You Are Not Alone

Employing the refrain “You are not alone,” Grammy nominees the Alphabet Rockers offer a lyrical exploration of solidarity. The book begins by following a short-haired Black child: “You don’t know me,/ but I wonder if you look at your/ skin the way I look at mine./ You don’t know me,/ but I need you to know that/ I don’t always feel safe here.” The child invites readers to get to know them, highlighting using one’s voice to both speak one’s truth and amplify others’. Subsequent pages explore other frequently marginalized experiences from the first-person perspective, as Evans’s warm digital art portrays bright, inclusive spreads: a cued–South Asian child with a braid says no one pronounces their name correctly; a light-skinned, black-haired child DJ with a prosthetic arm speaks about their music and limitless possibilities; a Native child asks readers to uplift Indigenous land acknowledgment; a light-skinned child speaks about being nonbinary; and more, as each child offers an example of a friend’s support. If the book skews long, its earnest advocacy and heartening message is clear. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)