Fifth-grader Charlie, an “androgynous girl,” has “amazing fashion sense” and loves painting. She still gets bullied, though—but her school’s star basketball player, Devin, stands up for her and also encourages her to enter the school talent show. Devin, who also turns out to be another artist, inspires Charlie by telling her about model, singer, and actor Grace Jones, who is “living her truth” and doesn’t care if she fits in. With the support of her “unconventional” grandmother and the school bus driver, Charlie completes her painting for the show. At the show itself, she introduces it by explaining that “Lots of people make me feel different, but there is one person who never makes me feel like I’m weird … I painted that person.” The picture is of her grandmother. Charlie leaves the show with pride and “the right to be herself before the world.”
This semi-autobiographical story by nonbinary author, alternative hip hop artist, mother, and activist Ris iRAWniQ Anderson includes images to match Charlie’s imagination—bold and colorful. At 75 pages, it’s long for a picture book, and its vocabulary (“unconventional,” “illuminating,” “sensational,” “overwhelmed”) puts it at the very top of the picture-book age range. A glossary at the end offers help with some words, though not the ones just mentioned. (And does “iconic” really mean “someone who you want to spend time with and go on any adventure with”?) Nevertheless, the message of finding inspiration from family, community, and distant icons is an empowering one, and the impactful drawings are sure to inspire further.
