Nikki Grimes is a New York Times bestselling author and the recipient of the Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award, the ALAN Award, the Children's Literature Legacy Award, the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, and the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Her distinguished works include Southwest Sunrise, illustrated by Wendell Minor; the Printz Honor and Sibert Honor book Ordinary Hazards; NAACP Image Award nominee Planet Middle School; Coretta Scott King Award winner Bronx Masquerade; Coretta Scott King Author Honor books Jazmin’s Notebook, Talkin’ About Bessie, Dark Sons, The Road to Paris, and Words with Wings, which was also named an ALA Notable Book; and What Is Goodbye?, an ALA Notable Book. She lives in Corona, California. www.nikkigrimes.com
This book is exquisitely rendered. . . . a timely, healing mirror to a new generation of readers. . . . Black girls everywhere, this collection is salve and sanctuary. --Kirkus Reviews, starred review One Last Word is the work of a master poet. --Kwame Alexander, Newbery Medal-winning author of THE CROSSOVER, on ONE LAST WORD Gorgeous. --The New York Times Book Review on ONE LAST WORD Timely and thought-provoking. --Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on ONE LAST WORD Grimes powerfully transposes the original poems' themes of racial bias, hidden inner selves, beauty, and pride into the here and now. --Publishers Weekly, starred review, on ONE LAST WORD Innovative and powerful . . . a beautiful new homage to the Harlem Renaissance but also a moving reflection on the African American experience and the resilience of the human spirit. --School Library Journal, starred review, on ONE LAST WORD Between the covers of this compact volume lies artistic, literary, sociocultural, and curricular gold . . . Mothers and elders exhort and reflect while young boys and girls plead and dream, reimagining the sorrows and dreams of the legendary wordsmiths into scenarios involving superheroes, bullies, peer pressure, poverty, and prom dates that young readers will relate to. This is simply essential for both personal and classroom collections. --BCCB, starred review, on ONE LAST WORD The vibrancy of the Harlem Renaissance is illuminated in Grimes's provocative poetry collection . . . This enterprising and unusual volume not only introduces the Harlem Renaissance to young readers but also presents the challenge of a new way to write and enjoy poetry. --The Horn Book Magazine on ONE LAST WORD