Ordinary Hazards: a Memoir by Nikki Grimes

Bibliography

Grimes, Nikki. Ordinary Hazards: a Memoir. New York, NY: Wordsong, an imprint of Kane Press, 2019.

Summary

Nikki Grimes was born to a mother with paranoid schizophrenia and an absent father. Her childhood was characterized by abuse, neglect, and suffering. She discovered the power of writing at the age of six, and through her notebooks, Grimes explores her experiences and the memories of her childhood. This memoir in verse is powerful, heartbreaking, and shows how words helped one writer find the power to overcome.  

Analysis

Ordinary Hazard’s cover includes a large, muted colored, butterfly on a black background. Butterflies are transforming creatures, and this image is apt considering the subject of the poems within. Inside, the book includes a definition of the word memoir that states it is, “a work of imperfect memory in which you meticulously capture all that you can recall and use informed imagination to fill in what remains”. The next pages include a prologue setting the stage for Grimes’ experience with her mother’s mental illness and then the first section of the book. The book is divided into sections by the years in which the poems inside span. The section title pages also include a quote that hints at the theme of each section. For the most part, each poem and title have a consistent appearance in title and font, but certain poems like those titled, “notebook” and “prayer”, are set apart by their different fonts and different style. 

Grimes’ poems about learning to use words to process the events of her life include a use of many different poetic elements. Grimes’ poems in Ordinary Hazards are free verse with some rhyming throughout. The poems have a natural rhythm to them. Some poems are slow and emotional, while others have a quicker pace. Grimes often uses alliteration in her poems and she uses imagery of war and nature often. One example of a poem with some internal rhyme and alliteration and images of nature is Change of Season, “Spring spun into summer/ the sun beat the ground/ like a drum, bees hummed/ and flower flaunted their colors/ Then my mother called/ the one who still/ didn’t seem to want me back/ and I was suddenly chilly again/ from my head/ to my heart”. Some poems cover heavy topics, are more narrative in nature, and reveal Grimes’ growing understanding of the world. Certain topics of abuse, alcoholism, and neglect might not be suitable for all audiences. Other poems are short and simple, and reveal one succinct thought. For example, the poem Library Card is only five lines long, and compares her library card to a “magic pass”. Many poems have speakers other than Grimes, and this is easily recognizable with her use of quotation marks and speech tags. Poems titled Notebook read more like diary entries, and are usually more narrative in nature. This book is heavy, but watching her journey through the poems she tells is inspiring. 

Sample Poem

LIBRARY CARD

A magic pass

I used to climb into

other people’s skin

any old time

I needed. 

Activity Idea

This would be an excellent short poem to read aloud and then have students think about an object that is meaningful to them and create a short metaphorical poem about it. Have students read their poems aloud to each other or to the class. Students can also discuss the metaphors they used and why they chose them for their object. 

World Make Way: New Poems Inspired by Art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins

Bibliography

Hopkins, Lee Bennett. World Make Way: New Poems Inspired by Art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, NY: Abrams Books for Young Readers, published with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018.

Summary

“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen,” stated by Leonardo Da Vinci is this inspiration for this collection of poems. In World Make Way, Lee Bennett Hopkins has collected modern poems inspired by art from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This beautiful, rich, book includes poets like Naomi Shihab Nye, Janet Wong, and Marilyn Nelson, and art Leonardo Da Vinci, Winslow Homer, and Henri Rousseau. Readers will enjoy this diverse collection of poems and beautiful art that adorns its pages. 

Analysis

Images of beautiful art, Cat Watching a Spider and Repast of the Lion, cover World Make Way and are included amongst the art in the book that inspired these modern poets’ lyrical, charming, and beautiful poems. Aside from the Metropolitan Museum of Art artwork and the specially commissioned poems, this book includes a section with biographical information about the poets and the artists. Readers can learn about each person in connection with the art and poems they have created. Finding specific poems and art is easy because there is a helpful index at the back of the book. 

As this book is filled with various poets, poetic devices used vary. It is full of examples of wonderful poetic device use. Many poems include strong imagery such as a line from Great Indian Fruit Bat by Joan Bransfield Graham, “ripe succulent fruit spices the air”. Many poems, like the one previously mentioned, are free verse with elements of rhyme, while others like The Repast of the Lion by J. Patrick Lewis include a consistent rhyme scheme throughout. Poems are easy to understand, and will be accessible to a variety of audiences. Poems include topics such as nature and other cultures such as Dancing by Alma Flor Ada inspired by the oil painting Dancing in Colombia by Fernando Botero and Young Ashoka Sundari by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater which was inspired by the painting Shiva and Parvati Playing Chaupar: Folio from a Rasamanjari Series by Devidasa of Nurpur. Every poem in this book will inspire and delight audiences, and help readers look at art and poetry in a new way. 

