#Salini Perera

[allhailkingsquest]

“Women inspired one another even in the early days of games. Jane Jensen played Roberta Williams’ King’s Quest and loved it so much she applied to Sierra On-Line. She went on to co-write a game with Roberta, then solo write the Gabriel Knight series. Stories like these create a snowball effect.” - Mary Kenney, Gamer Girls: 25 Women Who Built the Video Game Industry

[Illustration by Salini Perera]

[futurelibrariansstuff]

Bibliographic Data:

Walter Dean Myers. 2009. LOOKING LIKE ME. Ill. by Chrostopher Myers. Carolrhoda Books. ISBN 978-1606840016.

Plot Summary:

In this splashy, rhythmic celebration of the wonders of life, Walter Dean Myer's hypnotic text combines with his son's fresh photo-collage illustrations to create a new picture book about self-esteem and growing up with an urban beat.

Critical Analysis: 

Looking Like Me  follows Jeremy, the main character, as he works to figure out who he really is. As he greets different people in his life, each of them gives him insight into who he is to them. A son, brother, friend, writer, the main character journeys through all the roles he plays in other’s lives and finally realizes that he is a lot of things by saying “It is kind of amazing all the people I am.” The story shows all the various and positive roles that young black men have in families, education, and society as a whole.

This book is short, but there are many references to African American culture to be found. Although it is not shown much about Jeremy and his life (no nods to his socioeconomic class, evil vs. good, or even where he lives), the book does a good job of representing African American children as the positive influences they are. 

The book reads like a rap song: “I looked in the mirror / And what did I see? / A real handsome dude looking just like me. / He put out his fist. / I gave it a bam! / He said, ‘Jeremy!’ I said, ‘That’s who I am.'” This is a nod to the importance that rap and hip-hop have on African American culture. When read aloud, it evokes a rhythm and has a catchy rhyme scheme. 

Additionally, the young character is greeted by many members of his community and feels waves of love and acceptance, helping the reader understand the impact that positive relationships and role models can have on children, especially young black ones. African American children have historically been portrayed as fighting through adversity and other struggles, but this book celebrates the joy and importance of being black. 

Christopher Myers’ illustrations provide readers with beautiful, vibrant illustrations that showcase the multitude of roles that Jeremy plays in his life. Myers uses collage-style cutouts for the background, and in the foreground are solid cut-outs filled with symbols that represent the specific role Jeremy plays being highlighted on that page.

Looking Like Me by Walter Dean Myers is a short, but important, book that encourages readers to find out all the things they really are. Not only that, it shows a young black character in a positive light, which is so important for today’s youth.

Review Excerpt(s):

"The rhyme and repetition flow naturally, capturing the rhythms of everyday conversation and the hip-hop beats many children hear daily....This book is an excellent introduction to verse, for it vividly demonstrates how poetry is a vital part of daily life." ―starred, School Library Journal

"This very contemporary work is encouraging, energetic, and inspired." ―starred, Booklist

"This vibrant synthesis of poetry and pictures is a natural for classrooms and family sharing." ―starred, Kirkus Reviews

"[E]ven the more curmudgeonly among us might appreciate the message when it's dressed up as fine as it is in this picture book by Myers pére et fils." ―The Horn Book Magazine

Connections:

Other books that celebrate the beauty and importance of young African Americans:

Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration by Samara Cole Doyon. Illustrated by Kaylani Juanita

Bright Eyes, Brown Skin by Cheryl Willis Hudson and Bernette G. Ford.  Illustrated by George Ford

Beautiful You, Beautiful Me  by Tasha Spillett-Sumner. Illustrated by Salini Perera

[walrusmagazine]

The Comedy Culture War

A new wave of comics is rejecting stand-up’s tired tropes

Today, podcasting, streaming, and social media are bringing large and diverse audiences to comedians who might once have been dismissed as “niche.” A handful of years ago, writer Christopher Hitchens and comedian Adam Carolla were proclaiming that women could never be as funny as men. Those arguments now seem quaint. In fact, many of the most exciting new performers are women, people of colour, LGBTQ people, or some combination thereof, bringing with them a raft of underexplored experiences that are transforming the nature of comedy.

Read more at thewalrus.ca.

Illustration by Salini Perera (saliniperera.com).

[walrusmagazine]

Illustration by Salini Perera (saliniperera.com).

How I Saved My Kids From Sugar

The overconsumption of sugar has became a normal part of our culture. A recipe for fighting back

It wasn’t just one, or even two or twelve, but hundreds of occasions on which my kids were offered sugar, from flu-shot treats to the chocolate milk they could get at school several days a week. To explore that common example: one small chocolate-milk carton consumed daily for a 195-day school year provides a child with 10.5 pounds, or twenty-four cups, of sugar, about half of which are added. To serve it to children because they’ll drink it more readily than plain milk is akin to serving daily apple pies to kids who don’t like apples.

Read more at at thewalrus.ca.

[walrusmagazine]

How Canada's First Female Chief Justice Helped Define the Country's Rights and Freedoms

Beverley McLachlin presided over some of the most pivotal cases in Canadian legal history

Like many powerful women of her generation, McLachlin writes that she experienced the weight of being “the first”: “everyone is waiting and watching—some rooting for you, and some secretly hoping you’ll fail. And the future of those who follow rests on how you fare.” She recounts a joke told to her by Justice Bertha Wilson, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, when McLachlin became the court’s third: “Three down, six to go.” She felt a particular kinship with Wilson, as well as with US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg—though unlike “Notorious RBG,” McLachlin, while widely respected, hasn’t elicited feminist and progressive swooning.

Read more at thewalrus.ca.

Illustration by Salini Perera (saliniperera.com).