Provides readable information on the Harlem Renaissance and biographical information on Black women poets of the time. Nikki Grimes introduces poems from these poets, then using the Golden Shovel form, she creates new poems from each. Bold, beautiful illustrations. Creative, touching, and just amazing!

This book brought me joy. I learned a lot and bought a copy for someone I know. I especially enjoyed the illustrations.

I adore Grimes' work, and this is no different. I found the way she puts her words down on paper powerful and provoking growth.

Nikki Grimes is one of the most amazing poets writing for children and this generation is so lucky to grow up with her books. Legacy is no exception -- the poems and art in this book are wonderful and special and should be shared with students across ages.

I’m not usually one to pick up poetry books, But I really enjoyed how this book was formatted and the incorporation of art with the poetry.

I enjoyed reading about African American poets, I had never heard of. Grimes put together a beautiful collection of poetry by lesser-known poets of the Harlem Renaissance. I feel the illustrations were vivid and gorgeous. I have purchased a copy and added it to my personal collection.

Nikki Grimes did an amazing job selecting the poems from the women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance whose names may not have received the light you had now given them by bringing them to the forefront with this book. Her style choice is unique and makes an even more immersive experience; it draws the reader in to not rush through the works. Even though the poems she highlights are from a different time you can still feel the emotion and beauty of their words. They are truly timeless.

I think the "Golden Shovel" may have made it a challenge to convey all the things a free form style poem allows. However, the poems by Nikki Grimes that stuck out to me the most had the strongest feelings within them. These were usually about being a woman, being a Mother, believing in yourself and pushing past naysayers. I really enjoyed this book and the illustrations were absolutely beautiful and perfectly elevated the work.

This was an amazing book. I already purchased this for my library and it is one that ties in with the standards for teachers, but with content that readers desire. One that I highly recommend!

Nikki Grimes put together such an amazing book, and the illustrations are just gorgeous. It is so hard to find books that feature female poets, and Grimes weaves her own work throughout with work from female poets from the Harlem Renaissance. I loved reading the poems in this book. This is definitely one that I will be adding to our classroom library to use during our poetry unit and beyond!

A number of things came together in creating this volume of poems. First, there were a number of relatively unknown women poets writing during the Harlem Renaissance, that period beginning in 1918 through the min-1930s when African American arts flourished. Second, there is the relatively new poetic form devised by poet Terrance Hayne called the Golden Shovel. Third, there is the incomparable poet Nikki Grimes. Put together, the result is Legacy, a collection of poems by African American women poets who are celebrated in new contemporary poems by Nikki Grimes utilizing the Golden Shovel form, connecting today's readers with these Black feminist writers across time and space.

Legacy begins with a poem by Nikki Grimes in the voice of a young girl, whose teacher is telling her that she needs to find her "girl power," that it is "Time you learn/ a little history./ The women in our race/ have always gone/ from strength to strength." She then hands her three books on the Harlem Renaissance. The young girl's journey begins by reading Part I of Legacy called "Heritage," followed by Part II "Mother Earth" and Part III "Taking Notice." The books then ends with a poem called "Journey's End," giving her thoughts about what she has read and that has changed her.

There are 19 poems by women of the Harlem Renaissance, such as Anne Spencer, Mae V. Cowdery, and Blanche Taylor Dickinson, among others. Their poetry reflects the historical times in which they as Black women lived and wrote. Each one of the 19 poems is paired with a poem by Nikki Grimes reflecting today's world and Black women's response to it. Added to these poems are 19 original illustrations beautifully paired with each poem set. These are by such esteemed artists as Ekua Holmes, Ebony Glenn, Vashti Harrison and others and are done in bold full color using various medians.

Front matter includes a Preface, information about The Harlem Renaissance, and the Poetry Form used. Back matter includes a short biography of each poet, a short biography of each artist, a list of Sources, print and digital, and an Index.

It only seemed appropriate to end Women's History Month 2021 with this collection of feminist oriented poetry. I hope you are as moved by these poets, past and present, as I am.

This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was an eARC gratefully received from NetGalley

The Golden Shovel Poem format that Nikki uses is absolutely incredible! I loved reading the poems in this book so much!

