A wonderful book in verse taking place during the Covid-19 pandemic in California. Told from the point of view of Garvey, a kid who is just finding his place in his family, learning guitar and enjoying his life when the pandemic invades and strips so much of what he loves away from him.
I haven’t read many novels in verse but I really enjoyed this. The impact that is made using so few words is remarkable. If kids are feeling ready to read novels set during covid, then I think this one is a great choice. I can imagine it being chosen in schools to be studied in years to come by children who didn’t live through this time, to give them a picture of what it was like. I hope it will be, in any case.
Thank you to NetGalley for the digital review copy
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Novel in verse
I received an electronic ARC from Astra Publishing House through NetGalley.
Grimes uses verse to continue Garvey's story. Readers see their lives as Covid begins in March 2020 and then see how it directly affects them when his father becomes ill. Middle graders will connect to the emotions and actions as it is recent enough that they also lived through the joint traumas of Covid and the protests for justice.
Grimes is a master of this craft and captures the gamut of emotions through her poetry. She conveys so much that will resonate with readers and open opportunities for dialogue for families.

Any book by Nikki Grimes is a treasure. Garvey in the Dark is another of her poetic stories that hits home as she delves into a young man who has to deal with the isolation of Covid and a father who falls ill. Music grounds him and provides comfort and hope during a period when he needs an outlet.
Nikki Grimes knows how to tug at heart strings while taking us into the world of her characters. By the end of this story, you are rooting for Garvey as he digs his way out of the dark. Grimes way with storytelling through verse will keep you enthralled.

Grimes uses the traditional Japanese tanka poem style to tell the story of Garvey's life from January through July 2020, from the first whispers of a mysterious disease through the murder of George Floyd and the protests that follow. Although not that long ago, this still feels like history told through a middle school lens. Garvey's father fights Covid at home and Manny's Gram ends up in the hospital. I was moved to tears as Garvey and his friends figure out how to bless the heroic people working at the hospital. It is hard to know how readers in a few years will relate to the book, but middle grade readers today, I think it will let them remember their own emotions from that eventful year. And, I hope there are more Garvey stories to come.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the early copy of this book.

Written in verse, this is the story of a family in California in early 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic entered the country and everyone's lives.

I love the characters and seeing how the pandemic impacted Garvey and his friends. It made me wonder how the teens, my own included, processed what we were going through, especially in the early days. While we were thrown together more as a family, were we available for the children or were we too wrapped up in our own worries and pressures that we were actually less connected and less aware of how they were being impacted. I am a teacher and I very much related to the mom in the story. I also couldn't help but flashback to so many of the fears and decisions we made in an attempt to keep ourselves and our family safe.

As COVID-19 stories begin to appear on the shelves, I wonder whether kids will be ready for them. Do they want to read a book about a historical event that impacted them in such a traumatic way? My father, a WWII vet, used to avoid movies and books about the war. He would say he lived it and didn't need to live it again. The memory of this conversation with him goes through my head every time I read a book about a lived experience of my own and those of my students.

The biggest issue I had was that the formatting of verse novels and graphic novels seem to always be super wonky on my kindle when I download from NetGalley and I prefer not to read on the app on my phone so reading this was a little challenging at times. With that said, I devoured it in less than 24 hours. This is definitely a book I will add to the collection.

Grimes returns to her character Garvey and follows him and his family as they navigate the uncertain first days and months of the pandemic.

I read this book as an e-arc from netgalley, and despite having to struggle a bit through some very clumsy formatting, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this sequel to Garvey's Choice.

I know some people feel like it's too early to be setting books during the pandemic, but I'm not one of them. From the perspective of a kid, the pandemic has been going on a verrrrry long time. Grimes handles the pandemic aspect of the story well, from the initial confusion, to the excitement about getting an unexpected vacation, to the dawning realization that beloved activities will also be cancelled, to the fear of the health of friends and family members. Grimes' ability to weave in other current events, such as the 2020 election and the George Floyd/ Black Lives Matter protests, is equally appropriate. I appreciated the way Garvey has occasional strong feelings about what is going on in the larger world, but is usually primarily concerned about what is happening right in front of him, with friends and family.

As always, Grimes' ability to convey a lot of information and feeling into very, very few words is stunning. She is a master poet.

Highly recommended for older elementary/younger middle school kids.

Fantastic novel in verse written in tanka poems about Garvey navigating the many challenges and changes in his life during the pandemic. When Covid-19 hits the California area and schools close, it changes so much for Garvey’s family. The state goes into lockdown and Garvey wonders when he will see his friends again. The family wears masks; they wipe everything down and get groceries delivered. Garvey’s dad shows him how to play the guitar which brings them closer. Garvey wants life back to normal; he doesn’t want to hear about the pandemic, police shootings, or murder hornets. When a family member comes down with Covid , Garvey has an idea to help. Does it work?

