“Received a lovely letter from a teen, today,” writes Nikki Grimes on her Facebook Page.

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Some of her questions were better than a few I’ve received from adults! “I’ve been writing my own stories since I was little, and I’ve always wanted to know what the job was like. I’ve also been wondering, how do you develop characters? I’ve also had trouble with creating a nice, steady character, and I think that you have very unique ones in your books. So I was wondering if if you had some ideas.” I love this girl! She’ll be getting a long response in her mailbox, soon.

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Nikki Grimes conveyed the fire-in-the-belly fervor of a Harlem girl who knows she was born to write in Jazmin’s Notebook, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. In My Man Blue, a Booklist Editor’s Choice and Newsweek Children’s Books of the Year selection, her artful words expressed a boy’s journey from skepticism to trust. And now with Bronx Masquerade she presents a rich chorus of eighteen voices, singing openly about ideas, feelings, and questions–things that open minds, invite debate, provide release. A recent Booklist review proclaims: “As always, Grimes gives young people exactly what they’re looking for–real characters who show them they are not alone.”An accomplished poet, novelist, journalist, and educator, Ms. Grimes was born and raised in New York City and now lives in the Los Angeles area.