by Nikki Grimes
“Hey,” said Dyamonde.
“Hey,” said Amberline without looking up. Damaris waited and waited for Amberline to say something else.
Dyamonde couldn’t stand the silence. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said.
“Yeah,” said Damaris. “That was pretty scary yesterday.”
Amberline shrugged. “I’m fine now,” she said.
“Good,” said Damaris. Again, Damaris waited for Amberline to say more. She didn’t.
Okay, thought Dyamonde. Let’s get out of here.
She poked Damaris to give her a hint. Instead of turning to leave, Damaris cleared her throat and sat down.
“I was reading about diabetes last night,” said Damaris. Amberline stopped kicking the dirt and raised her head. Damaris went on. “The book said when you have diabetes, you have to watch what you eat.”
“I know,” whispered Amberline.
“Actually, Mrs. Cordell said that too. And the book said you can’t eat too many sweets,” said Damaris.
“I know,” said Amberline, a little louder.
“And it’s really not a good thing to skip meals,” Damaris continued.
“I know!” snapped Amberline.
Damaris flinched as if someone had slapped her in the face.
Amberline jumped up from the bench. “I know all that stuff already! You think I don’t? I’ve known it half my life!” she yelled.
Damaris was red in the face now. Still, she shot right back, “But you fainted, Amberline! And all because you didn’t eat breakfast! Why would you do that if you knew?”
“You don’t understand,” said Amberline. “I get tired, Damaris. I get tired of always having to think about what I can eat and drink, and what I can’t. I get tired of testing my blood sugar four times a day, and trying to remember to drink enough water, and making sure I eat on time. I get tired of all of it! You know what I wish?” asked Amberline. “I wish I could be a normal kid—so sometimes I act like one. That’s all.”
Amberline seemed to run out of words and out of air. She fell back onto the bench and sighed heavily.
In the silence, Damaris whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Amberline turned to Damaris and stared deep into her eyes for a moment. “You have no idea how lucky you are,” she said. “No idea. Now, just leave me alone.” There were tears in Amberline’s eyes.
Dyamonde stood up first and pulled Damaris after her. Damaris shuffled along, her feet as heavy as her heart. Dyamonde felt bad for her friend.
I wish I knew what to say, thought Dyamonde. But she didn’t, so she just put her arm around Damaris’s shoulders and walked her back to class.
Better than Normal
It took a few days, but the kids at school eventually stopped talking about Amberline and her diabetes.
Now it all made sense. Amberline stayed to herself so she could take her insulin in secret and not let anyone find out. And she didn’t care about kids calling her fat because she had more serious things to worry about than some dumb kid’s insult. And she probably acted mean on purpose, just to keep people far away. It all made sense to Dyamonde and Damaris now.
But Dyamonde and Damaris decided they weren’t going to let Amberline push them away anymore. They were going to try to make friends with her.
Everybody needs friends, thought Dyamonde.
Damaris kept an eye out for Amberline at lunchtime.
“Hey, Amberline!” called Damaris one day. “Come sit with us.”
“Yeah,” said Dyamonde. “There’s plenty of room at our table.”
Amberline looked at Dyamonde and Damaris as if they each had two heads.
“What? Are we friends all of a sudden? I don’t think so,” said Amberline. Then she walked away before they could say anything more.
Dyamonde shrugged. “I guess the old Amberline is back,” she said.
“I guess,” said Damaris. “She must be so lonely, though. I feel sorry for her.”
“Me too,” said Dyamonde. “But you can’t make somebody be your friend. They get to choose.”
Damaris sighed. “You’re right.”
“I’m glad you chose to be my friend,” said Dyamonde.
Those words made Damaris break into a smile. She turned to her friend and gave her a big hug.
“What’s all this huggy-huggy stuff?” asked Free as he reached the table. He plopped his tray down across from them. “I hope you’re not planning on hugging me!” He made a face.
“Oh, puleeze!” said Dyamonde. “You wish somebody would give you a hug.”
“Not even!” said Free. “That’s girly stuff. I look girly to you? No, so forget it. Hey, Damaris, you got too many fries on your plate. Can I have some?”
Damaris smacked his hand. “Get your fingers off my property!” she said.
The three friends laughed, then made all the food on their plates disappear.
In the days that followed, Damaris went back to being her old self. She gave up staring at herself in the mirror, Dyamonde noticed. And she stopped paying attention to anyone’s dumb comments and wishing she was skinny all the time.
This suited Dyamonde just fine, because she was eager to have Damaris come to her house for a sleepover, and sleepovers at Dyamonde’s house meant waking up to homemade banana pancakes covered in buttery maple syrup. Nobody ever got skinny eating those!
“Damaris,” said Dyamonde one day, “ask your mom if you can come spend the night on Friday.”
“Will your mom be making pancakes?” asked Damaris.
“Yup,” said Dyamonde.
“Yum!” said Damaris. “I’ll ask my mom tonight.”
“Pancakes?” said Free. He licked his lips. “Can I come?”
“Puleeze!” said Dyamonde. “This is for girls only!”
Free groaned loud enough for the whole school to hear him.
That Saturday, Dyamonde and Damaris rushed to the breakfast table and munched through a stack of pancakes in record time. Both girls went back for seconds.
Damaris had lifted the bottle of maple syrup, ready to pour some on her plate, when she stopped in midair. She put the bottle back on the table and sighed.
“What’s the matter?” asked Dyamonde.
