“I Love Me and the Skin I’m In” by Jessica N. Crutcher

I LOVE ME AND THE SKIN I’M IN

Jessica N. Crutcher
Outskirts Press (2016)
ISBN 9781478770602
Reviewed by Willow Cramer (age 7) for Reader Views Kids (1/17)

“I Love Me and the Skin I’m In” by Jessica N. Crutcher is about a little girl named Jessica, who was getting bullied by other girls at school during recess. They said that she was not Black because her skin was so light. When Jessica got in the car after school with her mom, her mom asked if Jessica was okay and asked what happened. Jessica’s mom then told her a story from when she was a little girl about being bullied, and how Jessica’s grandma had helped her. Then they went for ice cream to make her feel better.

The next day, Jessica went to school and at recess she played with some other girls. Her teacher, Mrs. Johnson, came over and asked Jessica and her new friends about what had happened when they were playing with the other girls. Mrs. Johnson then talked to the girls who had bullied them. They walked over with Mrs. Johnson and she made the other girls say they were sorry. Jessica forgave them and gave them a hug. When Jessica got in the car that afternoon, her mom asked her how her day had been. Jessica said, “ It was perfect.”

I liked that Jessica and her mom talked about what had happened and then went to get ice cream. It made me think of my mom and me talking. I liked when Jessica was sad but came home happy the next day after she made some new friends. I really, really like the pictures in this book. They were creative. Jessica’s outfit and bed were pink, my favorite color, and there was a lot of green. Also, there was a girl in the book that looks like me.

I did not like that the story was kind of mean, that Jessica was crying, and that she was being bullied by other girls.

I would recommend “I Love Me and the Skin I’m In” by Jessica N. Crutcher to other girls because I think they might like that the little girl and the author are both named Jessica. This book would help them know what to do if they were being bullied too. You are supposed to love yourself, no matter what others say. I think girls my age up to ten would like this book.