Written by: Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers, January 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0525582090
Plot Summary
Just Like Me is a collection of poems that celebrate girls being themselves. The poems tackle topics such as self-identity, living in a global community, body positivity, hopes and dreams, and friendship. The poems inspire girls to be their best selves and work with others to make their world a better place.
Critical Analysis
The book opens with I Am a Canvas which describes how we are all influenced by the people that surround us. Children, in particular, are trying to find themselves and discover who they are. It allows the reader to picture either themself or a child as a blank canvas, and the words being said to them are showing up on that canvas. This provides a lesson both in being aware of how much of an influence your comments can have on others, particularly children, and even more specifically girls. It also makes one aware of how they internalize the words of others, allowing it to change their mood and outlook.
This poem segues into the second, The Day I Decided to Become Sunshine. Unlike in the first poem, where the girl is being affected by the words of others, in this one, she has decided to make light shine everywhere she goes. This shows her taking control of her own life and steering her emotions and influence in the ways that she wants them to go, rather than allowing them to be determined by others. The positioning of these poems one right after the other shows the growth that has occurred from the child merely being influenced by others into learning how to wield their own influence.
Repetition is a poetic element that is found in Warrior. The poem both begins and ends with the lines "I am a warrior willing to fight the good fight." This repetition helps to bookend the poem and drive home the main idea behind it. At the ending, the words "of love" are added to the repeated lines. This helps us to know what the poet is fighting for. The fight of love almost seems like a oxymoron, but fighting for love is a very real and necessary part of the human experience. The accompanying illustration shows strong and determined girls in powerful stances, standing up for their beliefs and being strong.
Figurative language is found in Pimples. This poem about an adolescent annoyance that so many face includes the wording "This pimple has invited itself to my perfect picture day." The illustration shows a calendar with school picture day labeled. The phrase "picture perfect day" is a commonly used one and here the words have been flipped to perfect picture day instead. The appearance of the pimple has certainly ruined the literal picture day, but it could also be said to have ruined the poet's perfect day as well.
Cool Like That makes effective use of onomotopoeia. The poem tells about a girl playing the drums and the words included (bip, bop, blat, bap) are sounds that can be made by playing the drums. They also demonstrate alliteration with all the "b" sounds. The words of the poem were carefully selected because many of them both have meaning but also can be added to the list of words that sound like drumbeats (hip, hop, tap, rap).
Similes make up the brunt of the poem Feelings. This is such a difficult subject for many children to understand, so the use of similes for this poem helps to make feelings a more accessible topic for kids. In addition, the feelings included cover a wide variety of emotions, and include wording that lets the reader know that so many conflicting feelings can all be inside us at once.
Excerpt
City and Country Dreams
I am a city girl I am a country girl
longing to be a country girl longing to be a city girl
climbing trees and picking butter beans chasing bright lights and crowded streets
Drinking sweet tea and watching the sun and dirty water dogs
set on soft sandy dirt roads And learning that fast city talk
and the gentle sound of crickets and watching the suns set from fire escapes
I am a city girl I am a country girl
longing to be a country one longing to be a city one
Use
This poem is perfect to be read aloud by two voices. There are several different options on how to organize the phrasing of the read-aloud. The first student can read the entire city girl part and then the second can read the entire country girl part. Another option is for the students to take turns, reading one line at a time to really highlight the similarities and differences in the words. One more possibility is to have the students read the first two and last two lines in unison, then to read the other lines one at a time taking turns between each line.
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