YOUNG QUEEN, YOUNG QUEEN
by Justin Sims ; illustrated by Jasmine Mills
In this upbeat picture book, an experienced mentor urges girls and young women of color to believe in themselves.
Sims has served as director of the Birmingham, Alabama, chapter of Team Focus, an organization that helps boys and young men find mentors, and in this stand-alone companion to Young King, Young King (2019), he offers advice to female readers who may need a bit of encouragement. “You must always believe in and love yourself, even when no one else does,” he says early on, and on the pages that follow, he gently promotes self-love and self-reliance. “The world will pull you in different directions,” he writes. “Trust yourself! You know what’s right and wrong.” Sims advises girls and young women to set goals and tap into their creativity: “Your actions and reactions will define you, not your intentions or thoughts.” Although self-sufficiency is an overarching theme, he recommends seeking help when needed from “Other Young Queens” and from God: “Trust God, talk to him, and include him in ALL of your plans.” He also encourages them not to lose hope when facing difficulties like loss, anger, or heartbreak. Befitting that cheerful tone, Mills’ illustrations show a happy, bright-eyed, dark-skinned girl in varied everyday situations: doing a yoga pose, speaking in a classroom, dreaming of a diploma. When the text says, “Your actions and reactions will define you, not your intentions or thoughts,” the art shows the girl holding the words “action” and “intent” in her open palms. A handful of images also depict boys, adults, or friends with varied skin tones. Some of the sentiments are familiar—“You can do, and you can be anything you want to be!”—but they bring worthy reminders that everyone could use from time to time. Williams, the author of This Isn’t It (2016), reinforces Sims’ messages in her foreword, which reminds adults that girls need to hear that “they are…beautiful, strong, needed, and absolutely not alone.”
A well-illustrated book with an inspirational message for girls and young women of color.