About this item
Before legendary actor James Earl Jones was recognized for his memorable, smooth voice, he was just James--a stutterer who stopped speaking for eight years as a child...and ultimately found his voice through poetry.. 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. . Lyrical text, stunning art, and compelling backmatter about stuttering pair together for a remarkable 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.
About the Author
Kari Lavelle is the author of WE MOVE THE WORLD (HarperCollins 2021) , BUTT OR FACE (Sourcebooks, 2023) and AN ODE TO GRAPEFRUIT: HOW JAMES EARL JONES FOUND HIS VOICE (Knopf 2024) . She has always had a love for words: as a kid reading books, as a speech pathologist helping children communicate, and now as a writer creating stories. She grew up in the Midwest but now lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, their two children, and doggo, Dobby. Learn more about Kari and her books at karilavelle. com.
