Where?

Where? is a powerful pushback for any child who grows up looking different and keeps being asked to defend their place. You can feel this author’s frustration with the question and how people ask it so innocently but if you are always being asked where you are from, you learn quickly the real reason people care is because they wonder why you look so different. The illustrations starting from the cover and continuing onward show that the child is covering up to avoid the question. This child is not in a place to embrace and boldly shout their origins, they are in a place of wondering why everyone had to care so much and always feel left out because it is a barrier between people. The lyrical prose and existential exploration of how we are all from space and atoms and the ancient ancestors that evolved into humans begs for unity and to put the question Where? to rest and stop dividing people based on it. The deep exploration of this question and themes for unity as a human race make it a thoughtful read for older children especially for anyone who must answer that question regularly so that it feels like an assault versus a casual question.