Between the Lines
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4.4 • 5 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
This thought-provoking companion to Nikki Grimes’ Coretta Scott King Award-winning Bronx Masquerade shows the capacity poetry has to express ideas and feelings, and connect us with ourselves and others.
Darrian dreams of writing for the New York Times. To hone his skills and learn more about the power of words, he enrolls in Mr. Ward’s class, known for its open-mic poetry readings and boys vs. girls poetry slam. Everyone in class has something important to say, and in sharing their poetry, they learn that they all face challenges and have a story to tell—whether it’s about health problems, aging out of foster care, being bullied for religious beliefs, or having to take on too much responsibility because of an addicted parent. As Darrian and his classmates get to know one another through poetry, they bond over the shared experiences and truth that emerge from their writing, despite their private struggles and outward differences.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Grimes adroitly orchestrates a chorus of emotional teenage voices in this thought-provoking companion to the Coretta Scott King Award winning Bronx Masquerade (2001). A summer has passed since the events of the previous book, and English teacher Mr. Ward has a new crop of culturally diverse students learning the art of poetry. Junior Darrian Lopez, who wants to be a newspaperman someday, is eager to uncover the backgrounds of his classmates. Grimes uses him as a kind of conductor, introducing readers to (and reflecting on the situations of) students whose stories unfold through snippets of conversation, inner monologues, and the poems they compose. Among them are foster child Jenesis, who faces an uncertain future once she turns 18; angry Marcel, whose father has been unjustly incarcerated; and overworked Freddie, caretaker for her alcoholic mother and six-year old niece. While underscoring the difficulties these teens face, Grimes's economical writing provides glimmers of hope, showing how forming bonds of trust and finding the courage to speak one's truth can help ease emotional pain and bring salvation. Ages 12 up.
Customer Reviews
Message: diversity 👏 Writing errors: yikes 🥴
I really liked all the different perspectives and the amount of diversity in the book. I loved Darrian’s little tidbits of Spanish and the Spanglish Val weaved into her poems was beautiful — really all of them were. The book gave me a “freedom writers” vibe to be honest — and I liked that movie so the message of this book was good. Lots of POC leads & Darrian is just a likeable character. I like his headlines and commentary. BUT there are too many moments when the writing makes me jump back and be like “???” “this got published and made it past the editors’ eyes???” One example is when the writing is in Jenesis’ perspective. She’s like “I was with Freddie” and then mid paragraph, there’s the sentence “she hugged Jenesis and Freddie,” “Jenesis said this” etc. The switch to third person narration continued even though it really shouldn’t have. I reread that like 3 times like “wait what? Why is it referring to Jenesis in the third person when it’s from her perspective at the beginning? What is going on here?” The latter question is a summary of the writing at times. 😬