In the empowering picture book biography Ode to Grapefruit by Kari Lavelle (We Move the World) and four-time Caldecott Medal honoree Bryan Collier (All Because You Matter), a young James Earl Jones's stutter keeps him silent, until he discovers poetry.
Young James hopes his teacher will skip him when it's his turn to read out loud--although he knows the words on the page, his "words get stuck." As he grows, his stutter remains. One day, James is simply "done talking"; instead "James listened." In high school, Professor Crouch recites poems aloud. "James loved listening to the rhythm and the words." When alone, James recites poetry and even writes poems in secret. When a shipment of grapefruit arrives in the winter, James peels the rind with the "tata tata tata tata" rhythm of "Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha" in his head. Inhaling the "delicious citrus aroma," he's inspired to write. When Professor Crouch encourages James to read the poem aloud, he feels the rhythm in his soul and, for the first time in eight years, allows his "resonant voice" free.
Lavelle, a speech pathologist, uses poetic, direct text to convey James's fear and anxiety. In an author's note, Lavelle says that James's experience with his stutter "is a lesson for all of us in acceptance and listening to the voice within us." Collier's watercolor and collage illustrations display many of his compelling techniques: close-ups on faces and hands, mixing the real and imagined, and the repetition of symbols. Lavelle's text combined with Collier's illustrations capture the victory of James Earl Jones finding his voice. --Hadeal Salamah, blogger, librarian, freelance reviewer