Bronx Masquerade

This book was a refreshing read!  In a time where I’m constantly around teenagers, it’s a nice reminder (for anyone really) to understand what it’s like in someone else’s shoes.  

The main premise of the book is one you’ve seen before in one of those “my teacher changed by life” type movies.  The difference here is that the teacher isn’t the hero of the story; the students are.  The book follows the students in Mr. Ward’s high school English class at a Bronx high school.  The kids are mostly black and Hispanic with a few white kids thrown in.  At the start of the book, the kids seem to judge each other based on their limited knowledge about each other, but they don’t really KNOW each other.  When a kid turns in a poem instead of an essay for their Harlem Renaissance unit, their teacher asks if others want to share poems they’ve written.  From this stems Open Mic Fridays.  Each Friday, kids are allowed time to read poems to the class, and through the poems, they learn a little bit more about what’s behind their social “mask” (hence the title, Bronx Masquerade).  

Each chapter and poem is written by a different student in the class.  What I find interesting is Nikki Grimes’s ability to create so many individual characters.  Each poem written has a different feel to it…because in the fictional world they are all written by different people.  Their stories intertwine with each other and makes for a very heart-felt story.  I applaud the author for also staying with the student’s perspectives and not going to the teacher’s point of view.  As I said before, the students are really the heart and soul of the story, and they are the ones that take the open mic idea to a new level.  They convince each other to share, they encourage each other, and in the end, they are more empathetic for it.  For example, Tyrone—a future rapper, in his own mind—realizes that the white boy Steve can really freestyle.  Tanisha—the girl that all the guys like because of her light skin and perfect hair—shows her class that she’s proud of her African roots, just like they are, and that she’s more than just a pretty face.  Raynard—the quiet boy who never speaks in class—shows everyone he isn’t stupid, just dyslexic.  It’s these types of stories that really get me going and get me excited for the future generation, showing them there is more to the world that just their cellphone or their small circle of friends.  

Overall, this was a very easy and enjoyable read, and it was exciting to get to share the story with my kids at school.  My only criticism is that I wanted to know more about what happened to the kids.  But that just means the author is doing something right.