A review by sandraagee
One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes
4.0
This is a really cool book. Nikki Grimes takes poems from the Harlem Renaissance and uses them as the basis for her own "Golden Shovel" poems, which appropriately comment on what it means to be Black today. The poems themselves are lovely and powerful, and especially impressive when you consider how challenging the Golden Shovel format is to work with. I really enjoy how Grimes' poems tie in with the Harlem Renaissance poems from which she draws inspiration, but also tell their own stories and stand strongly on their own.
This is an engaging book, but upon my first read it wasn't super easy. Part of that might have been the environment where I was reading, so I definitely want to try again at a time when I can better focus. It's worth noting that the book grabbed me enough that I WANT to do this.
My one critique of the book: When Grimes only borrows a line, or even a stanza, from a Harlem Renaissance poem, the line/stanza is highlighted in bold. If she borrows the entire poem, nothing is highlighted. I found this a bit confusing, and I wish that these poems would have been printed in bold to make it more clear.
This is an engaging book, but upon my first read it wasn't super easy. Part of that might have been the environment where I was reading, so I definitely want to try again at a time when I can better focus. It's worth noting that the book grabbed me enough that I WANT to do this.
My one critique of the book: When Grimes only borrows a line, or even a stanza, from a Harlem Renaissance poem, the line/stanza is highlighted in bold. If she borrows the entire poem, nothing is highlighted. I found this a bit confusing, and I wish that these poems would have been printed in bold to make it more clear.