HOPSCOTCH LOVE

Poems about love indeed hopscotch among the generations, and every one of the 22 entries tells a story.

Many of the poems focus on Valentine’s Day; a teacher finds a heart on a blackboard, and decides not to erase it, or a girl writing in her notebook complains of the lack of valentines, but the entry stops when she receives one. Several of the poems bring up black history, e.g., a strong poem about the love between Medgar and Myrlie Evers, and a somewhat less convincing one about a father and daughter trading anecdotes about Malcolm X. The illustrations capture familiar situations, from a group of teenagers together in school to a lone girl shyly reacting to unexpected compliments.

Grimes and Rosales succeed in imparting the small, telling moments in loving relationships.