Difficult Childhood

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I spent a lot of time in and out of foster homes, and when I was home, it was always difficult. My mother was an alcoholic and paranoid schizophrenic, so I was dealing with a parent who had a mental illness and was in and out of the hospital. My father was in and out of the picture as well. It was tough. I moved around at one point every six months to a year, sometimes more frequently. So, always new schools, new environments, making friends, saying goodbye, starting all over again — over and over and over again. I was separated from my sister, which often happens in the foster care system. So, there was a lot of loneliness. It was an extremely difficult childhood.

Nikki Grimes spent much of her childhood in and out of foster homes, an experience that would influence her future writing.

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Nikki Grimes

Children’s Author

Nikki Grimes was born in Harlem, but grew up in many different parts of New York. As a foster child from a broken home, she moved from place to place, always saying goodbye to new friends. Reading and writing became her survival tools. When she had no one else to talk to, Grimes wrote poems and stories about the things that were bothering her. As an avid reader, she checked out library books by day and read at night by flashlight.

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Difficult Childhood

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Nikki Grimes

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