Continuing her work to support adults talking openly with children about subjects too important to ignore, author and illustrator Anastasia Higginbotham returns with the fourth book in her Ordinary Terrible Things Series. Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness invites families to acknowledge the ways white children are conditioned to feel apart from conversations about race. Higginbotham brings her book to Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe at 2:00 pm on Saturday, Oct. 27.
Conversations about whiteness are happening over all forms of media, on college campuses, and in schools and religious communities nationwide. As more white people actively seek to unlearn racism and dismantle its structures, all need support to deepen their understanding of what whiteness is and what it does to shape a worldview.
Not My Idea offers an emotional inlet to the crisis white children experience when they know people are being harmed and they are actively discouraged from feeling anything about it. Inspired by her own children’s curiosity, Higginbotham sets the story in present day America where a white child sees news coverage of a police shooting. The book empowers kids to seek an education in both white supremacy and those who have always fought against it—including some white people.
With clear language, exquisite art, and powerful incentive to open and connect, Not My Idea conveys Toni Morrison’s 1993 call to action on race in America: “White people have a very, very serious problem, and they should start thinking about what they can do about it.”
Visit Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe website for additional information. The store asks that you purchase the books you want to be signed at the event. When you do this you are not only supporting the work it takes to run an events program, you are also telling the publishers that they should keep sending authors to Asheville. Can’t make it to the store for the event? Call the store or order the book on their website in advance, and they’ll get it signed for you. Make sure you write your preferences in the comments if you purchase online.