In Gloo Books' sixth children's book, Mostly Me, debut biracial storytellers Collin Hall and Crystal Dawn Chaffee empower children to love themselves for all their unique “in-betweenness.”
I’ve got some green, I’ve got some blue.
Some have asked, “So what are you?”
Not quite blue, not fully green.
I’m something new. I’m in-between.
What happens when you don’t feel like everyone else? When you don’t feel like you truly belong? This joyful and introspective picture book about navigating biracial identity follows a blue-green narrator on a journey of self-discovery. Written in playful rhyme, Mostly Me is an ode to readers of all ages that have felt out of place, questioning who they are. An uplifting tale, kids will leave with the most empowering message of all: “I’m mostly me.”
From the author, Collin Hall:
I started writing Mostly Me shortly after my first daughter was born, hoping to provide her a foundational way to approach multiracial identity and learning to claim her own space.
When I was young I was constantly surrounded by my Korean family and cousins, and loved the culture, food, and traditions that we shared. When my family moved away I was a middle school kid suddenly without that cultural anchor—so I assimilated. And I continued to assimilate. Out of fear of being different, and out of fear of not being "Korean enough", I chose to largely disengage with that part of who I was for the remainder of my teenage years, and largely through my twenties. But that changed when I had my first daughter. I found myself singing her Korean nursery rhymes I hadn't heard in 25 years, I remembered the funky gochujang smell of my halmoni's sun room, and I was making the muguk my emo would make for the kids when we got together. As an adult, I've had to make the decision to grapple with my identity and figure out how I engage with it on my terms so that my daughter can do the same (but hopefully before she's an adult).
This poem is short and silly, but it's also an affirmation that it's OK to exist in the in-between spaces of identity, and that it's OK to allow yourself to live both things fully despite what others may think. It's the kind of affirmation that I wish I was able to give myself as an 11 year old, and the same that I hope to give my daughters.
Mostly Me for readers 3+ and available for pre-order now.
Publication date mid-September 2023
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