This quick read was about a musically talented boy named Garvey. Just as his life was looking up, Covid happened. As if this wasn’t hard enough for a teen, he is also Black and his anger and frustration is heightened after racial tensions mount in his California town after the death of George Floyd. Covid directly affects his friends and family. He worries for his father who is a wifi technician and his teacher mother is exhausted all the time. Garvey puts his talent to good use to help cope with the stress. This novel in verse is written in Tanka form. It’s honest, realistic, and deals with topics my middle schoolers will care about.

This middle grades quick read by Grimes was the perfect recall of how our world changed on March 13, 2020-told through the eyes of a child. I especially loved how she captured the struggle of the main character’s mom who was a teacher. This book releases in October and would be a great one for upper elementary and middle school.

The pandemic has been the subject of a few middle grade books. This book is not considerably different, though it gives a slightly different perspective. Like other books on this subject, it keeps alive the issues of the pandemic as well as racism, black lives matter, education, and protests. Perhaps this book hints at how education for children around the country changed and was inequitable in itself.
For me, the strength of this book lies in the writing. Several excellent books have been written in verse. This book is written using the poetic form, Tanka. Teachers often look for books to be a model for both reading and writing. I believe “Garvey in the Dark” will make a good mentor text, for students writing narrative using the Tanka form, but it could also inspire young writers to use other poetic forms as well.
There are several spots in this book where I had to reread to understand what the author was trying to say. Maybe it was the medium in which I read the book, but some sentences stopped and seemed to pick up a few lines later.

Love Garvey. His feelings seemed so authentic concerning his place in the world, the issues surrounding Covid and then when he has a family member who becomes ill, it becomes truly personal to him.

Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Garvey in the Dark by Nikki Grimes. The opinions expressed are my own. I believe this book is set in tanka verse but my e-version of the book did not reflect this. This is powerful, short read through the viewpoint of the main character Garvey. will be relatable to all students that have experienced the Covid lockdown. The police killings of Brionna and George Floyd are also felt by Garvey and his family.. The only drawback for me is that it is too soon, too raw to appreciate fully the impact Covid has had on all of us.

Nikki Grimes has written a quietly powerful, straightforward novel in tanka verse that addresses fears and realities of Covid and violence against Black people through Garvey, a narrator with whom many young readers will resonate. The novel's treatment of the pandemic, including the contemporaneous killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and issues arising from Covid lockdowns, illness, and prevention, is sensitive to middle grade readers without sugarcoating. A fine, understated piece that gets under your skin. It belongs in every middle school library.

As I teacher I relate to the mom and the stress of online teaching. Many times I understood so much of the feeling during this time and think back. This was a good read and I enjoyed reading this book.
When it first started I felt like something was off and I couldn’t figure out what it was. While at the beginning there is a time line to go over when certain events happened it would have been nice to see the specific time jumps, Also, I think the book was lacking in a way to convey the emotions that were being described. I’ve read prose based books before and there was a major difference between getting the feelings and emotions between the two. I do know that at this age it’s hard for kids to truly explain their emotions but it’s hard to feel it,

When I requested Garvey in the Dark from @netgalley, I fully expected love the story as Nikki Grimes is an author extraordinaire. What I didn’t expect was to be so immersed in the book that I read it all in one sitting. Told in literary form (which I later found out was Tanka), Grimes tells the story of Garvey, a young Black man during the height of the pandemic, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. This story transported me back to 2022 and brought all of the emotions and angst I felt then, as a teacher trying to teach during that time. While I finished this book quickly, it is one that will stay with me for a long time. Perfect for grades 4 and up. 5 stars, without question.

It was nice to return to Garvey’s world, even though it was a world plagued by Covid and addressed not only the realities of life at the start of this pandemic, but also the realities surrounding some of the other major events of the time. This would pair nicely with Kelly Yang’s New From Here. It was very easy to relate to Garvey and his family. Like other Nikki Grimes titles, their were so many nuggets of truth expressed in a beautiful artistic way.

Nikki Grimes has a way with words and her mastery of the novel in verse is evident in Garvey in the Dark. Told in the tanka form, this novel creates the atmosphere and mood to place the reader right back in 2020 with all of the uncertainty and turmoil that brings. There's virtual learning, social isolation, and the Black Lives Matter movement, but through that pain there's also the story of a strong family and friend group that keep the main character sane. The story starts with the words, "Different. The same..." to describe live post-COVID, and I think that encapsulates every readers' feelings.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to leave a fair review for this title due to the poor editing of the E-arc I received. I am having a hard time reading the text and it is hard to pick up the intended meaning of the dialogue and storyline due to blatant grammar mistakes.

I will say that the story excites me and is a timely reflection on the ways that the covid-19 pandemic impacts youth and marginalized communities.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the E-arc and should the arc be revised, I will happily pick this back up and provide a thoughtful review.

This was an appropriate read for me right now as Garvey is dealing with Covid in his house and I currently have it. A novel in verse in tanka form, Grimes deftly addresses the fear and anxiety in kids and families with the uncertainty of covid, especially when in yoru household. Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and the BLM protests are included as part of the history of 2020. A helpful timeline is provided that maps out the events of 2020 as they unfolded. This book is a follow-up to Garvey's Choice, although readers who haven't read GC can follow easily as a standalone.