Description: "Before there was Mufasa--before there was Darth Vader--there was a young boy names James Earl Jones, who spoke with a stutter and dreaded having to talk in class. Whenever James tried to voice his thoughts, his words got stuck in his throat. But James figured out a solution for his shame: if he didn't speak, he wouldn't stutter. And so he was silent--until he wrote his own poem, Ode to Grapefruit, and found a love for poetry. ...Text, ... art, and ... backmatter about stuttering pair together for a ... picture book about how a boy who refused to speak for eight years learned to manage his stutter through poetry--and grew up to become an EGOT-winning performer with a voice few could forget"--
Review Quotes: "A testament to poetry's expressive powers." --Kirkus Reviews
"Thought-provoking." --Booklist "Lavelle....sensitively captures the anxiety that may accompany the [speech] disorder and insightfully conveys the power of poetry." --The Horn Book"Lavelle's text combined with Collier's illustrations capture the victory of James Earl Jones finding his voice." --Shelf Awareness