Garvey's Choice: The Graphic Novel by Nikki Grimes (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Garvey's Choice: The Graphic Novel by Nikki Grimes April Spisak Grimes, Nikki Garvey's Choice: The Graphic Novel; illus. by Theodore Taylor III. Wordsong, 2023 [144p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781662660023 $22.99 Paper ed. ISBN 9781662660085 $12.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781662660092 $9.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 4-6 Grimes' award-winning tanka poem narrative about a boy struggling to find a place for himself in his family and the world is adapted in this captivating, visually impressive graphic, which looks at Garvey from a slightly different perspective. Garvey knows that binge eating is not a healthy solution for navigating the pain of feeling like a constant disappointment to his father who has clear expectations about what a Black man should be, or for handling bullying and isolation at school, but he doesn't have a better therapeutic tool. When he finally finds the school chorus, it is a revelation: here is a way to engage with the world, to share his gifts, to negotiate his hurt, and to maybe even relate to his father who also has a strong connection with music. His relationship with eating changes, and he adjusts to moderate exercise and a more measured approach to food, although (refreshingly) Garvey does not condemn his earlier behaviors nor obsess over the exact extent of his weight loss. The digital illustrations are arranged to retain the feeling of vignettes building to a whole, using empty space, page transitions, and thoughtful panel sizes to support the structure of the poems. In an author's note, Grimes explains how some of the original poems, carefully written using the traditional tanka syllable count and format, needed to be adapted for a visual medium with speech bubbles; the occasional loss of flow from the original is easily compensated for with the emotionally rich illustrations. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois