Ordinary Hazards: A Memoir
by Nikki Grimes

★ A Michael L. Printz Honor Book
★ A Robert F. Sibert Informational Honor Book
★ A Boston Globe/Horn Book Nonfiction Honor Book
★ Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Teens

In her own voice, acclaimed author and poet Nikki Grimes explores the truth of a harrowing childhood in a compelling and moving memoir in verse.

Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by babysitters, shunted from foster family to foster family, and preyed upon by those she trusted. At the age of six, she poured her pain onto a piece of paper late one night - and discovered the magic and impact of writing. For many years, Nikki’s notebooks were her most enduing companions. In this accessible and inspiring memoir that will resonate with young readers and adults alike, Nikki shows how the power of those words helped her conquer the hazards - ordinary and extraordinary - of her life.

“Life, as Nikki Grimes so well puts it, is full of ordinary hazards, only she creates and accepts them in poems. Sometimes you want to cry… sometimes to laugh… but always at all times are you glad you are alive and lived with it and through it. Ms. Grimes writes, but some of us sing, bake, or build buildings or play sports. These, too, can be hazardous. But none of them is ordinary.”
—Nikki Giovanni, Poet

“Each verse is a gift, showing us how to find beauty even in brokenness.”
—Renée Watson, author of the New York Times best seller Piecing Me Together