A Place Inside of Me
There is a place inside of me
a space deep down inside of me
where all my feelings hide.
In this powerful, affirming poem by award-winning author Zetta Elliott, a Black child explores his shifting emotions throughout the year. Summertime is filled with joy—skateboarding and playing basketball—until his community is deeply wounded by a police shooting. As fall turns to winter and then spring, fear grows into anger, then pride and peace.
In her stunning debut, illustrator Noa Denmon articulates the depth and nuances of a child’s experiences following a police shooting—through grief and protests, healing and community—with washes of color as vibrant as his words.
Here is a groundbreaking narrative that can help all readers—children and adults alike—talk about the feelings hiding deep inside each of us.
Bank Street College of Education’s 2021 Edition of the Best Children’s Books of the Year (9-12 year olds)
Noa Denmon won the 2021 Caldecott Honor Award!
Today Show Best Book for the Holidays
NCTE Notable Poetry Book
Nerdy Award Winner for Single Poem Picture Book
2021 Choices selection by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center
2021 Skipping Stones Honor Award
(When you purchase one of my books from my Bookshop storefront, I receive an affiliate commission)
For publicity requests, contact Kelsey.marrujo at macmillan dot com.
An exquisite poem that beautifully captures the pain, anger, fear and hurt that is a part of the experience of many Black lives. Denmon’s powerful illustrations add to the intimacy that Elliott has created in her stirring text. This is a must-have book and is an excellent way to start conversations about why the Black Lives Matter movement is so important and how young people can be part of the way forward.
~ Jeffrey Canton, The Globe and Mail