One Last Word by Nikki Grimes - ESSENTIAL

Grimes, Nikki  One Last Word, 115 pgs.  Bloomsbury, 2017.  $18.99  Content: G.  

In this collection of poetry Nikki Grimes includes beautiful poems from the Harlem Renaissance and then mirrors a modern version of the poem for today’s teens to relate to.  Using the poetry format Golden Shovel, she takes a line from a popular poet of the Renaissance and then uses that line to write her own amazing poems about being strong and overcoming life’s challenges.  

I loved this collection of poems, it’s a fantastic way to interpret poems and it would be fun to do this as a poetry unit in the classroom.  There are beautiful illustrations done by different artists throughout that enhance the poems.  There are short biographies about the poets and an explanation of what the Harlem Renaissance is.  A must have in your middle school or high school poetry collection.  

MS, HS – ESSENTIAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.