42. Ordinary Hazards

Ordinary Hazards. Nikki Grimes. 2019. 325 pages. [Source: Library] [memoir; ya nonfiction; nonfiction; poetry]

  First sentence: I read somewhere that names penetrate the core of our being, and I suppose, this is as good a time as any to confess my name is not the only lie I’ve ever lived with, but Nikki is the first invention for which I accept full responsibility.

Premise/plot: Nikki Grimes’ newest book is a memoir written in verse. Ordinary Hazards tells her story—the darkness and the light in her growing up years.

My thoughts: I have loved, loved, loved Nikki Grimes’ work in the past. I have always found her work to bring on the feels. Her characters are more often than not, oh-so-humanly drawn. Her writing realistic, but often with a strong foundation of hope. No matter how dark, how tough, how painful, there is still reason to hope; where there is life, there is hope.

This memoir is an amazing read. I think perhaps most enjoyed by those that have read her previously. But perhaps not. Maybe this would encourage readers to pick up her other books and seek out everything she’s written?

Quotes:
Algebra should be
ranked under
fatal diseases.
One more equation,
and I’ll die. (253)

© 2020 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews