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A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart

Elliott, Zetta
Fiction

In this powerful, affirming poem by award-winning author Zetta Elliott, a Black child explores his shifting emotions throughout the year. There is a place inside of me / a space deep down inside of me / where all my feelings hide. 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. - Publisher.
Illustrations and easy-to-read text express a child's awareness of being filled with deep emotions, from joy to sorrow and anger to compassion, but above all, love.