Meeting Garvey Once More
Everyone, I hope, knows the feeling of getting to know a fictional character so well that this character becomes a friend. When we’re forced to close a book we love, we do so with regret. Of course, we may revisit our friend by re-reading the favorite book. Or… if we’re lucky… the author may create another book featuring our beloved character… and we just might be treated to an opportunity to delve into another adventure with them.
For those who loved Garvey’s Choice, Nikki Grimes has brought us a chance to spend time with Garvey once more. Her sequel, Garvey In The Dark, releases this October! It is another novel in verse in tanka featuring Garvey, of Garvey's Choice. This novel is set against the pandemic. Here, Garvey's mom is a teacher, his dad is an essential worker, and Garvey wrestles with many of the issues most of our children faced once the pandemic turned their world, and ours, upside down.
Few things could induce me to relive the first years of the pandemic; the invitation to read a book by Nikki Grimes is one of them. The deceptive simplicity with which Nikki Grimes writes brings two things to my mind: the elegance of a Dior dress and the crystalline clarity of E. B. White’s prose. Grimes captures characters and emotions by wielding a poetic form—the tanka—with superb skill, and the result is a carefully crafted novel-in-verse about how faith, grace, and familial love can help us triumph over adversity. In Garvey, a gentle and thoughtful musician, Grimes has created an alternative male role model, whose heroism lies in kindness. If you’re already a friend of Garvey’s you will surely rejoice in this reunion and if you haven’t met him yet, here’s your chance! This sequel is as much a triumph as Garvey’s Choice—a stunning example of how much can be accomplished with how few words in the hands of a masterful poet.
Nikki Grimes also has another book out this fall, Playtime for Restless Rascals, a picture book (the third in the series of picture books that began with Bedtime for Sweet Creatures, a bedtime book, then Off to See the Sea, a bath time book). The third title focuses on play, and features the same characters. Playtime was released in September.
Padma Venkatraman, author of this blog post is also the founder of Diverse Verse and the author of BORN BEHIND BARS (Nancy Paulsen Books, Penguin Random House) as well as THE BRIDGE HOME, A TIME TO DANCE, ISLAND’S END and CLIMBING THE STAIRS. She is the winner of a WNDB Walter Dean Myers Award, Golden Kite Award, Crystal Kite Award, two-time winner of the Paterson Prize, Julia Ward Howe and Nerdy Book Awards, three-time winner of the South Asia Book Award and has won many other awards and honors. Her novels have been shortlisted for over 20 state awards, received over 20 starred reviews, appeared on numerous best book lists, such as the ALA Notable, NYPL Best Book, Kirkus Best Book, Booklist editor's Choice and Junior Library Guild selection. Her poetry has been published in Poetry magazine and elsewhere. Before becoming an American author, Dr. Venkatraman spent time under the ocean and in rainforests, served as chief scientist on oceanographic research vessels where she was the only BIPOC female, and also worked as a teacher and diversity director. When she’s not writing, she loves speaking to others about her love for books and her passion for diversity, equity and inclusion and has presented keynote addresses, conducted writing workshops and attended festivals and conferences around the world. Visit her at www.padmavenkatraman.com ; arrange for a visit via https://theauthorvillage.com/presenters/padma-venkatraman/; follow her on twitter (@padmatv); (@venkatraman.padma) on fb and ig.
