LITTLE BLACK GIRL

A Black girl draws on the wisdom of her family to create a road map to her own destiny.

The illustrations of this book in verse follow the girl as she attempts to create a science project for an upcoming fair. As the girl goes through the many phases of creation, beginning with a drawing of her invention and ending with an actual prototype (a wheeled robotic vehicle with arms), an unseen narrator shepherds her through the process, reminding her of her greatness (“You have sparks in your brain and fire in your heart. / You can decide where to stop and where to start”) and urging her not to listen to the harmful words of others (“ ‘Boo!’ they may say / but don’t let the naysayers get in the way”). The girl feels frustrated as she encounters roadblocks, but supportive Black women in her family reassure her; one moving scene depicts the girl and an adult in a museum looking at images of Black women such as Audre Lorde and Toni Morrison. This inspirational story misses the mark somewhat with its rhyming structure, as the word choices feel clunky in places. However, the painterly illustrations make up for it, with full-page spreads juxtaposed with vignettes. There is a dreamlike quality to the art, with the main character being a clearly defined focal point and the secondary characters fading into the background on some pages. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A stirring story about a Black girl learning to celebrate her own uniqueness.