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Summary
Summary
New York Times bestselling author of One Last Word and Coretta Scott King award-winning Bronx Masquerade Nikki Grimes offers fresh novel in verse story about young heartbreak and hope.
For twelve years, Joylin Johnson's life has been just fine. A game of basketball with the boys-especially her friend Jake-was all it took to put a smile on her face. Baggy jeans, T-shirt, and hair in a ponytail were easy choices. Then, everything suddenly seemed to change all at once. Her best girl friend is now flirting with her best guy friend. Her clothes seem all wrong. Jake is acting weird, and basketball isn't the same. And worst of all, there is this guy, Santiago, who appears from . . . where? What lengths will Joy go to--and who will she become--to attract his attention?
In short poems that perfectly capture the crazy feelings of adolescence and first crushes, award-winning author Nikki Grimes has crafted a delightful, often hilarious, heart-tugging story.
Author Notes
Nikki Grimes was born and raised in New York City. She began writing poetry at age six and is well-known for writing award-winning books primarily for children and young adults. Bronx Masquerade and Talkin' About Bessie both won Coretta Scott King Awards, and her poetry collections featuring Danitra Brown are very popular. Grimes received the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children in 2006.
She has written articles for magazines including Essence and Today's Christian Woman, as well as hosted radio programs in New York and Sweden. She has lectured and read her poetry at schools in Russia, China, Sweden, and Tanzania. Grimes is also a prolific artist, creating works of fiber art, beaded jewelry, peyote beading, handmade cards, and photography.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Joylin has always been happy in blue jeans and a t-shirt playing hoops with Jake, her best guy friend. As she turns 13, all of a sudden she begins noticing boys and has to pick out training bras with her mother. Nikki Grimes uses her trademark verse poetry to tell this coming-of-age story (Wendy Lamb Books, 2011) about a young teen who begins to feel like an alien, faces the confusing world of "planet middle school," and tries to figure out exactly who she is. While many have a hard time reading novels in verse, listening to it is an entirely different experience. Poetry is at its best when read aloud, and this novel is no exception. Sisi Aisha Johnson takes Grimes's text and sculpts a very real young girl who is struggling with who she is and who she is becoming. She keeps Joylin's voice just young enough to sound convincing, and deftly handles the secondary characters, such Joylin's concerned mother, her best girlfriend, Jake, and others. Sure to resonate with middle school teens.-Shari Fesko, Southfield Public Library, MI (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Twelve-year-old Joy has always been athletic, and she can hold her own in any neighborhood basketball game playing against boys her age, including her longtime friend, Jake. But once she starts middle school, she feels self-conscious about being thought of as a tomboy. Also, she and her best friend KeeLee are growing apart: suddenly, KeeLee is wearing frilly dresses and showing an interest in boys. Joy feels betrayed by the change in KeeLee until she herself starts noticing boys, specifically gorgeous Santiago with his perfect curly brown hair. He barely acknowledges her existence, even when she takes to wearing makeup and skirts. But the boys she plays basketball with do notice the change in her and begin to treat her differently on the court. In a parallel subplot, Joy's artistic younger brother, Caden, asks her to teach him some basketball moves so he can get more attention from their sports-loving father. Through breezy prose poems Grimes explores the tension between individuality and gender-role conformity and takes on young adolescent concerns such as changing friendships, the shift in boy/girl relationships, and first crushes. Her realistic novel has solid middle-school appeal and avoids preaching. In a refreshing twist, Santiago never really notices Joy, and after a while, it doesn't much matter to her. What does matter are her friendships with KeeLee and Jake, and the people in her life who know the real Joy. kathleen t. horning (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A young tomboy comes of age on and off the basketball court.In free-flowing free-verse poems, multiaward-winning author and poet Grimes (A Girl Named Mister, 2010, etc.) here explores the riot of hormones and expected gender roles that can make negotiating the preteen years such a challenge. Twelve-year-old Joylin "Jockette" Johnson prefers jeans, T-shirts and one-on-one basketball games with her father or friend Jake to conforming to the more demure, feminine image her mother has of her. Sassy, self-assured Joy enjoys the simple math of her life"friends / plus family / plus sports"until she begins to notice "two weird mounds ruining / the perfect flatness / of [her] chest" and gets her first period, which she deems, "the end of life / as I know it." Beset by physical changes, Joy also finds herself witness and prey to unfamiliar behavior; Jake begins to show interest in her friend KeeLee, and Joy herself tries to adopt a more feminine persona to attract the attention of Santiago, a fellow basketballer with "sweet brown curls / bouncing above killer green eyes." Though Grimes' plot development is rather predictablea life-threatening accident leads Joy to reassess her prioritiesher accessible verse and clear themes of self-acceptance and open-mindedness ring true.A work that should help adolescent readers find the courage and humor to grow into the individuals they already are. (Verse fiction. 9-14)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The title of this slim novel (written in free-verse poems) could have been Planet Puberty. Each entry captures universal moments of confusion, anger, guilt, and fun through the viewpoint of 12-year-old African American Joy as things change with her friends, family, and body. She gets her period, tries to hide the growth on her chest, and notices cute guys, especially her classmate Santiago, who doesn't seem to notice her, except when she trips and falls down in her new heels and short skirt. At home, Dad is proud when she makes the basketball team, and after he rejects her brother, Caden, for being into art instead of sports, it takes Joy a while to realize that her message to Caden is for herself, too: Stop trying to be someone you're not. The core of the story is her awkward relationships with her longtime best friends, especially Jake: suddenly things are not as relaxed as they were, and she behaves badly. This will spark discussion in the middle-school classroom.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2010 Booklist
