MY MAN BLUE

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Grimes, Nikki. 1999. MY MAN BLUE. ill. By Jerome Lagarrigue. Broadway, New York. Scholastic Inc.

ISBN: 0-439-23191

PLOT SUMMARY:

            My Man Blue is a collection of poems which tell the story of Damon and Blue. Damon is a fatherless boy who meets Blue when his mother moves them to the place where she grew up.  Blue is a large, intimidating man in black clothing and Damon doesn’t trust him at first. As it turns out, Blue is an old friend of Damon’s mother. The friendship that develops between Damon and Blue unfolds in each poem where we find out that Blue had a son who was a street kid whom he couldn’t help. Because of his inability to help his son, Blue teaches Damon valuable lessons to help him survive the world in which he lives. Blue could not help his son but hopes to help Damon in the absence of his father.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

            Nikki Grimes’ poems about an intimidating man who has been through some hard times and the innocent boy without a father will touch a chord of emotion with readers. The story, told through the eyes of Damon, begins immediately with a description of Blue which creates a vivid mental picture of him; a “rugged dude” wearing black, with gold teeth but having “A harmless Gentle-giant side.”  The poems also do not have the same rhythm but as a collection they fit together well. Poems like DAMON & BLUE uses rhymes at the end of each line and other poems such as SECOND SON rhyme only every second and fourth line. The illustrations in the book are muted and seem a little dark as if to signify the type of world Blue and Damon live in. Each illustration depicts its companion poem well but in the illustrations of Blue, especially the first one, they do not depict someone intimidating and fierce as the poem suggests. He indeed looks to be more like the “Gentle-giant” that he is.

AWARDS:

100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
A Booklist Editor's Choice
A Book Links Lasting Connection Book
Bank Street College Children's Book of the Year
Society of School Librarians International Honor Book
Marion Vannett Ridgway Award
ABA-CBC Children's Books Mean Business
Newsweek Best Children's Picture Books of the Year
New Yorker Christmas Round-up
Riverbank Review Children's Books of Distinction Finalist
Capitol Choice Children's Book

REVIEWS:

Kirkus:

 “This against-the-odds book from Grimes (Jazmin's Notebook, 1998, etc.) tells of an African-American boy living in a neighborhood that cuts him no slack, and the man who helps keep his feet grounded and his self-esteem steady against the occasional buffeting of his peers.”

Publisher’s Weekly:

            “Heartfelt poems and deeply-hued paintings”

CONNECTIONS:

            Lead a discussion or have the students write about someone who has had a positive influence on their life. They could also write a letter to that person or a poem about them. A fun idea that comes from Nikki Grimes’ website would be to pick some scenes from the poems and play a charade type game.

Other books by Nikki Grimes:

            Bronx Masquerade

            Oh, Brother!

            Danitra Brown, Class Clown