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Words with Wings

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By DeeDee
 Cover image for Words with wings
Words with Wings 
by Nikki Grimes
Wordsong, 2013, Free Verse Fiction, 84 p.

Gabby has always been a daydreamer, but since she moved to a new school after her parent's divorce, her daydreaming has gotten to be a bigger problem.  A single "word with wings" can send her off into a world of her imagination and make her forget what she is supposed to be doing.  In an attempt to please her parents and teacher, she tries to suppresses her daydreams for a while, but that just makes her sad. Finally her teacher encourages her to write what she is thinking and both her parents and teacher discover that her daydreaming has made her a wonderful writer.  This is a short novel written in free verse.  The text expresses a clear flow of ideas and images with a surprising economy of words. Though the text is short, Ms. Grimes uses amazing word craft to create dimensional and sympathetic characters in a heart warming story.  It is no wonder that this book won Ms Grimes the Coretta Scott King Honor award last year.

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