52 pages • 1 hour read
Nikki GrimesBronx Masquerade
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2002A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 43-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 43 Summary: “Janelle”
Janelle begins the chapter by sharing that a kid she tutors, JoJo, asked her to marry him. He’s eight years old, and though she’s flattered, she jokes that he has to make it to fourth grade first. She is surprised and happy to know that someone thinks she’s pretty, though she’s getting more attention from classmates now, too. At the last Open Mike Friday, she was initially concerned about her weight but instead noticed how everyone was paying attention to her, listening intently or nodding in agreement with her words. It was as if they forgot about her physical appearance, and as a result, she did too.
In “The Door,” Janelle likens herself to an open door to a room where fear, insecurity, shame, and “emotional dislocation” hang on the walls. The open door symbolizes her openness and willingness to admit she has fears and insecurities and that she hasn’t figured it all out. She uses an onion as a simile for the layers of her heart. She ends the poem by asking everyone if they are willing to peel their hearts open, too.
Chapter 44 Summary: “Tyrone”
Tyrone is elated to share that he, Janelle, and others in the class made it into the paper. Mr. Ward brought copies for the class, but Tyrone already bought his own. The article is positive and says the students’ poetry is “rich in positive social messages” (133). He shares that he called the reporter to thank him and invited him to the all-school assembly, where the class will share their poems.
Chapter 45 Summary: “Lupe”
Lupe goes to Janelle’s to study, but before they get to work, Janelle wants to know how Lupe’s date with Raul went. Lupe tells Janelle that she and Raul went to the movies, but she wants to start studying.
Lupe appreciates Janelle and that it’s nice to have someone to study with. She has been working hard to get her grades up. Mr. Ward thinks she could get into college if she keeps working hard. She is unsure of where she wants to go or what she wants to study, but she thinks she’d like to work with children.
In “imagine,” Lupe juxtaposes images of the past—“yesterday’s sunset” and “Papi’s laughter”—with the idea of “Mañana” (tomorrow) (136). She is still figuring things out and learning what it means to dream.
Chapter 46 Summary: “Tyrone”
Tyrone observes that Lupe is the same but not. She still speaks softly but is no longer the daydreamer he once thought she was. She pays attention in class and goes to the library a lot now. He can tell there’s something different about her.
Chapter 47 Summary: “Diondra”
Diondra’s father found her brochures for art school. She didn’t mean to leave them out, and he was enraged when he saw them. Though she’s upset that her father doesn’t understand her desire to study art in college, she is determined to do it. To make amends with her father, she writes him a poem and leaves a drawing of Michael Jordan for him. She hopes he’ll eventually understand her dreams of making art.
In “Self-Portrait: A Poem for My Father,” Diondra likens her father’s love to a “whirlpool trying to suck [her] in / and [she’s] drowning” (155). Through metaphor, she fights her way out of the whirlpool and declares this is her life, her “portrait,” and it’s time he lets her make her own decisions.
Chapter 48 Summary: “Tyrone”
Tyrone reflects on Diondra’s poem, thinking, “The future is ours. Let us have it” (157). His mom is open to his dreams and isn’t trying to direct him. He shares a poem with her about his dreams of being a hip-hop artist and it brings her to tears.
Chapter 49 Summary: “Porscha Johnson”
Porscha wants to change her name. She shares, “I’m tired of providing oversized boys with the raw material for adolescent jokes about my being a high-maintenance mama, or some sort of luxury item” (141). For most of her life, she let people make fun of her or talked her way out of fights. Her mother was physically violent with her as well. Then one day, after being bullied for nine months, she lost control and beat up her bully, ruining her reputation. She is afraid of losing control again, and though she’s learned to manage her anger, her strategies include self-harm like punching a wall or “running a piece of broken bottle across [her] fingertips” (142).
She has a new friend in Leslie, who advises her to be more open and “let people in” (142). Open Mike Fridays have given Porscha something to consider. She’s witnessed transformations in her classmates, like Janelle and Devon. She’s been surprised by her classmates’ openness, especially Tyrone. She is finally ready to share a poem of her own.
