Legacy*The review below is being done on a Netgalley Advanced Reader's Copy of Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance. This review is my own, and I have written it in my honest opinion.
Happy New Year!! My first read for the year I was so lucky to get Nikki Grimes' ARC on poets from the Harlem Renaissance. Personally, I am not too familiar with authors from the Harlem Renaissance; I did have one class in college that thematically revolved around the texts, but my knowledge ends there. Because of this, I felt that Grimes' book was a perfect reintroduction to the movement and the female poets that have fallen off my radar. One thing to know about this book of poetry is that it written in the "Golden Shovel" format. Grimes does a great job in explaining what the format is, but to paraphrase the Golden Shovel Poem is created using a line from another poem; once you have that line, the words in that poem must be used as the last word of each line in your poem. What I enjoyed about this is that even before we get into the readings, Grimes explains and gives an example of what this will look like. I find that to be so helpful and something that can be used in the classroom. On to the book- some things that I fully enjoyed about the book is that each poem by the Harlem Renaissance authors is thematically connected to Grimes' Shovel Poem. For example, if the poem is speaking towards societal standards for women Grimes will also keep that theme and recreate a new poem as a response or as a continuation. Reading both sets was something empowering because the themes encouraged readers to be more than what society tells us to be. In addition to beautiful works of poetry, visual artist were included in the process because at the end of each poem set there is a related image done by an illustrator/artist. No piece is a duplicate, and they each bring out the mental image that represented the poetry. Legacy is an amazing addition to any collection because it mixes modes of art as well as timelines in a seamless manner. I would love to see another addition to this book in the form of a series, and I can honestly say that Nikki Grimes did not disappoint. You can get your copy below, the book will be released on January 5, 2021: Amazon Barnes and Noble Powell's
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For Better or Cursed*The review below is being done on a Netgalley Advanced Reader's Copy of For Better or Cursed. This review is my own, and I have written it in my honest opinion.
For Kate Williams' promising sequel to The Babysitter's Coven Cass and Esme return for more demon crushing exploits with a few road-blocks on the way. Since Cass returned from the Negative, she has been having weird episodes that cause her to lose her sense of self. One minute she can be driving, and the next she begins having fits of laughter or rage that she cannot control. One of the most frustrating parts for me as a reader was having to see her and Esme hide these episodes from their families and Bryan, their babysitter mentor. I know that it is part of Cass' personality to be stubborn, and honestly this is also what drives the plot sometimes, but it was frustrating nonetheless. On top of this, the Babysitter Council has decided to host a huge gathering in their little town which makes Esme and Cass hosts! As exciting as this sounds, I felt this sequel took a little longer to get to the exciting parts of the novel. Normally I enjoy a good book party, but I felt that there were a lot of issues that Esme had to overcome as a character (the above mentioned as well as some family issues, boy issues, and unexpected demons flooding their town) and it became overwhelming to keep up. Despite my setback of feeling overwhelmed, I did finish the book and was very surprised with the final result of it. This was a reminder of how even though someone can have a lot going on in their life, there will always be help along the way. In the end, I felt that this book was important to have in order to continue Esme and Cass' story. One of the exciting parts is that the continuation will be coming out in Fall 2021, and there is still so much more to experience with our favorite demon fighting babysitters! You can get your copy of the sequel below at: Amazon Audible Barnes and Noble Better World Books Powell's |