Close cookie details

This site uses cookies. Learn more about cookies.

OverDrive would like to use cookies to store information on your computer to improve your user experience at our Website. One of the cookies we use is critical for certain aspects of the site to operate and has already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but this could affect certain features or services of the site. To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them, click here to see our Privacy Policy.

If you do not wish to continue, please click here to exit this site.

Hide notification

  Main Nav
A Girl Like Me
Cover of A Girl Like Me
A Girl Like Me
"[A] rallying cry for girls to reject limitations others might place on them and their dreams."—starred,The Horn Book Magazine "Once I dreamed I swam / the ocean / and saw everything deep, cool / and was part of the waves. / I swam on by the people / onshore / hollering, / 'A girl like you needs to / stay out of the water / and be dry / like everyone else.'" Empower young readers to embrace their individuality, reject societal limitations, and follow their dreams. This inspiring picture book brings together a poem by acclaimed author Angela Johnson and Nina Crews's distinctive photocollage illustrations to celebrate girls of color.
"[A] rallying cry for girls to reject limitations others might place on them and their dreams."—starred,The Horn Book Magazine "Once I dreamed I swam / the ocean / and saw everything deep, cool / and was part of the waves. / I swam on by the people / onshore / hollering, / 'A girl like you needs to / stay out of the water / and be dry / like everyone else.'" Empower young readers to embrace their individuality, reject societal limitations, and follow their dreams. This inspiring picture book brings together a poem by acclaimed author Angela Johnson and Nina Crews's distinctive photocollage illustrations to celebrate girls of color.
Available formats-
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB eBook
  • PDF eBook
Languages:-
Copies-
  • Available:
    0
  • Library copies:
    0
Levels-
  • ATOS:
    3.0
  • Lexile:
    620
  • Interest Level:
    LG
  • Text Difficulty:
    K - 2


About the Author-
  • Angela Johnson is an award-winning poet and children's author with more than forty books to her credit. She began her writing career in 1989 with the publication of a picture book called Tell Me a Story, Mama, which won the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award. She has won three Coretta Scott King Awards, the Michael L. Printz Award, and the Margaret A. Edwards Award for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. In recognition of her outstanding talent, Angela was named a 2003 MacArthur Fellow. She lives in Kent, Ohio.
Reviews-
  • Publisher's Weekly

    November 4, 2019
    Poet Johnson (Heaven) bridges fanciful aspirations and attainable goals in this inclusive portrait of girlhood. “I always dream” opens the airy, free-verse narrative. In collages superimposing crisp photos against swirling abstract backdrops, Crews (Seeing into Tomorrow) portrays a girl flying through the air in a red cape, another walking atop skyscrapers, and a third swimming in the ocean, becoming “part of the waves,” while onshore onlookers holler, “A girl like you needs to/ stay out of the water/ and be dry,/ like everyone else.” The collaborators bring the tone down to earth as the kids react to unseen naysayers who discourage their dreams. In affirmations of their spirit of curiosity and adventure, the girls don vibrant clothing and funky hats as they skip down city streets and frolic by the ocean, always “thinking/ way up/ high/ and making/ everything/ better than/ the dream.” The book concludes with a roundup of the subjects and personal statements about their personalities, favorite things, and ambitions, inviting readers’ own self-reflections. A blithe celebration of individuality, guts, and sisterhood. Ages 5–10. Author’s agent: Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Marietta Zacker, Gallt & Zacker Literary.

  • Kirkus

    December 1, 2019
    A book to inspire the next diverse generation of girls to keep working toward breaking glass ceilings no matter how often the world tells them, "A girl like you needs to stop." Johnson and Crews are seasoned talents whose collaboration here shines. Johnson's spare words of encouragement are in harmony with Crews' large double-page spreads blending photos of black and brown girls into a collaged dreamworld. Each of three girls is a star in her own dream only to hear people shouting in the background that what she wants simply isn't possible. The illustrations show the three meeting on an urban playground and then encouraging other neighborhood girls of many races to join them in standing up to the doubters. There is much that Johnson doesn't say that Crews uses pictures to illustrate. Adult readers may need to help children understand what is taking place in the story, at the heart of which is the power of play. Each girl is seen using her imagination to make her reality "better than the dream." Illustrating this, a dozen girls in ebullient dress-up pose on the beach, all unapologetically themselves. A final spread allows each depicted girl to tell readers a little bit about herself--a sweet touch that drives home this reminder that girls should be supported in exploring their limitless imaginations, regardless of the naysayers. A great way to spark real-world conversations with other girls "like me." (Picture book. 4-8)

    COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  • School Library Journal

    January 1, 2020

    PreS-Gr 2-Black girls lead the way in this story about defining oneself and making the world a better place. Three girls take turns sharing their dreams about flying high, standing tall, and being free. Each girl's dream is scuttled by people telling her that "a girl like you" should not be doing the amazing things she does in her dreams, that "a girl like you" should be like everyone else. "Once I dreamed I swam/the ocean/and saw everything deep, /cool/ and was part of the waves. I swam on by the people/onshore hollering, 'A girl like you needs to/stay out of the water/and be dry, /like everyone else.'" The three boldly take charge of their dreams. They gather the capes, hats, and scarves that represent them and expand their visions to include other girls as they proudly take up space in the world, sure of their value and confident in their power to create real-world change. Crews's signature photo-collage style is the perfect artistic choice for this book, using photos of real girls and beautiful cityscapes in combination with recurring shapes, textures, and symbols that tie the dreamy spreads in with the real-world ones. VERDICT An excellent addition for all collections.-Anna Haase Krueger, Ramsey County Library, MN

    Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

  • The Horn Book

    January 1, 2020
    It seems not even the sky's the limit for the imaginative, adventurous, inventive girls depicted in this inspirational picture book. Johnson's upbeat text, paired with Crews's innovative, exuberant photo collages, delivers a message of encouragement and empowerment. "I always dream," reads the opening line, and the accompanying illustration presents close-ups of three young women of color, their eyes closed, against a patterned background of blues and purples. Subsequent spreads show each girl recounting fantastic dreams, which position them as superheroes "in Supergirl underwear...in flowing scarves and a cowgirl hat." They fly, stand atop tall buildings, and dive deep into oceans; but most importantly, they resist others' warnings, denials, and chastisement about "a girl like you." As the story goes on, more young women join the scenes, offering an ever-broadening depiction of girlhood; the closing spread, featuring headshots of each of the participants, coupled with her own words about her dreams, grounds this interpretation in the lived realities of real children. This is not trite girl-power pablum; it's a rallying cry for girls to reject limitations others might place on them and their dreams.

    (Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

  • The Horn Book

    Starred review from March 1, 2020
    It seems not even the sky's the limit for the imaginative, adventurous, inventive girls depicted in this inspirational picture book. Johnson's upbeat text, paired with Crews's innovative, exuberant photo collages, delivers a message of encouragement and empowerment. "I always dream, " reads the opening line, and the accompanying illustration presents close-ups of three young women of color, their eyes closed, against a patterned background of blues and purples. Subsequent spreads show each girl recounting fantastic dreams, which position them as superheroes "in Supergirl underwear...in flowing scarves and a cowgirl hat." They fly, stand atop tall buildings, and dive deep into oceans; but most importantly, they resist others' warnings, denials, and chastisement about "a girl like you." As the story goes on, more young women join the scenes, offering an ever-broadening depiction of girlhood; the closing spread, featuring headshots of each of the participants, coupled with her own words about her dreams, grounds this interpretation in the lived realities of real children. This is not trite girl-power pablum; it's a rallying cry for girls to reject limitations others might place on them and their dreams. Megan Dowd Lambert

