Ode to Grapefruit: How James Earl Jones Found His Voice

Via this intentionally paced picture book biography of American actor James Earl Jones (b. 1931), Lavelle (We Move the World) relays a story about finding one’s “important. Imperfectly perfect” voice. It begins in a classroom, in which students are portrayed with various skin tones, and where Jones’s stutter interferes with his reading aloud. Though his words flow when he speaks to farm animals at home, he’s eventually “done talking” and remains silent for eight years, listening instead. A high school teacher reads poetry that intrigues him, and a shipment of grapefruit inspires Jones to write a poem of his own—and to read it to the class. With patience and practice, Jones slowly cultivates a voice that becomes globally recognizable. Collage and watercolor illustrations from Collier (Maya’s Song) employ circles that highlight Jones’s arc toward speech, and a moving classroom portrait shows other students with segments of the poem’s grapefruit subject in their mouths. Told in measured prose, the biography builds to a moment of triumph that ushers in a “voice, low and booming, beyond the dark side of fear.” Creators’ notes and information about stuttering conclude. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Elizabeth Bennett, Transatlantic Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Marcia Wernick, Wernick & Pratt. (July)