Garvey's Choice

Garvey's Choice

Juvenile fiction in verse
"Later, mom asks him,
'Why don't you let Garvey be?"
I hear Dad snort. Twice.
'Why can't he put those books down,
play football or basketball?"
Nikki Grimes has a sensitive ear and nuanced voice for the
hardships kids have to deal with, dwelling in a far from perfect
world. Recall back in 2014 I reviewed her Words With Wings? Well her
new book, Garvey's Choice, neatly lives up to its promise.
Garvey and his father have conflicting visions for his life.
When Garvey was seven he really wanted a Star Trek lunch box; Dad gave
him a football themed one. His father wants him to be an athletic,
sports talking, roughhousing companion. Garvey is much happier in a
world of books, science, and music. How can he be someone his dad can
accept and be proud of without scarificing his authentic self?
Then there's the weight issue. His dad gets on his case. Kids
at the school, with the exception of his one and only friend, Joe, are
very mean.
"Too-skinny-for-words
bumps into me on purpose.
'Oops!' he says. 'Sorry.
It's kinda hard to squeeze by
since you take up so much space.'"
When he auditions for chorus Garvey finds where some of his true
talents lie. But music isn't sports. What will his father say when
he finds out?
On a personal note, Mother Nature didn't exactly cooperate when we had
the Black Lives Matter flag raising to kick off Black History Month.
The grey sky was gusting wind and spitting snow. We just stood out
for the actual flag raising and came in for the speeches which were
excellent. We had a great turn out. It was a very auspicious
beginning. The next day I saw a great story in the Bangor Daily News
with a big old color photo. I found myself in my bright pink sweater.
A great big shout out goes out to all who participated in the flag
raising and the members of the press who came out in the cold to cover
our event.
jules hathaway



Sent from my iPod