Garvey in the Dark

How will you remem­ber the Covid shut­down? Months of being at home, news reports of deaths, school con­duct­ed online. How did it affect you? Your fam­i­ly? Friends? How did our chil­dren get through these dark months?

Nik­ki Grimes has writ­ten a mid­dle grade verse nov­el about her fan-beloved Gar­vey, a young boy who con­nect­ed at last with his father in Garvey’s Choice. In this sto­ry, Gar­vey and his fam­i­ly do their best to adapt to each new wrin­kle of the pandemic. 

Garvey’s par­ents work as an ele­men­tary school teacher and a wi-fi installer, both essen­tial jobs dur­ing the shutdown. 

Gar­vey can no longer par­tic­i­pate in his soul-soar­ing choir, or hang around with his friends, or check new books out of the library. His gui­tar lessons with his dad stop because his father is busy try­ing to help peo­ple be con­nect­ed to the world through wi-fi. 

Garvey’s old­er sis­ter, involved in many sports, is home with only indi­vid­ual prac­tice and train­ing to give her the action she craves.

Every­one around him is chang­ing, wor­ried, over-worked, doing their best to tame The Invis­i­ble Beast. And then COVID strikes inside Garvey’s home.

“When COVID’s over,
will I get my young mom back?
Will Dad and I play
music again? Ugh! I’ve got
to stop drown­ing in questions!”

This is an impor­tant book. Young read­ers will rec­og­nize their own expe­ri­ences. Adult read­ers will find touch­stones for their wor­ries and cares.

With her usu­al pos­i­tive and hope­ful sto­ry­telling, Nik­ki Grimes reminds us that lives changed dur­ing the Covid pan­dem­ic, affect­ing many peo­ple in many dif­fer­ent ways. Garvey’s sto­ry will res­onate deeply with read­ers of all ages.

High­ly recommended.