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    One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance
    One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance
    One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance
    Ebook103 pages47 minutes

    One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance

    By Nikki Grimes

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    "One Last Word is the work of a master poet." --Kwame Alexander, Newbery Medal-winning author of The Crossover

    From the New York Times bestselling and Coretta Scott King award-winning author Nikki Grimes comes an emotional, special new collection of poetry inspired by the Harlem Renaissance--paired with full-color, original art from today's most exciting African-American illustrators.

    Inspired by the writers of the Harlem Renaissance, bestselling author Nikki Grimes uses "The Golden Shovel" poetic method to create wholly original poems based on the works of master poets like Langston Hughes, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Jean Toomer, and others who enriched history during this era.

    Each poem is paired with one-of-a-kind art from today's most exciting African American illustrators--including Pat Cummings, Brian Pinkney, Sean Qualls, James Ransome, Javaka Steptoe, and many more--to create an emotional and thought-provoking book with timely themes for today's readers.

    A foreword, an introduction to the history of the Harlem Renaissance, author's note, poet biographies, and index makes this not only a book to cherish, but a wonderful resource and reference as well.

    A 2017 New York Public Library Best Kids Book of the Year
    A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2017, Middle Grade
    A School Library Journal Best Book of 2017, Nonfiction
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateJan 3, 2017
    ISBN9781619635555
    One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance
    Author

    Nikki Grimes

    New York Times bestselling author Nikki Grimes is the recipient of the 2016 Virginia Hamilton Literary Award and the 2006 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Her distinguished works include ALA Notable book What is Goodbye?, Coretta Scott King Award winner Bronx Masquerade, and Coretta Scott King Author Honor books Jazmin's Notebook, Talkin' About Bessie, Dark Sons, The Road to Paris, and Words with Wings. Creator of the popular Meet Danitra Brown, Ms. Grimes lives in California.

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    Reviews for One Last Word

    4.5/5

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    • 5/5
      I was first introduced to this book through another author. Helen Frost writes books in verse. One of my students asked how in her book "Hidden" she had written an extra message at the end of each line. I asked her and she told me it was through Nikki Grimes and her Golden Shovel Poems that she had copied this method. She told me I needed to purchase this book, so I did. This is perfect since my students must create a book of their own original poems each year. One of my requirements is that they must write at least one Golden Shovel Poem. Through her book and the wonderful illustrations we learn about a time in history most students of any color know little about, "The Harlem Renaissance". When she talks about that time int he front of her book we learn that this was a time where art was used to tell what life was like for black through their own perspective. This isn't a book just for the blacks. This is a book for all races as we all face some of the same obstacles. Through her poetry we learn so much. We also see how some of what we hoped we would leave behind is still with us today. This is such a wonderful book for so many reason and should be in every classroom.
    • 4/5
      ONE LAST WORD by Nikki Grimes shares dozens of classic poems along with original poems based on the works of master poets of the Harlem Renaissance.Grimes begins this inspirational poetry book with an overview of the Harlem Renaissance. Divided into three sections, the book then weaves together classic and newly written poems along with artwork created by African American illustrator. The book concludes with poet and artist biographies, along with additional resources.Librarians will find this work to be an excellent way to introduce the poets of the Harlem Renaissance while making connections with contemporary issues. Collaborate with teachers to combine literature and history learning outcomes for an engaging interdisciplinary unit.Published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books on January 1, 2017. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      We pretend that everyone is treated equally in 2017. Not so. Using the "golden shovel" form, Nikki Grimes examines racism, bullying, and other timely issues.

      1 person found this helpful

    Book preview

    One Last Word - Nikki Grimes

    For Julius Lester, who, when I was a teen, told me that my words mattered. And I believed him.

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    Preface

    The Harlem Renaissance

    Author’s Note

    Poetry Form

    PART I—EMERGENCY MEASURES

    Emergency Measures by Nikki Grimes

    Storm Ending by Jean Toomer

    Truth by Nikki Grimes

    Life and Death by Clara Ann Thompson

    Crucible of Champions by Nikki Grimes

    For a Poet by Countee Cullen

    A Safe Place by Nikki Grimes

    PART II—CALLING DREAMS

    Calling Dreams by Georgia Douglas Johnson

    The Sculptor by Nikki Grimes

    We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar

    Jabari Unmasked by Nikki Grimes

    Mother to Son by Langston Hughes

    Lessons by Nikki Grimes

    As the Eagle Soars by Jean Toomer

    No Hamsters Here by Nikki Grimes

    An excerpt from To Usward by Gwendolyn Bennett

    In Search of a Superpower by Nikki Grimes

    Hope by Georgia Douglas Johnson

    On Bully Patrol by Nikki Grimes

    The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes

    David’s Old Soul by Nikki Grimes

    PART III—TO A DARK GIRL

    To a Dark Girl by Gwendolyn Bennett

    Through the Eyes of Artists by Nikki Grimes

    Common Dust by Georgia Douglas Johnson

    A Dark Date for Josh by Nikki Grimes

    No Images by Waring Cuney

    Blurred Beauty by Nikki Grimes

    The Minor Key by Clara Ann Thompson

    Common Denominator by Nikki Grimes

    I Leave the Glory Days by Nikki Grimes

    RESOURCES

    Poet Biographies

    Artist Biographies

    Acknowledgments

    Sources

    PREFACE

    I was thirteen years old when I read my poetry aloud in front of an audience for the first time. The event took place at the Countee Cullen Library in New York City, a local branch named after one of the leading poets of the Harlem Renaissance.

    A lover of poetry for most of my young life, I was well aware of the impact of Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and all the other African American poets of the era. After all, I was a young poet born in the very Harlem from which many of their careers were launched. As I ascended the stage that day, I felt as if I were stepping into the stream of the Renaissance poets who had come before me. I feel their weight, and their influence, still. The elegance and power of their poetry gave me wings.

    At the beginning of my career, my focus was on prose and poetry for the adult market. Reading my work at college campuses, I often shared the stage with the likes of Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, and Amiri Baraka. Ultimately, though, I switched my emphasis to literature for children and young adults. Nonetheless, the poets of the Harlem Renaissance remained my primary influences.

    Now that I am at a point in my career when my work is being taught in schools across the country, I want to take a moment to celebrate those earlier poets, add my voice to theirs in a very direct way, and introduce them to a new generation.

    THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

    The Harlem Renaissance was one of the most remarkable periods of artistic growth and exploration in American history. This era followed the Great Migration, when millions of African Americans left the South in search of a better life. Many of them settled in Harlem, where they finally felt free to express themselves and speak their minds without fear, and one of the ways they did so was through the arts. These were the heady days of such luminaries as James Weldon Johnson, Josephine Baker, and artist Aaron Douglas. Wow!

    Between 1918 and the mid- to late 1930s, an explosion of African American music, art, and literature spread from one big city to another. But it was in Harlem that the greatest number, and range, of poets and writers gathered, including Arna Bontemps, Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, Georgia Douglas

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