Ordinary Hazards

Nikki’s notebooks are an important recurring object in the book and carry varied symbolism. Nikki first starts writing in a notebook at the Buchanans’ when she discovers that writing helps her vent her feelings and process her thoughts and experiences. This is a practice that sees her through difficult times later as well, when she lives with Bernice and Clark and has nothing and no one else to turn to. In this context, Nikki’s notebooks are symbolic of The Healing Power of Creative Expression.

After Nikki begins writing, the chapters in the book are interspersed with entries from her notebooks as interludes. In the Author’s Note, Nikki Grimes mentions that she uses these notebook entries as a way of sequencing events and defining some form of chronology, even though she is recreating the entries from memory after Bernice throws them away (317). She has to resort to this because she does not remember a number of details from her early life, as her memory has been impacted by the trauma she experienced. The recurring notebook entries thus become both narrative technique and motif that call to The Impact of Trauma on Memory.

Nikki’s notebooks as an object are crucial to the climax of the book as well. Bernice throwing them away is the trigger that pushes Nikki to make a decision and change her life’s trajectory. She finally moves out after deciding that living with her mother is prohibiting growth in all aspects of her life.

The imagery of flowers blooming recurs multiple times in the book. Flowers blooming are first mentioned when Nikki describes the beautiful fragrance of lilacs blooming outside her window. It is one of the first entirely positive experiences she describes, and it is a bright spot in her so far difficult life. The blossoming flowers are symbolic of Nikki herself, who is beginning to bloom underneath the Buchanans’ love and care. In continuance of this symbolism, Nikki presents Mrs. Buchanan with lilacs because she installed a nightlight in Nikki’s room, noticing her fear of the dark. This gesture signifies how Nikki is beginning to open herself and her heart up to her new family, especially as lilacs smell like joy to her. Shortly after, Nikki describes the different flowers in bloom in the summer, in a chapter titled “First Love.” This title indicates that Nikki is beginning to thrive under the consistent love she receives in Ossining. Relatedly, and in contrast, when Nikki decides to finally leave Bernice and move in with Carol, it is because she finally tells herself that she “cannot blossom in this soil” (308).