I needed a short read or two. I found two, while terribly short looking, books that also felt like they would have some “meat” to them. And those books were Hands by Torrey Maldonado and Garvey in the Dark by Nikki Grimes. I was familiar with Grimes, as they are the author of Garvey’s Choice and others I enjoyed reading. But Maldonado was new.
Hands looked like it would be a boxing book. And it is, somewhat. But really what the book is about are the “What Questions.” What makes a “real” man? What does “throwing hands” mean? And when you do, are you ready for the consequences? What does it mean to be a 12-year-old boy who has spent several years of his life worrying about what might happen when his stepdad is out of prison? And what can he do about keeping his promises: the ones he made to people and himself, and the promise he has as an artist and a good person who can make change? We follow our main character as he learns about the world and the corny idea of it really does take a village to raise a child. This is a relatable story, with modern elements. Some of the things mentioned are obvious (characters are in a gang, the stepfather hits the mother, a sister is in an abusive relationship, one character smashes a window and is bleeding) and some others are left for the reader to fill in. However, the strong 10 and up can handle the content.
Then of course there is Garvey’s second book, Garvey in the Dark. This time we follow Garvey in the first year of the pandemic. There are also historical events happening around them (protests, church’s reopening too soon, police shootings), but again, it is handled in a way a young character would relate to them. Of course, as most readers lived during this time/went to school during 2020 some people will relate differently to it being current events and personal experiences unlike most books where we can separate it from us, while still able to relate to the struggle. I was not really expecting a pandemic and current events story, so that made things a bit less strong for me as the first book. I still enjoy the prose poetry format, and the afterwards gives information on the style used, so that was also enjoyable.