Jacqueline Woodson is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature
A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson and two-time Pura Belpré Illustrator Award winner Rafael López have teamed up to create a poignant, yet heartening book about finding courage to connect, even when you feel scared and alone.
There will be times when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you.
There are many reasons to feel different. Maybe it’s how you look or talk, or where you’re from; maybe it’s what you eat, or something just as random. It’s not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it.
Jacqueline Woodson’s lyrical text and Rafael López’s dazzling art reminds us that we all feel like outsiders sometimes-and how brave it is that we go forth anyway. And that sometimes, when we reach out and begin to share our stories, others will be happy to meet us halfway.
(This book is also available in Spanish, as El Día En Que Descubres Quién Eres!)
What is one thing you can do when you feel like you don’t belong in a space? What is one thing you can do to help others feel like they belong?
If you’ve ever moved and started school in a place not like your home that you left, this book is for you! I love the diversity and that it can inspire the empathy and kindness to include others and be sensitive to what others might be going through, if you’re not in this situation, yourself.
Rafael López won Pura Belpré medals for <i>Drum Dream Girl</i> and <i>Book Fiesta</i>, and has also received three Pura Belpré honors, two Américas Book Awards, and the 2017 Tomás Rivera Children’s Book Award and Society of Illustrators Original Art Silver Medal. His work has been featured in <i>Communication Arts</i>, <i>American Illustration Annual</i>, <i>Graphic Design USA</i> and <i>Huffington Post</i>. He’s a founder of San Diego’s Urban Art Trail movement, created seven US Postal Stamps, and created official posters for the ‘08 and ‘12 Obama-Biden campaigns.
For Siya, Nell, and Josie
To Santiago, Moon whisperer