LI NA IS MY NAME

In this picture book, a girl resists being called a tomboy.

Li Na and her friends love to do many things, including rollerblading. But mean Mrs. James scoffs as she passes by and says: “I’m so glad my daughter is NOT a tomboy!” Intuiting that this term can be derogatory, Li Na is unhappy when Mr. and Mrs. Samar use the word to praise her saving a cat. And when Dan says she plays soccer “like a boy,” that description also upsets her. Miss Nichols, a teacher, underscores a source of Li Na’s discomfort when she says “a tomboy is no beauty.” Li Na points out that “blue looks great on us. Pink makes us look dapper.” Author/illustrator Wee’s striking, lineless images in bright colors with digital textures show a suburban world full of parks and trees where children with large heads and eyes play. Multiracial kids on a stage ride on whales and pirate ships, share leadership tasks, and hold signs with negative appellations like “nerdy.” A long-haired Black boy displays one with the substantially charged label “sissy.” The children reject these signs and instead hold up ones to reclaim their own names to parental applause. These are all positive messages in an inspiring story. But when Li Na asserts, “I am no tomboy. I am not like a boy,” some readers may wonder what the book’s stance on children who identify as gender-nonconforming might be.

This engaging tale encourages resistance to gender stereotypes and highlights the power of discomfiting labels.