Porscha’s poem is “A Letter to My Mother.” She begins by describing her mother’s cause of death—a drug overdose—Porscha’s anger, and how a friend taught her that there’s nothing she can do but move forward. She ends the poem by forgiving her mother.
Chapter 50 Summary: “Tyrone”
It’s the end of the school year, and the gallery Mr. Ward created on their classroom walls is gone. Mr. Ward took everything down to make photocopies so each student could have an anthology of their work. It’s their last Open Mike Friday—the day of the all-school assembly.
Tyrone is not used to sitting in the front of a room, but he and the class are in the front row so they can be close to the stage. Before the students go up to share their poems, Mr. Ward asks for a volunteer to share a few words about what Open Mike Fridays mean to them. At first, no one wants to go, but Tyrone volunteers and shares how poetry brought the class together, even across racial lines.
The students follow him and read their poems. Afterward, the assembly is all anyone in the school can talk about. Mr. Ward lets Tyrone know that he did a good job with his impromptu speech. Tyrone tells Mr. Ward he may leave school to start a band. Mr. Ward counters that with the news that the school will hold another poetry slam next year.
Epilogue Summary
Mai Tren is introduced as an audience member at the all-school assembly. Mai is a Black and Vietnamese student who is rarely understood by her peers. She faces particular difficulty because she of her diverse racial background, everyone “reminding [her] that [she’s] not one of them” (148).
The assembly has a strong and positive impact on her. Seeing other students who are different from each other get along through poetry is both surprising and heartening for her. She asks “It can’t be that simple, can it? (148) She notes that Mr. Ward’s class is continuing next year, and she is thinking about signing up for it.
Chapter 43-Epilogue Analysis
Grimes ends the book with a sense of hope and reiterates that personal and collective growth and understanding are possible. Janelle, Lupe, and Diondra’s arcs demonstrate that as they reveal more of themselves in their friendship and poems. Janelle is less worried about her physical appearance and is learning to accept who she is, inside and out. This is reinforced by her classmates’ attention while she reads her poems, reaffirming there’s more to people than their looks. Lupe began the book convinced that she needed a boyfriend or a child to be loved, but now, she has found a path forward that is not dependent on a man. She is serious about school and envisions a future in college. Images of mirrors and reflections on the past, present, and future arise in their chapters. Diondra ends the novel more confident in herself and her artistic abilities, so much so that she wants to pursue the arts in college. She is now willing to defy her father’s wishes and define her own path. Through art, these students have learned to accept and challenge themselves, reinforcing the theme of Self-Discovery and Community Building.
Porscha finally gets to speak for herself and reveals that her reputation is rooted in misperceptions and a distorted version of the truth: She did beat up another girl, but only after that girl bullied her for nine months. Without a voice, others put her in a box and isolated her through a bad reputation. She is the last person in the class to participate in Open Mike Fridays, but seeing others’ vulnerability inspires her to share her own story. Through The Power of Art, Porscha finally feels that she can face the past, forgive her mother, and make her classmates see who she really is and how she has grown.
The all-school assembly reinforces these themes and expands these lessons outward. Tyrone surprises himself and others by volunteering to share about the impact of Open Mike Fridays, a sharp contrast from his detachment early in the novel. He sets the tone for the poetry performances by reminding his classmates how far they’ve come as individuals and as a collective: They built a community in Mr. Ward’s class. Mai Tren’s epilogue shows the far-reaching impact of art; it’s not just impactful for the artist but the audience. Mai introduces a new social context in her last chapter, discussing her particular experience as a Black Vietnamese student. She is impressed by the class’s unity, offering her a hopeful vision of Embracing Racial and Cultural Identities through art. Through Mai, Grimes ends the novel with a hypothetical question—“It can’t be that simple, can it? (148). While Grimes avoids calling art a panacea for all of the world’s ills, this hypothetical question asserts that mutual understanding and community building all begin with listening to each other’s stories.
Related Titles
By Nikki Grimes
