LOCOMOTION

“This whole book’s a poem,” Lonnie says. And it is. Jacqueline Woodson’s poetry unfolds in the story of Lonnie Collins Motion (Locomotion). Lonnie is in fifth grade. His teacher, Ms. Marcus, tells him he has a “poet’s heart.” In a series of haiku, sonnets, epistles, and occasion poems, Lonnie’s poetry remembers the smell of his mother’s honeysuckle talc, shells clicking in a pretty girl’s braids, and yellow curtains on his sister’s window. Narrator JD Jackson is splendid reading Lonnie’s unself-conscious, revealing poems. Jackson creates a believable 11-year-old whose innocence is tinged with too much knowing. The terrible loss of Lonnie’s parents, his deep love for his little sister, and his growing awareness of racial inequity are all enhanced by Jackson’s performance. Woodson’s novel-in-verse is well worth hearing. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 04]