When Angelina, the book’s central character, inquisitively peers from a doorway into a great unknown on the book’s dust jacket, readers instinctively know she will experience growth. We can see the growth take shape throughout the book. Have you been the outsider before? Can you visualize what it looks like? In The Day You Begin, Rafael López’s illustrations marry with Jacqueline Woodson’s text to create the perfect visual experience of growing from an outsider to finding the courage to connect with others “a little like you so fabulously not quite like you at all.” And the children around you will remind you how different you are with their side-eye glances and low whispers - and the way they position their bodies away from you, not-so-subtly announcing you are not invited to join the group. It shows in the fear on your face, the slump in your shoulders, the distance between you and others in your class. When you feel different, the world around you can tell.
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