Bronx Masquerade (Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner) [Hardcover]

Nikki Grimes (Author), Chris Myers (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner

When Wesley Boone writes a poem for his high school English class, some of his classmates clamor to read their poems aloud too. Soon they're having weekly poetry sessions and, one by one, the eighteen students are opening up and taking on the risky challenge of self-revelation. There's Lupe Alvarin, desperate to have a baby so she will feel loved. Raynard Patterson, hiding a secret behind his silence. Porscha Johnson, needing an outlet for her anger after her mother OD's. Through the poetry they share and narratives in which they reveal their most intimate thoughts about themselves and one another, their words and lives show what lies beneath the skin, behind the eyes, beyond the masquerade.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Open Mike Friday is everyone's favorite day in Mr. Ward's English class. On Fridays, his 18 high-school students dare to relax long enough to let slip the poets, painters, readers, and dreamers that exist within each of them. Raul Ramirez, the self-described "next Diego Rivera," longs "to show the beauty of our people, that we are not all banditos like they show on TV, munching cuchfritos and sipping beer through chipped teeth." And while angry Tyrone Bittings finds dubious comfort in denying hope: "Life is cold. Future?...wish there was some future to talk about. I could use me some future," overweight Janelle Battle hopes to be seen for what she really is: "for I am coconut / and the heart of me / is sweeter / than you know" They are all here: the tall girl, the tough-talking rapper, the jock, the beauty queen, the teenage mom, the artist, and many more. While it may sound like another Breakfast Club rehash, Grimes uses both poetry and revealing first-person prose to give each character a distinct voice. By book's end, all the voices have blended seamlessly into a multicultural chorus laden with a message that is probably summed up best by pretty girl Tanisha Scott's comment, "I am not a skin color or a hank of wavy hair. I am a person, and if they don't get that, it's their problem, not mine." But no teen reader will have a problem with this lyrical mix of many-hued views. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

From Publishers Weekly

When a high school teacher in the Bronx begins to host open-mike poetry in his classroom on Fridays, his students find a forum to express their identity issues and forge unexpected connections with one another. Grimes's (Jazmin's Notebook) creative, contemporary premise will hook teens, and the poems may even inspire readers to try a few of their own. The poetic forms range from lyrics penned by aspiring rapper Tyrone to the concrete poem of a budding Puerto Rican painter Raul (titled "Zorro" and formed as the letter "Z"). Ultimately, though, there may be too many characters for the audience to penetrate deeply. The students in Mr. Ward's English class experience everything from dyslexia and low self-esteem to teenage motherhood and physical abuse. The narrators trade off quickly, offering only a glimpse into their lives. Not even Tyrone, who breaks in after each student's poem to offer some commentary, comes fully to life. The students' poems, however, provide some lasting images (e.g., overweight Janelle, who is teased for her "thick casing," writes, "I am coconut,/ and the heart of me/ is sweeter/ than you know"). Any one of these students could likely dominate a novel of his or her own, they simply get too little time to hold the floor here. Ages 12-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Dial; 1St Edition edition (December 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803725698
• ISBN-13: 978-0803725690
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #576,931 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nikki Grimes conveyed the fire-in-the-belly fervor of a Harlem girl who knows she was born to write in Jazmin's Notebook, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. In My Man Blue, a Booklist Editor's Choice and Newsweek Children's Books of the Year selection, her artful words expressed a boy's journey from skepticism to trust. And now with Bronx Masquerade she presents a rich chorus of eighteen voices, singing openly about ideas, feelings, and questions--things that open minds, invite debate, provide release. A recent Booklist review proclaims: "As always, Grimes gives young people exactly what they're looking for--real characters who show them they are not alone."An accomplished poet, novelist, journalist, and educator, Ms. Grimes was born and raised in New York City and now lives in the Los Angeles area.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TRUE INSPIRATION, September 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Bronx Masquerade (Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner) (Hardcover)

This is the first book of Nikki Grimes' that I have ever read and I loved it. "Bronx Masquerade" gives teens a whole new perspective on not only the importance and enjoyment of literature and poetry but also the identities of individuals in a multicultural society. The fact that this book is composed of kids' thoughts about themselves and others and the pomes they create in response to these thoughts really capture your attention. Each of the 18 students learns something about himself that changes his perspective about his future. A young black teenager who sees no future for himself in a community where guns and violence have taken over suddenly realizes he has a passion for words. A chubby teenage girl notices that her friends no long pay attention to the way she looks because they have become so immersed in her beautiful poetry. All of this comes from writing poems and reading them in front of the class on what their teacher calls Open Mike Friday. The poems these students "write" are so creative and really make this book quite unique. I could not put it down because I was so eager to read how these kids were going to write about their lives in their next poem. This book shows kids that they are allowed to different and they are allowed to be smart. It's ok to want to read and do well in school. I think that nay teen that is interested in poetry, or rap for that matter, even in the slightest should read this book. As a future teacher, I see books like these as leading our students in the right direction toward enlightenment. The only thing I think could have been added to this book would be the teacher's perspective on what is taking place in his classroom. I wonder what he would say? This book makes me want to write my own poems!! I am truly inspired.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blown away!, February 20, 2002

