I'M STILL HERE (ADAPTED FOR YOUNG READERS)

An adaptation of activist Brown’s New York Times bestselling memoir.

As an elementary schooler, Brown became accustomed to strange looks from White teachers during roll call—surely a Black girl couldn’t be called Austin? Her parents chose to give her the name because the assumption that someone named Austin would be a White man might well land her a job interview. It’s just one of the many examples she mulls of how gender and race have impacted her life. After her parents’ divorce, Brown split her time between predominantly White Toledo and, during the summer, Cleveland, where for the first time she was around many other Black people. Brown also considers the Black church’s powerful influence on her regular “small” acts of “claiming my own space” and voice. In high school, Brown and her classmates recognized that the predominantly White Glee Club received far more funding and support than the mostly Black Gospel Choir—which spurred students from both groups to approach the administration. It’s clear that action combined with education was instructive to the author’s self-determination, and she became increasingly confident in speaking up as she learned about Black American history. The book shines brightest when Brown encourages readers toward actionable steps such as finding community. Her thoughtful, buoyant writing will invite readers to follow her worthy example.

Stirring and thought-provoking, this one will set many young people on their own paths to activism.