Garvey’s Choice by Nikki Grimes and Illustrated by Theodore Taylor III
Graphic novel adaptation of a book in verse.
It was cute, very short read.
Garvey’s dad is always pushing for him to do some sports. His mom encourages his love of science, music, reading, and chess. Garvey hates the little things his dad says like, “reading doesn’t build muscles.” He ends up finding ways to hide his hurt and sometimes that is by eating his feelings. This doesn’t help things with his father.
Garvey is now being teased by kids at school. They call him “wide-load,” “lard butt,” and “fatso.” Nobody likes to hear that type of thing, so he decides to try dieting and jogging. Neither of these goes especially well.
He is encouraged to join choir by his best friend, but he wants to keep it a secret from his dad. He doesn’t want to hear about how much dad wishes he would play a sport instead.
Of Course there are all sorts of feelings throughout the book. Garvey has issues with kids at school, navigating new friendships, dealing with his dad, and trying to find his happy place in choir.
Like I said, it was a quick book. I now want to read the novel in verse. It looks pretty short as well but I bet there is a lot more detail and emotion.
*update
I checked out the novel in verse, which is basically the same word-for-word. I think there were one or two poems in a different order, but they were still the same. I’m not sure which I liked best. I liked having the images to go along with the words, but I could see how some people would like to create their own images in their minds. I sort of wish I had read the novel in verse first and then checked to see if my mind matched what the illustrator created.
Four out of Five Magical Coffee Cups
Literary Coffee 