 

Sample Poem

I loved every one of these poems, so it was hard to pick only one. I have chosen the following poem because I think students in particular would enjoy this playful poem about a regal bat. It has such beautiful imagery in it, and is fun to read aloud. 

Great Indian Fruit Bat

Joan Bransfield Graham

As my wings whisk me away, swooping through

this black velvet night, who will admire

my elegant attire, the intricacy 

of my design, robed

so regally?

Ripe succulent fruit spices the air.

A royal banquet … a feast

spread out before me --

nectars of the night.

I rule these hours

of darkness. 

Activity Idea

Start by introducing the whole book and its premise. Let students preview the art and poems. Let students choose the one they are most interested in. Together, read about the author and the artist. Then, read the poem aloud. Let students choose to create art inspired by the poem they have chosen or another poem connected to the art they have chosen to reinforce the painting/poetry connection. 

The Brimstone Journals by Ronald Koertge

 

Bibliography

Koertge, Ronald. The Brimstone Journals. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2004.

Summary

Narrated by students from Branston High School, each with their own issues, including Boyd, a white supremacist, Kitty, who suffers from anorexia, and Sheila, a young woman questioning her sexuality, The Brimstones Journals tells the story of their lives in poetic verse. One of those fifteen students is making a list of all those who have wronged him. The people on that list, are the intended targets of a violent act. Branston High School, which is called Brimstone by the students in reference to the Biblical use of the word, will see this violent act unfold if no one steps in to stop him. 

Analysis

Immediately upon inspecting the cover, the ominous nature of this book can be seen. There is an illustration of a yearbook page with many students’ faces scratched out, blood splatters, and the title of the book. The title, The Brimstone Journals, looks as if it has been etched into the page. The novel is divided into sections that are marked by separate title pages with roman numerals. It would not be easy to find individual poems because poems’ titles repeat as they are the names of the speaker of each poem. However, you are not meant to read individual poems, but instead the book is best read cover to cover as it is a novel in verse. 

The speakers are fifteen students from Branston High School, each with their own difficulties. Their individual voices, which at times are forced and awkward, do reveal some common teenage struggles like abuse, bullying, racism, sexuality, video games, and violence. When reading, it is difficult to keep up with who each character is, but as one continues reading, the characters’ voices and struggles become more memorable. Characters, like Damon, have their personalities revealed through their use of language. Damon is an excitable, young athlete, whose poem on page 6 includes lines with lots of exclamation points. Neesha is another character that stands out in her poems. In the first poem of hers in the book, she resents English conventions and instead uses words like “roolz”, “frag mints”, and “doan wan 2”. The character personalities, especially Neesha’s, do border on being offensive stereotypes. Since each student has a different voice, Koertge's use of poetic devices vary. Some poems have a consistent rhyme scheme while most others are free verse. Many poems use alliteration like the poem on page 52 that reads “Guts on the Good Rug”. Some characters grow in the poem; some becoming more confident in their skin while others do not seem to change at all. YA readers would likely find the topic shocking and interesting and be able to see themselves and their classmates in the poems. Much of the content would only be suitable for mature readers. 

Sample Poem

Lester

My dad’d freak if he knew I played

with it, but I can’t help myself. And

I'm not hurting anybody.

The bullets are across the room

in his sock drawer. The Glock is by

the bed, same place as the condoms. 

I like to hold it in my hand. Everything

gets sharper, I don’t know why.

I feel skinnier instead of just this big

bag of friends and Coke and pepperoni.

If I take off my clothes, it’s cool

on my skin.

I’d never hurt anybody but if I did

this is how I’d do it - butt naked. 

And I’d start in the gym. They wouldn’t 

laugh then, would they? The jocks would

crap their pants. The girls’d kiss my fat

feet. 

Activity Idea

This poem is shocking. It is the first poem in the novel. I think it would be good for a first chapter Friday read aloud to get readers interested in novels in verse. I would hesitate to share this with all classes, but would only share with those who are mature enough to handle the content. I honestly did not like this book, and would likely not share it with my students.