Words With Wings

Bibliography
Grimes, N. (2013). Words with wings. Honesdale, Penn.: WordSong. ISBN: 9781590789858

Plot Summary
Gabriella began daydreaming to escape her parents' arguments. The fighting escalates into divorce. Her father leaves. And six month later, Gabby starts at a new school. The daydreaming has grown into what her mother and teacher would call a distraction. She can’t seem to focus at all, and no one wants to be her friend. With the help of an innovative teacher, Gabby learns that maybe her daydreaming isn’t such a bad thing after all. 

Critical Analysis
The poems in this novel in verse a short, quick, and to the point. No rhymes are needed, and the thought of a rhythm escape once the reader is brought into Gabby’s world. Nikki Grimes conveys incredible emotion in only a few lines. Favorite Words proves this by expressing despair at the difference between her and her mother, and Switch proves this with a sense of hopefulness at the opportunity for a new friend. Grimes selects her words carefully, which makes sense considering the theme throughout the book.

The poems switch from what is currently happening to Gabby to some of her favorite words and things or daydreams she associates with those words. Some of the poems take a different format to reflect the word or subject matter. Stilts has “GABBY THE GREAT” in a larger font, but the poem is very thin with one to two words in each line. This is done to indicate a person on a stilt. Later on, in the poem Canyon, the ending of her name is shown in all capital letters, then the name is shown again with some lowercase letters and spread far apart and then it is shown a third time in all lowercase letters. This is to show the reader an echo from yelling into the Grand Canyon. The font switches from Times to Roman to Century Gothic so the reader can distinguish from a daydream and real life.

The cover of this book is as simple as some of the poems, but packs as much of a punch. A single desk with an open notebook. Wonderous things escape from the notebook, hinting at the magic that words can create. An excellent introduction to poetry and writing in general.


Review Excerpt(s)
Coretta Scott King Award for Author Honor - 2014

BOOKLIST:  ". . . Grimes has written a novel in verse that is an enthusiastic celebration of the power of words and imagination. . . Always accessible, Grimes' language is vivid, rhythmic, and figurative. . . Grimes' words speak to the daydreamer in every reader."

PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY: " . . . Grimes packs substantial emotional heft into her poems, especially the way that Gabby's parents' separation weighs on her. . . her poems lovingly convey the rich inner life (and turmoil) of a girl in the process of finding her voice.

KIRKUS REVIEWS:  "In this delightfully spare narrative in verse, Coretta Scott King Award-winning Grimes examines a marriage's end from the perspective of a child. . . Throughout this finely wrought narrative, Grimes' free verse is tight, with perfect breaks of line and effortless shifts from reality to dream states and back. An inspirational exploration of caring among parent, teacher and child--one of Grimes' best."

Connections
Allow students to do as they did in Mr. Spicer’s class. Give them ten minutes to just daydream and then write about what they thought about. See what emerges after a few minutes to themselves and their thoughts.
Have students choose their own words that mean something special to them. Have students write poems about what they associate with that word, as Gabby did with her words.
The beginning of the book talks about how Gabriella got her name. Have the students go home and learn about the origin of their name and discuss in class.
*A cross between regular narrative and poetry, Between the Lines by Nikki Grimes can help readers learn the importance of poetry and the story everyone has to tell.
Grimes, N. (2018). Between the lines. New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books. ISBN: 9780399246883