Nikki Grimes

Robust, textured collages combine with upbeat poems about poetry, emotions, and everyday activities.

The bright, lively, and one-of-a-kind girl is back, this time to find out the difference between wanting something and actually needing it. Dyamonde is caught by her own cleverness, sure to gain readers' empathy.

When a high school class starts having Friday afternoon open-mike poetry, the kids tell their life stories and worries in the poems included in this book. This is a great introduction to spoken word poetry and an inspiration to budding poets.

When Danitra leaves the city for a summer with her family in the country, she and best friend Zuri write to each other about their days. The free verse and softly hued, realistic illustrations convey the warmth of both summer and the girls' friendship.

Zuri and Danitra are best friends, but have very different responses to school from first day jitters all the way to the halfway mark of the school year. Poems combine with luminous watercolors to chronicle the girls' range of experiences and concerns.

Dyamonde Daniel is confident, perceptive and willing to figure out what is really bothering her friend Damaris. Lively language captures the angst and joys of 3rd grade, friendships, even and the feelings of a plausible character with juvenile diabetes.

Well composed photographs on pastel pages combine with playful poetry to celebrate everyday pleasures from playing games to enjoying music.

Self confident, cheerful, and bright but friendless, Dyamond is the newest kid in Mrs. Cordell's 3rd grade. That is, until a grumpy boy named Free moves to town — and a friendship begins. Lively, believable, and likeable characters introduce this new heroine.

In a series of poems, Zuri extols the virtues and shortcomings of her forever friend, Danitra Brown. Set in their urban neighborhood, handsome watercolors illustrate this fresh and often poignant camaraderie.

Impressionistic paintings and gentle verse reveal a child's concern about the new man in his mother's life and the growing affection between them.