Jael Richardson brings together writers across Canada in a new short story collection — read an excerpt now
Bridget Raymundo | CBC Books | Posted: January 25, 2024 3:35 PM | Last Updated: January 26
Today I Am will be published on Aug. 6, 2024
As a writer and activist, Jael Richardson's work centres around diverse storytelling in Canada. In her latest project, she has gathered racialized writers from across the country in a story collection for young readers.
Today I Am is a book of 10 short stories by emerging writers in Canada that examines the meaning of home. Inspired by their varied cultural upbringings, each story follows a tween or teen searching for belonging. From growing up on a faraway planet to being stranded on an island to a difficult school assignment, this collection shows the adventurous and courageous nature of kids today.
Told through prose, verse and illustrations, Today I Am features writers Marty Chan, Rosena Fung, Michael Hutchinson, Chad Lucas, Angela Misri, Mahtab Narsimhan, Danny Ramadan, Liselle Sambury and Brandon Wint.
Richardson is a writer, editor and the executive director of the Festival for Literary Diversity (FOLD). Her other books include the picture book Because You Are and the nonfiction book The Stone Thrower, which was adapted into a picture book of the same name.
Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was published in 2021 and was a finalist for the 2021 Amazon Canada First Novel Award.
"Assembling a group like this and seeing the range not only in what they wrote about but in the genre and styles they chose to write it is why I took on this project," said Richardson in a statement about finding writers for Today I Am.
"This collection is everything I look for in a book, and I truly think there is something for everyone in those pages. The talent is staggering, and the stories reflect the experiences of tweens and young teens today."
Today I Am is for readers 10-14 and will be out on Aug. 6. Read an excerpt from Richardson's story, The Invention of Serene Brown below.
Reggie Watts opens the front door hoping to get all the way to her room without being seen by anyone. Her dad is at work, and she's hoping her mom is busy too — talking with a neighbour on the street or stuck in her office, trapped in a virtual meeting.
"How was the field trip?" her mother calls out, stepping into the hallway and making her way toward the front door.
"Fine," she says, slipping off her backpack and placing it in the hall closet.
Reggie would normally go to the kitchen and get a snack.
She would normally hang out and talk to her mother, but today she heads straight for the stairs.
"Is everything okay?"
She pauses on the first step, gripping the railing tightly.
"I'm fine."
"Regina, honey," her mother says, but Reggie interrupts her.
"Can't I just be fine? Gawd," she snaps.
Her mother frowns, but she doesn't say anything, and now Reggie feels even worse.
"Your father said dinner will be ready in an hour. He's bringing something home," her mother says softly, and Reggie nods and climbs the stairs, closing the door to her bedroom behind her.
When she's finally alone, Reggie sits down on her bed and takes a long, deep breath. She thinks about the day, the field trip they took to the outdoor education facility. She thinks about the bus ride and the exchange near the fence, and she lets her head and shoulders droop, curling into a question mark. She tries not to cry, but she can't stop the tears, so she presses her hands to her mouth, hoping no one hears her.
She doesn't want her mother to know that she lied. She's not fine at all.
"This cow's fur feels just like your hair, Reggie," Cassandra Miles had said earlier, petting the animal as it moved past the fence.
Cassandra sat behind Reggie in class. She regularly touched Reggie's hair, even though she asked her not to. But today at the fence, when she compared her hair to fur in front of the class, Reggie was heartbroken and horrified.
She wasn't sure what hurt more — Cassandra's words or the laughter that followed — but the whole thing made her feel terribly alone.
She wasn't sure what hurt more — Cassandra's words or the laughter that followed — but the whole thing made her feel terribly alone. - Jael Richardson
Reggie takes a wobbly breath, then another, as her tears begin to slow. Her body feels tight and sore like something is stuck in her belly, desperate to get out.
And that's when she sees it, the notebook on her desk — something her aunt had sent for her birthday.
She grabs her favourite pen, the one with the puffy pink heart on the end, and climbs back onto her bed, opening the book to the first page. She thinks about Cassandra's words and her classmates' laughter. She thinks about all of the things she's been through since her family moved to New Haven. And she writes down the first thing that comes to her.
Serene Brown was the only Black girl in the town of Fairmont Hills.
She stares at the sentence and takes a long, deep breath. Something about those neat letters and those tightly connected words makes Reggie feel like she can breathe just a little better.
She imagines a girl just like her – a face she sketches right there in the margins: two thick braids, two dark brown eyes, one toothy grin. And she moves her pen back to the lines of the page, filling Serene Brown in, not with colours or shading, but with words and sentences.
Serene was twelve years old. She has a mom and a dad and a house that felt good and normal. But everywhere she went, she stood out. Everywhere she went, people stared at her. Because her skin was brown and her parents' was pinkish peach. Serene felt different everywhere she went. Even at home. And she didn't like it.
She moves her pen back to the lines of the page, filling Serene Brown in, not with colours or shading, but with words and sentences. - Jael Richardson
Reggie has only ever shared this thought out loud once with her mother. When she was eight, she told her mother that she didn't want to be different anymore. She wanted pink skin too. Her mother crouched down and held her tight.
"Being different isn't bad. It doesn't make you weird. It makes you special, Regina."
At the time, Reggie didn't say anything. But now she writes the truth, the thing she had never shared with her mother, the thought she had always kept to herself.
Serene didn't want to be special. She was tired of feeling alone.
Reggie looks at those words, and when her mother calls her down for dinner, she tucks the notebook into a drawer of her desk and covers it with papers.
—
When Reggie comes home from school the next day, she grabs a Rice Krispies square and heads upstairs, waving hello to her mother as she passes by the glass door to her office. With her mother busy with work, she closes the door to her bedroom and pulls out her notebook.
Fairmont Middle School was in the middle of the town of Fairmont Hills. There were 3,567 people who lived in this town, and none of them had thick curly hair or brown skin. From the moment she arrived, Serene felt more lonely than ever.
Excerpted from Today I Am: 10 Stories of Belonging edited by Jael Richardson. Copyright © 2024 Jael Richardson. Published by Scholastic Canada Ltd. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.