★Publishers Weekly ★School Library Connection ★Shelf Awareness A Booklist Best Book for Youth * A BCCB Blue Ribbon * A Horn Book Fanfare Book * A Shelf Awareness Best Children's Book * Recommended on NPR's "Morning Edition" by Kwame Alexander In her own voice, acclaimed author and poet Nikki Grimes explores the truth of a harrowing childhood in a compelling and moving memoir in verse. Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, 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. For many years, Nikki's notebooks were her most enduing companions. In this accessible and inspiring memoir 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.

New York Times bestselling author and poet Nikki Grimes explains, “A study of scripture reveals that Jesus spent a lot of time with people in the margins. As an African American, I live in the margins, and I can tell you that it's a place most of us would rather not be. And yet, I know there is always glory to be found in the margins because of the Lord’s presence in, and with us. As Poet Laureate of my Grace Brethren Church in Southern California, it’s my job to distill the heart of the weekly sermon into a poem. I dive into each week’s chosen scripture, viewing it from my own perspective as Black, as woman, as poet, always a little left of center, and looking for the glory to be found in the margins of life, and of the text. Of course, those of us who live in the margins are not what anyone expects, and the very notion that God might speak through us, through me, may seem a bit wild. But he does. ‘I will pour out my spirit on all flesh,’ said the Lord. God’s busy in the hearts of all who call on him.”Glory in the Margins is published under Paraclete Press's Iron Pen imprint. In the book of Job, a suffering man pours out his anguish to his Maker. From the depths of his pain, he reveals a trust in God's goodness that is stronger than his despair, giving humanity some of the most beautiful and poetic verses of all time. Paraclete's Iron Pen imprint is inspired by this spirit of unvarnished honesty and tenacious hope.

This emotionally resonant novel in verse by award-winning author Nikki Grimes celebrates choosing to be true to yourself.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.