I'm Gonna Push Through!

Jasmyn Wright’s positive affirmations promote perseverance and bolster resilience in children, or as the author puts it, pushing through. Featured in the digitally rendered illustrations are hand signals to accompany portions of the affirmations, a wide variety of diversity in the characters, examples of kids pushing through, and framed spotlights of individuals (some famous and some unknown, especially for children) with their names and the repeated phrase, “He/She pushed through.” The spotlight section of the book establishes sub-par inspiration for kids, highlighting faces but not explaining any details of their respective journeys to pushing through. While some, but not all, spotlighted individuals have a biographical profile at the end of the book, these are displayed in small font on pages overwhelmed with text. While J. Wright’s message in the affirmations is valid—to push through even when it seems too hard, scary, or rough—some of the affirmations contain harmful oversimplifications, such as “if they can do it, I can too!” Sharing an encouraging and deliberate message of resilience and perseverance, the substance of the book is far less memorable than the powerful Author’s Note, which is three pages long and inspiring.