First published 2014
Young Marilyn Nelson navigates her childhood in 1950s America, where racial tensions simmer beneath the surface of everyday life. Through fifty carefully crafted poems, she captures moments that shaped her identity as both an artist and a Black woman coming of age. The Cold War casts its shadow over her world while the earliest waves of feminism begin to stir. Each poem reveals another layer of her awakening consciousness, from small domestic scenes to larger cultural reckonings. Nelson transforms personal memory into verse, showing how a poet's eye develops through lived experience. Her journey unfolds against a backdrop of social change, family relationships, and the quiet moments that spark artistic vision. This memoir in verse traces the intimate connection between personal growth and historical moment.
Genres: american, african-american, coming-of-age, autobiography, poetry, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical
Tropes: coming-of-age, found-family
Setting: America
Period: 1950s, Cold War
112 pages · Hardcover · Rocky Pond Books