A biography of nineteenth-century American poet Emily Dickinson, drawing from legal archives, congregational records, contemporary women's writing, and previously unpublished fragments of Dickinson's own letters to answer questions about her development as a poet and her private life.

...this writing thing was some kind of magic trick I didn't yet understand... Nikki Grimes discovered the power of writing at the tender age of six, when, alone in her room, she poured her fears, anger, and tears onto a piece of paper - and felt sweet relief. Words and faith were her most enduring companions as life flung her headlong from one harrowing experience to the next through her childhood and teenage years. Words, spilled into notebook after...

The author describes his experiences growing up as a Mexican American in Fresno, California.