Bronx Masquerade

Bibliography:
Grimes, Nikki. Bronx Masquerade. New York: Dial Books, 2002. ISBN-10 0803725698

Plot Summary:
Bronx Masquerade is a fictional collection of journal article style entries and poems by 18 high school students relating to their English class and the “Open Mike Fridays” their teacher, Mr. Ward, started, during which they are allowed to share their poems. The journal articles discuss the thoughts of the particular student regarding the events in their life, followed by poems written by the same student which relate back to the journal entry. The next entries are reactions to the poems by one or more of the classmates. Issues written about involve discrimination, personal identity and aspirations. The book covers the course of one school year.

Critical Analysis:
People who have seen the movie Freedom Writers may find a similar feel in Bronx Masquerade. It is a book in which students come together and view each other in new light, becoming in some ways a family. The development can be seen through two quotes by the same student, Tyrone, one from the beginning of the book, and one from the end: “School ain’t nothin’ but a joke… I’m just about ready to sleep off the whole year when this teacher starts talking about poetry. And he rattles off a poem by some white guy named Dylan Thomas that sounds an awful lot like rap. Now, I know me some rap, and I start to thinking I should show Mr. Ward what rap is really all about” (7-8), followed by, “Okay. I just wanted to say I’m really glad I got to do this poetry thing because I feel like, even though the people in our class are all different colors and some of you speak a different language and everything, I feel like we connected. I feel like I know you now. You know what I’m saying? I feel like we’re not as different as I thought” (164).
Even though the book is not written entirely in poetry, poetry holds it all together. None of the poetry is written with strict rules and measures, but it comes from the heart and so speaks loudly to the reader (or listener). It shows that anyone can be a poet:
“I’m more than tall
and lengthy of limb.
I dare you to peep
behind these eyes,
discover the poet
in tough-guy disguise” (32).
The students come to know each other on a personal level because of the poems, helping them through hardship and loneliness in addition to typical teenage trials and tribulations. The book shows that something as small as a poem can bring people together. One student not from the class commented on her feelings of discrimination, “but then we had an assembly yesterday with all these kids reading poetry. They seemed to get along with each other, almost like family. They said it was the poems that brought them together. It can’t be that simple, can it” (167)?

Review Excerpts:
Publisher’s Weekly – “Grimes's (Jazmin's Notebook) creative, contemporary premise will hook teens, and the poems may even inspire readers to try a few of their own. The poetic forms range from lyrics penned by aspiring rapper Tyrone to the concrete poem of a budding Puerto Rican painter Raul (titled ‘Zorro’ and formed as the letter ‘Z’). Ultimately, though, there may be too many characters for the audience to penetrate deeply… The narrators trade off quickly, offering only a glimpse into their lives. Not even Tyrone, who breaks in after each student's poem to offer some commentary, comes fully to life. The students' poems, however, provide some lasting images… Any one of these students could likely dominate a novel of his or her own, they simply get too little time to hold the floor here.

Connections:
Other books about bringing people together through poetry include:
Aquado, Bill and Richard Newirth. Paint Me Like I Am: Teen Poems from WritersCorps. ISBN 9780064472647
Franco, Betsy. You Hear Me?: Poems and Writing by Teenage Boys. ISBN 9780763611590
Franco, Betsy. You Hear Me?: Poems and Writing by Teenage Girls. ISBN 978-0763610357
Shakur, Tupac. The Rose that Grew from Concrete. ISBN 9780671028459