Eleven-year-old Lonnie C. Motion—Locomotion for short—is writing to save his life. At least that’s what it feels like. Living in foster care since the death of his parents in a fire, Lonnie is directing his grief and his hurt into poetry, with the help of his teacher. Along the way, he’s discovering he has both a talent and a need for writing. Separated from his younger sister, Lili, who has been placed in another home, and uncertain about what Miss Edna, his foster mother, thinks of him, poetry gives Lonnie focus for his undirected energy and form for his mixed-up emotions. It’s also a way to record what he observes and experiences in daily life, as well as the bittersweet memories of life before the fire. Jacqueline Woodson uses both free verse and structured poetic forms as she creates a memorable character study of an African American boy breaking out of the past and into a future of his own making. Nothing is static—not Lonnie himself, not his relationships, and certainly not his life. Honor Book, CCBC Coretta Scott King Author Award Discussion (Ages 9–12)

Finalist for the National Book Award

When Lonnie was seven years old, his parents died in a fire. Now he's eleven, and he still misses them terribly. And he misses his little sister, Lili, who was put into a different foster home because "not a lot of people want boys-not foster boys that ain't babies." But Lonnie hasn't given up. His foster mother, Miss Edna, is growing on him. She's already raised two sons and she seems to know what makes them tick. And his teacher, Ms. Marcus, is showing him ways to put his jumbled feelings on paper.

Told entirely through Lonnie's poetry, we see his heartbreak over his lost family, his thoughtful perspective on the world around him, and most of all his love for Lili and his determination to one day put at least half of their family back together. Jacqueline Woodson's poignant story of love, loss, and hope is lyrically written and enormously accessible.