    (Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

  • The Horn Book

    March 1, 2020
    It seems not even the sky's the limit for the imaginative, adventurous, inventive girls depicted in this inspirational picture book. Johnson's upbeat text, paired with Crews's innovative, exuberant photo collages, delivers a message of encouragement and empowerment. "I always dream, " reads the opening line, and the accompanying illustration presents close-ups of three young women of color, their eyes closed, against a patterned background of blues and purples. Subsequent spreads show each girl recounting fantastic dreams, which position them as superheroes "in Supergirl underwear...in flowing scarves and a cowgirl hat." They fly, stand atop tall buildings, and dive deep into oceans; but most importantly, they resist others' warnings, denials, and chastisement about "a girl like you." As the story goes on, more young women join the scenes, offering an ever-broadening depiction of girlhood; the closing spread, featuring headshots of each of the participants, coupled with her own words about her dreams, grounds this interpretation in the lived realities of real children. This is not trite girl-power pablum; it's a rallying cry for girls to reject limitations others might place on them and their dreams. Megan Dowd Lambert

    (Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

  • The Horn Book Magazine "[A] rallying cry for girls to reject limitations others might place on them and their dreams."—starred, The Horn Book Magazine
Title Information+
  • Publisher
    Lerner Publishing Group
  • OverDrive Read
    Release date:
  • EPUB eBook
    Release date:
  • PDF eBook
    Release date:
Digital Rights Information+
  • Copyright Protection (DRM) required by the Publisher may be applied to this title to limit or prohibit printing or copying. File sharing or redistribution is prohibited. Your rights to access this material expire at the end of the lending period. Please see Important Notice about Copyrighted Materials for terms applicable to this content.

Status bar:

You've reached your checkout limit.

Visit your Checkouts page to manage your titles.

Close

You already have this title checked out.

Want to go to your Checkouts?

Close

Recommendation Limit Reached.

You've reached the maximum number of titles you can recommend at this time. You can recommend up to 99 titles every 1 day(s).

Close

Sign in to recommend this title.

Recommend your library consider adding this title to the Digital Collection.

Close

Enhanced Details

Close
Close

Limited availability

Availability can change throughout the month based on the library's budget.

is available for days.

Once playback starts, you have hours to view the title.

Close

Permissions

Close

The OverDrive Read format of this eBook has professional narration that plays while you read in your browser. Learn more here.

Close

Holds

Total holds:


Close

Restricted

Some format options have been disabled. You may see additional download options outside of this network.

Close

MP3 audiobooks are only supported on macOS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) through 10.14 (Mojave). Learn more about MP3 audiobook support on Macs.

Close

Please update to the latest version of the OverDrive app to stream videos.

Close

Device Compatibility Notice

The OverDrive app is required for this format on your current device.

Close

Bahrain, Egypt, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen

Close

You've reached your library's checkout limit for digital titles.

To make room for more checkouts, you may be able to return titles from your Checkouts page.

Close

Excessive Checkout Limit Reached.

There have been too many titles checked out and returned by your account within a short period of time.

Try again in several days. If you are still not able to check out titles after 7 days, please contact Support.

Close

You have already checked out this title. To access it, return to your Checkouts page.

Close

This title is not available for your card type. If you think this is an error contact support.

Close

An unexpected error has occurred.

If this problem persists, please contact support.

Close

Close

NOTE: Barnes and Noble® may change this list of devices at any time.

Close
Buy it now
and help our library WIN!
A Girl Like Me
A Girl Like Me
Angela Johnson
Choose a retail partner below to buy this title for yourself.
A portion of this purchase goes to support your library.
Close
Close

There are no copies of this issue left to borrow. Please try to borrow this title again when a new issue is released.

Close
Barnes & Noble Sign In |   Sign In

You will be prompted to sign into your library account on the next page.

If this is your first time selecting “Send to NOOK,” you will then be taken to a Barnes & Noble page to sign into (or create) your NOOK account. You should only have to sign into your NOOK account once to link it to your library account. After this one-time step, periodicals will be automatically sent to your NOOK account when you select "Send to NOOK."

The first time you select “Send to NOOK,” you will be taken to a Barnes & Noble page to sign into (or create) your NOOK account. You should only have to sign into your NOOK account once to link it to your library account. After this one-time step, periodicals will be automatically sent to your NOOK account when you select "Send to NOOK."

You can read periodicals on any NOOK tablet or in the free NOOK reading app for iOS, Android or Windows 8.

Accept to ContinueCancel