JUST RIGHT JILLIAN

Jillian tries to keep her promise to her grandmother to be more confident in herself.

Shy and intelligent Jillian is trying to just blend in with the other fifth graders—wearing the same hairstyle and dull-colored clothes as the others and doing her best to be quietly invisible. Her grandmother encouraged her not to hide who she was, but it has been almost a year since Grammy died, and Jillian just can’t manage to find herself, let alone be herself. After she finishes first in a math game in class but ultimately loses because she can’t speak up, Jillian is wracked with anxiety and wonders how she can stop herself from disappearing. Her teacher encourages her to enter the school’s annual academic competition, and when her classmate says she could never win, Jillian decides to challenge herself to break free from the fears that are holding her back. Jillian, her family, and most of the students at her school are Black. The way debut author Collier writes about death, grief, and chronic illness—Jillian’s mother has lupus—is excellent; the language used to describe the characters’ experiences, confusion, and range of emotions is perfectly age appropriate. This novel celebrates those who struggle with social anxiety, and many young readers will be able to identify with the characters in this highly relatable story.

A heartwarming novel about developing the courage to stop hiding.