A multigenerational exploration of immigration, racism, and belonging inspired by Langston Hughes’ poem, “I, Too.”

KEY SELLING POINTS:

• Written as a response to Langston Hughes' powerful poem, "I, Too", which confronts racism in America.
• The picture book shifts the perspective to a young Black girl. She is also made to feel she does not belong, but asserts herself against those who would make her feel that way. You do not need to have read the poem to read the book. The book can be read in relation to the poem, or with no knowledge of it.
• Christie explains in her author's note that her mother read her Hughes's poem as a child, and this line sang out to her: "They’ll see how beautiful I am/ And be ashamed—." Christie writes: "I understood those words and felt that they understood me. I wanted to write this story and share Langston Hughes’s words to remind everyone who’s been told or made to feel otherwise how beautiful they are."
• The book confronts anti-Black racism and the difficulties of the immigrant experience in North America, and also celebrates the accomplishments and beauty found in such a diversity of people and cultures.
• Christie wanted to write a story that ultimately centres Black joy and self confidence. Where Black children and families could see their lives represented in an honest, true, and uplifting way.
• Morgan Christie lives in Toronto. She has family in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and New York. She published the children's picture book In My Skin with Lantana Publishing (2023). She is also an award-winning poet.
• Christie sites Yuyi Morales' book Dreamers as an inspiration as well.

The street a young girl lives on is made up of families from all over the world. Her family shares with her their stories of journey and struggle. Her own story begins here in this country, but she is sometimes made to feel she does not belong. She listens to her family’s voices. They tell her she will soar, they tell her she is beautiful. She listens and she says I, too, am here.

A multigenerational story of immigration, racism, and what it truly means to belong. Inspired by Langston Hughes’ poem, “I, Too.”