Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance

Author Nikki Grimes
Narrator Bahni Turpin, Janina Edwards, Karole Foreman, Zakiya Young, various
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing
Run Time 1 hours and 19 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Children’s / Teenage fiction and true stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Historical fiction, Children’s / Teenage: Poetry.

Listen to a sample

What to expect

Bloomsbury presents Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes, read by Bahni Turpin, Karole Foreman, Zakiya Young and Janina Edwards.

From Children's Literature Legacy Award-winning author Nikki Grimes comes a feminist-forward new collection of poetry celebrating the little-known women poets of the Harlem Renaissance.

For centuries, accomplished women—of all races—have fallen out of the historical records. The same is true for gifted, prolific, women poets of the Harlem Renaissance who are little known, especially as compared to their male counterparts.

In this poetry collection, bestselling author Nikki Grimes uses "The Golden Shovel" poetic method to create wholly original poems based on the works of these groundbreaking women—and to introduce readers to their work.

Legacy also includes a foreword, an introduction to the history of the Harlem Renaissance, author's note, and poet biographies, which make this a wonderful resource and a book to cherish.

Acclaim for One Last Word
A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor winner
A New York Public Library Best Kids Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, Middle Grade
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Nonfiction

Critics Review

This book is exquisitely rendered. . . . a timely, healing mirror to a new generation of readers. . . . Black girls everywhere, this collection is salve and sanctuary.

Kirkus Reviews, starred review

An abundantly layered landscape of Black female experiences.

Publishers Weekly, starred review

A compelling reflection on gender, race, politics, and everyday life. . . . A striking collection of voices, who examine and celebrate the experience of Black women from the past and present. An excellent introduction to Black women writers who were ignored by history.

School Library Journal, starred review

A compelling dialogue with the past.

BCCB, starred review

[A] tour de force of a poetry collection . . . Grimes lays claim to an amazing artistic legacy on every page, her poetic rejoinders building a stirring call and response.

BookPage, starred review

Remarkable. . . The art here is unified in its emphasis on portraying the beauty and uniqueness of Black girls and women. . . . This unique title is sure to spark thought and touch hearts.

Booklist

The eloquent and stirring voices of Grimes and her counterparts of the past resonate with passion, purpose, and resilience.

The Horn Book Magazine

Radiant mixed-media art bolsters Grimes’s themes, full-page, full-bleed illustrations showcasing images of beautiful Black women, young and old, of all shapes, sizes and shades living their lives and being unapologetically themselves. The beautifully written Legacy will make anyone, regardless of age, sex or race, feel a sense of pride in being a citizen of the world.

Shelf Awareness

One Last Word is the work of a master poet.

Kwame Alexander, Newbery Medal-winning author of THE CROSSOVER, on ONE LAST WORD

Gorgeous.

The New York Times Book Review on ONE LAST WORD

Timely and thought-provoking.

Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on ONE LAST WORD

Grimes powerfully transposes the original poems’ themes of racial bias, hidden inner selves, beauty, and pride into the here and now.

Publishers Weekly, starred review, on ONE LAST WORD

Innovative and powerful . . . a beautiful new homage to the Harlem Renaissance but also a moving reflection on the African American experience and the resilience of the human spirit.

School Library Journal, starred review, on ONE LAST WORD

Between the covers of this compact volume lies artistic, literary, sociocultural, and curricular gold . . . Mothers and elders exhort and reflect while young boys and girls plead and dream, reimagining the sorrows and dreams of the legendary wordsmiths into scenarios involving superheroes, bullies, peer pressure, poverty, and prom dates that young readers will relate to. This is simply essential for both personal and classroom collections.

BCCB, starred review, on ONE LAST WORD

The vibrancy of the Harlem Renaissance is illuminated in Grimes’s provocative poetry collection . . . This enterprising and unusual volume not only introduces the Harlem Renaissance to young readers but also presents the challenge of a new way to write and enjoy poetry.

The Horn Book Magazine on ONE LAST WORD

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