February isn’t just the beginning of another month, and another book club book. It is also the start of Black History Month. While being “woke” can be pretty trendy these days, I’m mostly jumping on this to reflect on character representation and the value of stories and books to teach us about what we don’t know; mainly the experiences of others.
When I look back on all the books that made an impact on me as a young reader, books like, “A Wrinkle in Time”, “Harriet the Spy”, “Matilda,” they were great books, but they also featured young girls who were risky, smart, kind, and adventurous. Being able to have strong female characters lead my imagination and self-discovery continues to be such an important thing. And knowing the real value of this, I am honored to offer that in that character of Jordan Banks from Jerry Craft’s graphic novel New Kid.
While having a black main character, this book isn’t a face dive into race theory. It’s a work of art and therefore more interested in being vulnerable and human more than anything else. To put it in another way, this book doesn’t have an agenda other than to draw you into a world that you may relate to. If you ever felt like an outsider, if you ever felt like you were in two worlds, or forced into something you don’t want to do by your parents, then this it YOUR story. And lucky for us, it happens to be a fun, lively read that contextualizes big ideas like diversity and privilege.
I hope you enjoy reading this book with me this month, but in truth I have no doubt that you will.
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