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Title details for Words with Wings by Nikki Grimes - Wait list

Words with Wings

by Nikki Grimes
Mutiyat Ade-Salu
Audiobook
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Wait time: About 2 weeks
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Wait time: About 2 weeks
Gabby's world is filled with daydreams. Now, what began as an escape from her parents' arguments has taken over her life. But with the help of a new teacher, Gabby the dreamer might just become Gabby the writer. Written in vivid accessible poems, this verse novel is a celebration of one girl's indomitable spirit and of a teacher's ability to reach out and change a life. Review Quotes: * ." . . Grimes has written a novel in verse that is an enthusiastic celebration of the power of words and imagination. . . Always accessible, Grimes' language is vivid, rhythmic, and figurative. . . Grimes' words speak to the daydreamer in every reader." —"Booklist", starred review Review Quotes: " . . . Grimes packs substantial emotional heft into her poems, especially the way that Gabby's parents' separation weighs on her. . . her poems lovingly convey the rich inner life (and turmoil) of a girl in the process of finding her voice." —"Publishers Weekly" Review Quotes: * "In this delightfully spare narrative in verse, Coretta Scott King Award-winning Grimes examines a marriage's end from the perspective of a child. . . Throughout this finely wrought narrative, Grimes' free verse is tight, with perfect breaks of line and effortless shifts from reality to dream states and back. An inspirational exploration of caring among parent, teacher and child—one of Grimes' best." —"Kirkus Reviews", starred review

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    February 15, 2014

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781490609690
      • File size: 19710 KB
      • Duration: 00:41:03

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 850

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Young Gabby is a dreamer who creates verse. Narrator Mutiyat Ade-Salu celebrates Grimes's verse, emphasizing the contrasts between her simple musings on family, school, and life and her vibrant word-inspired daydreams. Ade-Salu adjusts her pace to the subject matter--from the gentleness of rain and butterflies to the exhilaration of a roller coaster. The combined efforts of an understanding teacher and a fellow student dreamer help Gabby take wing with words. M.F.T. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 5, 2013
      Through 70+ poems, Grimes introduces readers to Gabriella, a city girl who’s prone to daydreaming, frustrating her mother and alienating Gabby from her classmates. Several poems bring readers directly into Gabby’s daydreams, as she explains how a single word can set her mind whirling: “Say ‘concert,’/ and I’m somewhere/ in the past,/ sprawled out on the grass/ in Central Park,/ my head cozy/ in Mom’s lap,/ her head cozy/ on Dad’s shoulder.” Grimes packs substantial emotional heft into her poems, especially the way that Gabby’s parents’ separation weighs on her. Eventually, the right teacher and the right friend provide the support and encouragement Gaby needs, and even her mother’s attitude softens. Although Grimes hits the “importance of dreaming” theme a bit hard, her poems lovingly convey the rich inner life (and turmoil) of a girl in the process of finding her voice. Ages 8–12. Agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown.

    • School Library Journal

      August 1, 2014

      Gr 3-5-Gabriella is a dreamer, more like the father she visits than the mother she lives with every day. Since her parents separated, Gabby and her mother have moved, and she has enrolled in a new school. Always the class daydreamer, she's prepared for the teasing that she knows will come. Mention the word "butterfly," and her thoughts may soar out the classroom window on the imagined wings of a beautiful creature. Other words create thoughts that are more pensive. Sometimes it's easier to retreat into her imagination than to face her circumstances. Gabby's expectations for her new school are low, but her teacher and a quiet boy in the back of the room offer some hope in her new surroundings. With encouragement, perhaps a pen and paper can anchor the "words with wings" that set Gabby's mind adrift. Mutiyat Ade-Salu is perfectly cast for this story in verse, told in the first person in the present tense story. Her voice is youthful and likable, and as Gabriella's thoughts soar, plummet, and wander, so too does the voice of Ade-Salu. A perfect book for poets, dreamers, and reluctant readers.-Lisa Taylor, Ocean County Library, NJ

      Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:850

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