Out of the Dark

Nik­ki Grimes is the recip­i­ent of the 2006 NCTE Award for Excel­lence in Poet­ry for Chil­dren. Her dis­tin­guished works include ALA Notable book award What is Good­bye?, Jazmin’s Note­book, Dark Sons, and The Road to Paris (Coret­ta Scott King Author Hon­or Books).

Cre­ator of the pop­u­lar Meet Dan­i­tra Brown, Ms. Grimes lives in Coro­na, Cal­i­for­nia. Nik­ki Grimes does not con­sid­er her­self a bona fide sto­ry­teller, but, as she told an audi­ence at the Library of Con­gress, she is hap­py to own the title Poet. Born and raised in New York City, Nik­ki began com­pos­ing verse at the age of six and has been writ­ing ever since.

“I had to beat back a lot of dark­ness in my life to find my way
to the light — my pen was a secret weapon in that battle.”