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\nWhen I was a child, I used to wonder about things like souls and my very identity. That is, I wondered what made me, me<\/em> and what it would be like if I were born as someone else. Hell, I’m 45 and still wonder about these things sometimes. <\/p>\n
Paige Britt’s<\/a><\/strong> Why Am I Me?<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Scholastic, August 2017), illustrated by Sean Qualls<\/a><\/strong> and Selina Alko<\/a><\/strong>, is a contemplative book that gets at the heart of these questions — without, that is, providing any pat answers or, really, any answers at all. The illustrations feature a busy cityscape, a boy and a girl noticing each other on the subway and wondering, “why am I me … and not you?” The children look out to all the people bustling around them and wonder why it is they are who they are and “not someone else entirely.” They ponder these questions as they pass parks, people making music, people playing sports, and more. In the end, they meet and say hi to one another, and it’s clear a friendship has begun. <\/p>\n Cool blues dominate the palette here, and Alko and Qualls play with star and circle motifs throughout the book. (Anyone familiar with their work knows circles appear often in their illustrations.) As seen on the cover, the children appear to even fuse at the book’s close, as if a human Venn diagram — with one shared celestial object for an eye. In the end, their me<\/em> questions become a we<\/em> question, and it will leave readers wondering about commonalities and community. <\/p>\n Here’s another spread … WHY AM I ME? Copyright \u00a9 2017 by Paige Britt. Illustrations \u00a9 2017 by Selina Alko and Sean Qualls. Illustrations used by permission of the publisher, Scholastic Press, New York.<\/em><\/p>\n Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome.<\/p>\n 1)<\/strong><\/font> Starting Kimberly Brubaker Bradley’s The War I Finally Won<\/a><\/strong><\/em> with my girls. <\/p>\n 2)<\/strong><\/font> Reading a galley of Jason Reynolds’ Long Way Down<\/a><\/strong><\/em> in one night. So good. <\/p>\n 3)<\/strong><\/font> Cracking open a copy of M. T. Anderson’s newest novel<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n
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