Dyamonde Daniel

“Dyamonde Daniel was a gem waiting to be discovered. Just ask her.” With these opening lines, best-selling author Nikki Grimes introduces us to a new character kids are bound to love, a super smart third grader with wild-crazy hair and a can-do attitude. The thing is, Dyamonde has just moved to a new school, and she’s impatient for a best friend. Then Free shows up, and there’s an even newer kid in class who might also need a friend. Unfortunately, Free doesn’t want to be friends....

Dyamonde Daniel’s best friend, Free, thinks he’s poor because he can’t buy a new video game. So when their teacher announces a poetry contest with a $100 prize, Free decides he’ll try to win it. But Free is not the only poet in the class. Before the contest is over everyone will know a little more about what being rich and being poor are really all about.

Dyamonde Daniel has her eye on a new pair of red high-top sneakers. Following some bad advice from a classmate, she thinks she has the right idea to go about getting them - by demanding her mother buy them! Unfortunately for Dyamonde, Mrs. Daniel doesn’t appreciate being told what to do and decides to teach her daughter a lesson. Soon Dyamonde finds herself in a clothing crisis, with almost zero to wear! Dyamonde is furious.

When Dyamonde Daniel’s friend Damaris suddenly becomes a picky eater, it doesn’t take Dyamonde long to figure out the problem: Damaris is secretly dieting because some mean girls teased her about her weight. Dyamonde can’t let her friend go on this way. But how can she make Damaris see that she is perfect just the way she is? It turns out Damaris isn’t the only one in their class facing this problem. A girl named Amberline is also being picked on the same way. Soon Dyamonde and Damaris discover that Amberline has a secret...a serious one.