“Sharon G. Flake’s The Skin I’m In changed my life. As a dark-skinned girl [in Jamaica], I had to deal with jokes (good and bad) about my complexion. Coming to America, I dealt with similar complexion-related jokes which came from Black people and the non-Black communities who also made fun of my accent,” Shevaun Bryant, author of The Way I Am shared in an interview with The Suburban Girl JA.

Among the many poignant words Bryant shared, those stood at the forefront of my mind. It was that experience that, in many ways, paved a path for her becoming the author of a children’s book.

“I grew up as a kid who liked to read. It started out with Archie comics and my range advanced as I grew,” she said, highlighting that The Skin I’m In was introduced to her by one of her teachers. It was during an admittedly rough and transitionary moments in Bryant’s life as, at 12-years of age, she had recently migrated to the US from Jamaica.

In recalling details of Sharon G. Flake’s masterpiece, Bryant said: “The book was about this dark-skinned Black girl who had beautiful flowing hair, but she just went through a tough time in her middle school experience and decided to cut her hair off. [She went to the salon] and all the ladies there hyped her up and told her how beautiful she was. When she went back to school, of course, the kids were mean and made fun of her because of her short hair style, but then other kids liked it and were nice to her – it [boosted] her confidence.

“I was able to identify myself in that book and years later, I sometimes I go back to that story. I feel like the trajectory of my life is one where my self-esteem shifted (for the better) because of that book.”

That experience, her deep-seated love for literary works, and major life experiences triggered this young author’s desire to author a children’s book about acceptance and understanding of differences.

The Way I Am

Published in 2023, The Way I Am, as described on its Amazon sales page is described as a book that, “introduces diversity and inclusion by highlighting five children who are different from what some children are accustomed to seeing or interacting with.” It teaches that disabilities are simply differences which sometimes lead to curiosity. The book provides insight on how humans are all unique in some way and that we should all be treated with respect.

As a mother of boys – a toddler and a pre-schooler, the realisation of unique traits presented very early in her journey as a mom. Her older has a speech impediment. So, “some words that he pronounces, he just doesn’t say them clearly – which is okay because we can understand him.”

She also shared that her older son is intellectually advanced in many academic areas and started school earlier than the average child. As such, she worried that since “he was starting school early in terms of American standards, that the other kids wouldn’t understand him and that he would get picked on”.

Her toddler also has differences of his own. In 2023, he underwent open-heart surgery, “which would mean that he’d always have a midline scar on his chest and his energy levels will never be up [on the same level as] his peers.”

With those real-life situations, Bryant shares that she wanted to write something where her sons could see themselves. It is also her hope that in the future, other children with similar issues will see themselves.

“For the perceived ‘healthy kids’ or ‘normal kids’, they would learn how to accept someone who sounds a little different or who looks a little different. It was my mom anxiety [that pushed me into writing this book about acceptance. Even though a person might look completely ‘normal’ and sound completely ‘normal’ [or vice versa], it doesn’t mean that they haven’t been gifted with the same talents and experiences that others have been,” said the author.

Messages in The Way I Am

“I think there are two messages,” Bryant highlighted. “For the reader who can identify a character in the book who is similar to them, I want them to take away that their disability or their ailment is just a part of them and all the other parts are just as amazing, just as worthy of being celebrated, and they shouldn’t allow their ailment or disability to dampen who they are.”

“For the reader who is neurotypical, healthy, fully developed – whatever it is, I want them to see that differently-abled people are just like them. They like to play baseball the way you do, they like to ride their bicycles the same way you do, and for that reason, it’s important to embrace them.,” she continued.

Character development

Bryant shared that she wanted to include a variety of disabilities and ailments. “I wanted to make sure that there were characters whose disabilities are visible and characters with hidden disabilities.

“There’s a character with sickle cell,” which is fashioned off Bryant who has lived with the sickle cell disease all her life and has seen her fair share of lack of understanding for the differences presented because of her illness.

A character with a speech impediment is also present, representing her son and so many who are like him, there’s also a character from the blind community with his guide dog, among other characters.

“In terms of character development, every character is introduced first by their name because that’s the most important part. For me, it’s name first. That’s your identifier. I’m not sickle cell Shevy. I’m Shevy and I just so happen to have sickle cell. So, it was important for that to come first and then for the characters to introduce themselves and share other identifiable attributes about them that have nothing to do with their illness,” the author explained. 

From there, we spoke about storytelling, literature, and the impact it can have on children and adults alike. We also spoke about her continued journey as an author and it was revealed that she has written books that are yet to be published! 

It is her hope to get The Way I Am in as many US-based schools and libraries as possible with the hope that the book will transcend international borders and, of course, advice to aspiring authors interested in highlighting diversity and inclusion.

A major and important goal for Bryant is to have a Braille version of the book be published by 2025. She stressed the importance of having that representation especially given the fact that one of her characters is blind. *I plan to follow up with her on this*

The Way I Am is currently available, right now, on Amazon and work is currently being done to have it on shelves for sale in stores like Target and Walmart.

She ended the interview with this: “Although this is a book written by a Black woman and I include Black characters, the entire theme is about diversity.”

Stay tuned. A podcast episode of the interview is coming soon!

Signed,

The Suburban Girl JA