Poetry Review: A DIME A DOZEN by Nikki Grimes

Grimes, Nikki. 1998. A Dime a Dozen. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0803722273.

Nikki Grimes, winner of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for 2006, begins this slim volume of poetry with a short prose introduction in which she explains, "So lately I've been thinking a lot about my childhood, my family, and the events--both good and bad--that have shaped me. I've chosen a few of them to write about in this collection."

Connected chronologically into a loose plot, the first-person poems allow the reader to alight like a bee on moments in Grimes's past, sucking the nectar from her words and her distilled experience before flitting to the next memory. "Part 1: Genuis" explores her relationship with her family and her burgeoning sense of independence and self. When her long legs begin to outstride her mother's, she writes:

I set my own pace
'cause Spirit says
I'm headed places
that aren't marked
on my mother's
map.

[from "Stroll"]

"Part II: The Secret" deals with the aftermath of her parents' divorce, as the comfort of her warm family crumbles and her parents descend into self-destructive behaviors.

Empty Pockets

I used to wish
Dad would stop
gambling
with his
borrowed
money
and Mom's
buried
love.

In "Part III: A Dime a Dozen," she returns to the theme of searching for self but adds another dimension by illustrating her disconnection to her cultural identity as a young Black woman. The poet's genius is apparent, however, in her denial of her heritage ("Soul Food"), which is simultaneously an eloquent expression and celebration of her culture. One can sense the adult Grimes peering over the shoulder of the narrator, and in hindsight, taking pride in her Blackness. The book ends with an inspiring anthem to staying true to self and one's own dreams.


Grimes manages to capture the poignancy of her experiences with accessible but powerful language, subtle rhyme and rhythm, and the creative arrangement of words on the page. Sprinkled throughout the book are full-page, realistic, greyscale drawings by Angelo that complement the depth of the poetry, highlighting the range of emotions the narrator experiences and leaving readers with the desire to study the people in the illustrations in the same way they study pictures of their own loved ones.

The collection's only weakness is a minor break in the thread that holds the plot together. The poem "Foster Home" lacks connection to the poems before and after it, leaving the reader uncertain about the circumstances leading to and away from her time in foster care.

Ultimately, A Dime a Dozen will appeal to upper elementary-aged children and young adults of all cultures, not to mention adults who remember their own childhood and adolescent years. It addresses universal themes of family, loss, growing up, and following dreams in spite of naysayers. At the same time, though, it speaks in a special way to young readers of color.