Bronx Masquerade
Open Mike Friday is everyone's favorite day in Mr. Ward's English class.  On Fridays, his 18 high-school students dare to relax long enough to let slip  the poets, painters, readers, and dreamers that exist within each of them. Raul  Ramirez, the self-described "next Diego Rivera," longs "to show the beauty of  our people, that we are not allbanditoslike they show on TV, munchingcuchfritosand sipping beer through chipped teeth." And while angry  Tyrone Bittings finds dubious comfort in denying hope: "Life is cold.  Future?...wish there was some future to talk about. I could use me some future,"  overweight Janelle Battle hopes to be seen for what she really is: "for I am  coconut / and the heart of me / is sweeter / than you know" They are all here:  the tall girl, the tough-talking rapper, the jock, the beauty queen, the teenage  mom, the artist, and many more. While it may sound like anotherBreakfast  Clubrehash, Grimes uses both poetry and revealing first-person prose to  give each character a distinct voice. By book's end, all the voices have blended  seamlessly into a multicultural chorus laden with a message that is probably  summed up best by pretty girl Tanisha Scott's comment, "I am not a skin color or  a hank of wavy hair. I am a person, and if they don't get that, it's their  problem, not mine." But no teen reader will have a problem with this lyrical mix  of many-hued views. (Ages 12 and older)--Jennifer Hubert--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.