FROM A CHILD'S HEART
by Nikki Grimes & illustrated by Brenda Joysmith
Thirteen subtly cadenced, accessible poems in an authentically childlike voice: messages confided to God as to a trusted friend.
Each reveals a telling hope, ambition ("I want to be / a credit to the human race"; or, "I don't want to get the chance / just `cause the color of my skin keeps me from fitting in...Give me the hardest step, I'll learn it. / Make me number one, Lord. I'll earn it"), internal debate ("I need a miracle...I should study...?...Then You'll help me remember what I've learned? / Well that sounds fair"), fear, plea ("Lord,/Please give my Grandma one more year...she's been my mom and dad as far back as memory goes / and she knows the ins and outs of being free inside"), or joy. The implicit advice is frequently bracing, but gracefully delivered and never overbearing. Joysmith's sensitive, realistic pastel drawings of pensive young African-Americans at work and play are beautifully composed and quietly luminous; now in various private collections, they date from 1984 to 1992.
A lovely, deeply felt book.
(Poetry/Picture book. 6-12)