New Math By Nikki Grimes (Grades 4-6)

Nikki Grimes was born in Harlem in 1950. At the age of 13, she gave her first poetry reading, at the Countee Cullen Library, a block away from where she was born. As a teenager, she began publishing her poetry, and was mentored by writer James Baldwin. She attended Rutgers University, where she earned her BA in English and African languages, studying with Toni Cade Bambara, Nikki Giovanni, and Miguel Algarín, among others.