Between The Lines: A Review and Audio Book Giveaway

Congratulations to Connie Saunders who won Behind These Hands from last week's blog.

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Nikki Grimes' sequel to Bronx Masquerade, BETWEEN THE LINES (Penguin Random House, 2018), combines narrative and free verse in a moving book about teens whose lives are changed through poetry. The audio book published by Recorded Books is narrated by different actors; each eloquently expresses a different character. Listen or read this book and you'll reach the same conclusion that I did: Grimes masterfully created authentic voices and personalities for the six different point of view characters. 

REVIEW

For various reasons ranging from a desire to write poetry to attendance only because of a guidance counselor's suggestion--the students in Mr. Ward's poetry class are thrown together. The universal theme of wanting to belong weaves the students and their poems together. This commonality provides the reader a window into the the personal and interpersonal struggles and triumphs they face.

The reader first hears about Darian, a Puerto Rican teen who sees himself as a newspaper man, not a poet. He lost his mother to breast cancer and by the end of the book his poetry gives him a way to express his grief. 

Private Pain

Numb, I sit on the edge

of the bed

Mami y Papi share.

Shared.

I feel light as the ghost

my mother has become.

Her picture 

on the bedside table

looks blurry until

I wipe my eyes.

"Pobrecito," she would say.

If she were here,

if she were anywhere

in this world.

"Mijo," she would whisper

and touch my cheek,

and I would answer,

"Mami."

But this time,

The word never leaves

my throat.

And what difference

does that make?

When I wasn't looking

Mama's heart stopped

like a broken clock.

Half past 36,

the final tick,

the final tock.

Explain to me

exactly how 

I'm supposed to

tell time now. (pp. 130-1)

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Li Cheng is "all Chinese and all American." Her poetry is full of "contradictions which squeeze into one small body."

Threads

How can I explain

the duality of Li?

The muffled sounds

of mah-jong tiles touching,

clicking together,

flips a switch in me

as my parents follow

the ritual 

of the ancient game.

The Mandarin calligraphy

clinging to our walls

sends my soul sailing 

to rice paddies

oceans away,

to the land of silk,

red sunrises,

and the jade mountain peaks

my parents

often speak of.

China whispers 

through their blood,

You are part mine.

Remember!

And I nod, silent

and ashamed

that my untrained

American lips

are unfamiliar 

with my ancestors'

local lingo. (pp. 26-7)

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Jenesis has been placed in thirteen foster homes and is worried about aging out of the system and having nowhere to live. Here is some of her story. 

Blue Eyes Squared

I see you staring at me.

You be boring a hole in my soul

as if the alchemy

of your curiosity

could somehow turn

these blue eyes brown,

but you might as well forget it.

You frown at my blond curls,

even though girls with hair

the color of sun

the color of spun gold

are supposed to have more fun.

At least, that's the story

they try to sell on TV.

Yeah, I'm different, but

don't call me freak

or assume I'm the only one.

There are bound to be

other brown beauties

with pale blue eyes

eerily like mine,

wearing smiles crooked

in exactly the same way,

noses that scream

matched set.

Are there more like me?

Yeah, you bet.

When I find them,

I'll fit in without question,

never mind that

the world thinks

I'm odd as H-E-

well, you get it. (pp. 33-34)

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Val feels the pain of the prejudice her father faces as an Argentinian immigrant.

What You Don't Know

Mi padre, Ignacio,

is a book you haven't read.

It's filled with poetry

that can curl its fingers

around your corazón 

and squeeze out joy.

Pero you've never

cracked the cover.

You scribble crítica  

that questions

the measure of the man,

but you've never

 peeled back the pages

of his biografía.   

You toss el libro

onto the trash heap

marked "Immigrant"

y ustedes dicen it has no value.

But, of course,

you are categorically incorrect,

which you would know

if only you could read

las palabras.

If only you, too,

were blessed

to be bilingual. (p. 51)

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Marcel has been labeled a troublemaker. His past includes his father's unjust imprisonment and how that demoralized him and shattered their family.

Troubled (partial)

What is it

with people and their labels,

as if the way they mark me

makes them able

to understand who I am

or why?

"Troubled kid"

tells you exactly nothing

about the trouble

my pops has seen 

or Moms

or me.

We stare from windows 

caged in iron,

in state prisons

or rented rooms,

which are only better

by degree.

We are forced

to survive outside

the neatly mowed landscapes

of your imagination.

Our stop on the train station

is worlds away

from your manicured lawns

and lives

and the lies you tell

about the days

of racial discrimination

being in the past.

Quit asking

why I'm angry

or I'll tell you. (pp. 39-40)

*******

Freddie takes care of her eight-year-old niece and her alcoholic mother. This is a portion of one of her poems.

School Rules

Stage right,

the lights fade on a daily life

of tiptoeing around

my niece's feelings about the mom

who traded time with her

for time spent cozying up to crank.

The truth is too rank

for her tender little-girl ears.

And so, until she's fast asleep,

I keep bitter thoughts

under my tongue's lock and key.

Have I mentioned how it hurts me?

That neither my niece nor I

manage to have a mother

worthy of the name?

Oh, mine is present,

in an alcoholic-fog kind of way,

which is to say, hardly at all. (p. 148)

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Nikki Grimes stitches a story together so real and touching that after the boys vs. girls poetry slam which produces outstanding poetry on both sides--I want to know what happens to each character. This would be a great curriculum resource for teens: some readers will resonate and identify, others will be informed by stories much different than their own. Read it out loud in reader's theater. Let it inspire you and your student to write poetry. The results may surprise you.  

Giveaway

I am giving away my audio book, courtesy Recorded Books. Leave me a comment with your email address if you are new to my blog. Random.org will pick a winner on August 3.