Damaris was lost in thought. It took her a minute to snap out of it.
“Damaris?”
“Huh? Oh. Sorry,” she said. “I was just thinking Amberline was right.”
Dyamonde licked syrup from the corner of her mouth before it could drip onto her pajamas. “Right about what?” she asked.
“About me being lucky. Here I was all worried about being called Miss Piggy like Amberline or not being skinny enough, and I never thought about how lucky I was to be healthy.”
Dyamonde nodded.
“I don’t have diabetes, so I can eat whatever I want and I don’t have to think about it.”
“Well,” said Mrs. Daniel, interrupting, “that’s not entirely true. If you want to stay healthy, you still need to make sure you eat your vegetables, drink enough milk and water, and get plenty of rest and exercise.”
“I guess,” said Damaris. “Still.”
“Still,” added Dyamonde, “we don’t have to prick our fingers to check our blood every day, or get shots, or think about how much sugar is in everything we eat.”
“Yeah,” said Damaris. “That must be hard.”
“Well,” said Mrs. Daniel, “since you know that, I hope you’re both being extra nice to that girl.”
“We tried,” whispered Damaris.
“We can try again,” Dyamonde whispered back. Damaris nodded.
“What’s the girl’s name?” asked Mrs. Daniel.
“Amberline,” Dyamonde and Damaris said in unison.
“Amberline! Now that’s a mouthful!” said Mrs. Daniel. Dyamonde and Damaris smiled. “Now quit hogging that syrup and hand it over,” Mrs. Daniel said to Damaris.
“Mom!” Dyamonde chided. “Whatever happened to ‘please’?”
Damaris l
aughed and passed the syrup to Mrs. Daniel, but not before she’d poured plenty on her second stack of banana pancakes.
“Yum!” said Damaris.
“You can say that again!” Dyamonde chimed in.
“Yum!”
Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel
PENNSYLVANIA YOUNG READER’S CHOICE AWARD
KANSAS STATE READING CIRCLE MASTER LIST
COOPERATIVE CHILDREN’S BOOK CENTER CHOICES LIST
MAUD HART LOVELACE BOOK AWARD NOMINEE
“Clean, direct prose and strong, clear characterizations make this an appealing early chapter book, while Christie’s stylized, dynamic drawings give it a fresh look. A welcome addition to the steadily growing list of beginning chapter books with African American protagonists, this is a promising start for the Dyamonde Daniel series.”
—Booklist
“Deals well with some complex issues, gently touching on the complexity without oversimplifying the feelings behind the situation.”
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“City youngsters will welcome a story set in their world—the world of small businesses, nosy old folks, small apartments and people from many cultures, and new readers will welcome the familiar situations, large font and ample white space. Gregory’s familiar black-and-white sketches add a hip, urban feel to the tale. Here’s hoping this series kick-off leads to many more stories about best friends Dyamonde and Free.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Rich: A Dyamonde Daniel Book
NOTABLE CHILDREN’S BOOKS IN THE LANGUAGE ARTS LIST
COOPERATIVE CHILDREN’S BOOK CENTER CHOICES LIST
“Fast-paced, believable urban school situations…make this a particularly relevant series entry for chapter-book readers. Christie’s light pen-and-ink sketches bring these good-hearted characters to life. Young readers will wish they had a friend like Dyamonde.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Vividly drawn African American characters…looks at the sensitive issues of poverty and homelessness from different angles and in a reassuringly matter-of-fact way. Expressive ink drawings illustrate this fine beginning chapter book.”
—Booklist
“Nikki Grimes’s beginning chapter book features inviting characters, an engaging story, and a look at the challenges of poverty. It also poses the question: What makes one truly rich? The rhythm, pacing, and tone of Grimes’s narration is captivating.”
—School Library Journal
Almost Zero: A Dyamonde Daniel Book
HORACE MANN UPSTANDERS BOOK AWARD
THE CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY’S
BEST OF THE BEST READING LIST
“The family and friend dynamics are pitch perfect, and Grimes portrays third-grader Dyamonde with a very realistic balance of self-confidence and self-doubt as she adjusts to new ideas…. Honest yet funny.”
—The Horn Book
“Christie’s modern black-and-white illustrations are perfect for the urban setting. Dyamonde’s readers will enjoy seeing a strong, smart African American girl face the same challenges they do. A treasure.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“An enjoyable story with a good life lesson…. The moral of the story is delivered in an endearing, accessible package. Grimes’s style is easygoing and straightforward, her characters real and engaging. Christie’s sketches in thick lines of black ink add to the book’s appeal.”
—School Library Journal
Born and raised in New York City, Nikki Grimes began composing verse at the age of six and has been writing ever since. She is the critically acclaimed author of numerous award-winning books for children and young adults, including Coretta Scott King Award winner Bronx Masquerade, Coretta Scott King Honor winner The Road to Paris and New York Times bestseller Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope (illustrated by Bryan Collier). In addition to a Coretta Scott King Award and four Coretta Scott King Honors, her work has received accolades such as the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, Booklist Editors’ Choice, ALA Notable, Bank Street College Book of the Year, Horn Book Fanfare, American Bookseller Pick of the List, Notable Social Studies Trade Book, NAACP Image Award Finalist, and the Golden Dolphin Award, an award given by the Southern California Children’s Booksellers Association in recognition of an author’s body of work. She lives in Corona, California.
Visit her at www.nikkigrimes.com.