By 

"captaincartwright" (Pocomoke, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bronx Masquerade (Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner) (Hardcover)

I am a sixth grade language arts teacher and an amateur poet, and I must say that Bronx Masquerade is one of the most phenomenal books I have read in my humble 26 years of existence on the face of this earth! I read the entire book in one sitting (about four hours) because I couldn't put it down!
Nikki Grimes is definitely a jewel of a writer. She demonstrates serious skill and talent as a writer by creating poetry and prose from 18 different and quite distinct personalities, and she makes it sound so um, um, good! Grimes' poetry is a very real and absolutely awesome depiction of the power, frankness, and infectious nature of spoken word poetry. As my students would say, her writing is "tight" and "off the heezy!" Her writing is so realistic that I feel like I personally know each of the students in Mr. Ward's class. I definitely want to be like Mr. Ward, the English teacher in the book, "when I grow up!"
I participated in open mike sessions quite a bit during my college years, so reading Bronx Masquerade definitely took me back to a good time in my life. As a matter of fact, I can feel the muse beginning to awaken.
I think Bronx Masquerade should be in the possession of every English/Language arts teacher and student (in middle school and high school). Regardless of your locality, ethnicity, or comfort level with poetry, you can appreciate this candid salute to the minds of teenagers who have quite a lot to tell and not enough people to listen.
I am a sold fan of Nikki Grimes!

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hide your face so the world will never find you, January 30, 2004

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bronx Masquerade (Mass Market Paperback)

Nikki Grimes's, "Bronx Masquerade" won the 2002 Coretta Scott King Award without debate. It has inspired numerous poetry slams in high schools across the country. The book is beloved and honored everywhere. I'm saying all this because I have a shameful shameful secret. I didn't love this book like the rest of the world. It was well-written, for the most part, and dealt with issues that are very rarely touched on in ANY books today, let alone books for young adults. And yet I wasn't taken with it.

"Bronx Masquerade" follows the individual stories of the students of a poetry class taught in a New York public high school. Each kid in the class begins with his or her own preconceptions about their fellow students. During the course of the book/class, these preconceptions are pounded to dust as the kids write and recite poetry about their problems and dreams. Grimes is adept at making each individual in the class a different and distinct personality. In the end, no one dislikes anyone else and everyone has high hopes, or at least highER hopes, for their future.

The book is brave and endearing in what it wants to teach kids today. But there are some real problems with it that make me doubt its future staying power. To make this book realistic and applicable, Ms. Grimes has given the main character of the piece, Tyrone, some very slangy text. Tyrone refers to his "homies". He ends sentences with the phrase, "Word". Now, it's 2004 as I write this, and already I know that these terms are out of date. Any kid reading these phrases is going to doubt the legitimacy of the text. In five years, the book is going to seem dated. And in ten years it's possible the slang will obscure the message and render this book more of a historical piece than anything else. This is a real shame too. There's a lot in this book that the author is trying to convey, and in her opinion slang was the best way to become "real". The fact that it may doom this book to future obscurity is a shame, but there's nothing to be done about that now. It was a choice made.

Another slightly odd writing choice is how the author uses Tyrone. As every single person reads a poem the Tyrone point-of-view says something along the lines of, "Frankly, I didn't know Raul had it in him", or, "So, the daydreamer speaks". Tyrone, tough guy, never really ridicules any of the readers. Not even the ultra-religious Sterling. This strained my suspension of disbelief. The story takes on the feeling of a fantasy when EVERYBODY is accepted by everybody else. Couldn't Tyrone have disliked just one person and not accepted them instantly after reading a poem?

Ah well. It's a nice book just the same. Nikki Grimes is a poet in her own right. And each child's writing is unique and distinct from anyone else's. For those interested in poetry written by REAL kids in the Bronx, you might want to consider "I Heard A Scream In the Street: Poetry By Young People In the City", selected by Nancy Larrick. It may have been written in 1970, but it speaks loud and clear to kids living today.