Poetry brought to life, The exercise of introducing important poets plus examples of how Nikki Grimes is inspired by the works she presents is especially great. Readers will feel invited to express their own poetic reflections, and join the artistic conversation.

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. I love Nikki Grimes, and her latest book is amazing! In this book not only does Grimes feature amazing Black female poets, but she uses her own poetry to have a conversation with them. Grimes uses a style of poetry called Golden Shovel, where a line (or whole) of one poem is used to create the endings of each line in another. The result is a brilliant dialogue between the old and new, a reflection on the time since the Harlem Renaissance and now, and how, though we may think we have moved on, the experiences of many are the same or similar to what they were then. The beautiful illustrations throughout were created by many different artists, and absolutely stunning. The book also includes excellent back matter on the contributing artists and poets.

Highly recommended for middle grade and up! #netgalley #legacywomenpoetsoftheharlemrenaissance

There are two points of appeal for this book. Firstly, we don't get many books about female poets aside from Emily Dickinson and Edna St Vincent Millay. And we definitely don't get enough books about the Harlem Renaissance. Now, this isn't an informational text. There's no exploration of influences or breakdown of meaning. We get a poem by one of these authors and then a response written by Grimes.

I have not read a lot of poetry, and I haven't read anything by Nikki Grimes, but I really enjoyed this interesting format. She alternated a poem by a 1920s-ish-era woman poet with a poem of her own constructed from that poem using the Golden Shovel format, which I had not heard of before.

The artwork is eye-catching, detailed, and stunning. Even more than the poetry, I enjoyed the bios of the poets and artists making up the latter part of the small book.

Nikki Grimes weaves new poems around the words of women from the Harlem Renaissance. Grimes creates new works to empower.

When you think about the Harlem Renaissance, how many women can you name? Most people would name Lorraine Hansberry (playwright of "A Raisin in the Sun"). This collection edited by poet Nikki Grimes is a praise to the women who contributed to this essential movement one hundred years ago. Alternating between Grimes' poetry (and the illustrations) and poems by other modern female poets, are poems by Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Esther Popel (read "Flag Salute"), Angelina Weld Grimke (a relative of the famous abolitionists), and several more. The poems reflect the themes of racism and femininity of both the past and the present, which presents how not much has changed during the last century. Regardless, the poems are meaningful and enjoyable.

P.S. Anyone who enjoyed Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem (Inauguration Day 2021) should read this collection.

This was a gorgeous companion to Grimes first golden shovel anthology “One last word”
Teachers will want this book in their classrooms and students will not be able to put this book down

I really liked this collection of poems. I thought they were very cleverly drawn from poems by women poets of the Harlem Renaissance. The poems are about womanhood, blackness and the intersection of both identities. This book would work for both middle-grade and adult audiences. If you enjoy real poetry, I would highly recommend.

Happy New Year!! My first read for the year I was so lucky to get Nikki Grimes' ARC on poets from the Harlem Renaissance. Personally, I am not too familiar with authors from the Harlem Renaissance; I did have one class in college that thematically revolved around the texts, but my knowledge ends there. Because of this, I felt that Grimes' book was a perfect reintroduction to the movement and the female poets that have fallen off my radar.

One thing to know about this book of poetry is that it written in the "Golden Shovel" format. Grimes does a great job in explaining what the format is, but to paraphrase the Golden Shovel Poem is created using a line from another poem; once you have that line, the words in that poem must be used as the last word of each line in your poem. What I enjoyed about this is that even before we get into the readings, Grimes explains and gives an example of what this will look like. I find that to be so helpful and something that can be used in the classroom.

On to the book- some things that I fully enjoyed about the book is that each poem by the Harlem Renaissance authors is thematically connected to Grimes' Shovel Poem. For example, if the poem is speaking towards societal standards for women Grimes will also keep that theme and recreate a new poem as a response or as a continuation. Reading both sets was something empowering because the themes encouraged readers to be more than what society tells us to be.

In addition to beautiful works of poetry, visual artist were included in the process because at the end of each poem set there is a related image done by an illustrator/artist. No piece is a duplicate, and they each bring out the mental image that represented the poetry.

Legacy is an amazing addition to any collection because it mixes modes of art as well as timelines in a seamless manner. I would love to see another addition to this book in the form of a series, and I can honestly say that Nikki Grimes did not disappoint.