Hardcover, 234 pages
Release Date: September 25, 2018Published by: Scholastic Press
Read from: October 21-23,2018Stand-AloneSource: LibraryTW:
For fans of: Diverse Characters, Realistic Fiction, Sparkly Covers, Contemporary, MGJilly thinks she’s figured out how life works. But when her sister Emma is born Deaf, she realizes how much she still has to learn.
A big fantasy reader, Jilly connects with another fan, Derek, who is a Deaf Black ASL user. She goes to Derek for advice but doesn’t always know the best way to ask for it and makes some mistakes along the way. Jilly has to step back to learn to be an ally, a sister, and a friend, understanding that life works in different ways for different people, and that being open to change can make you change in the best possible ways.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Knowing that their first book would be hard to follow, I went into this one with zero expectations. This turned out to be a good thing. As much as I liked it, it had a whole lot going on. Not in a bad way, but it did stop me from rating it as high as I did their other book.
“Babies are so cute!!! […] have you ever lived with a baby? […] I’m a only child. […] let me tell you. they might seem cute, until you get one. then you realize they just look like that so you won’t toss them off a cliff.“pg. 6-7
Jilly’s little sister was just born and she adores her! Her and her parents quickly find out that her sister Emma was born Deaf. Jilly befriends someone from her favorite book’s forum that she frequents and learns that he is Deaf and African American. As she continues talking to him, she must realize that not everyone is the same and you won’t always say the right thing. She makes mistakes, but what matters most is how she tries fixing them.
“You do know other books exist right?“pg. 21
When I say there was too much going on in this one, I mean it in the best way possible. It just seemed that Gino was trying to do too much. The Deaf rep was on point. In the author’s note they said that they had Deaf grandparents and they had to learn to sign, and it showed. Jilly makes a wonderful ally to Derek and her sister. She makes some mistakes, but what mattered was how she listened to what she said and how she fixed it in the end. As for Jilly being an ally to Black people, I felt like it was a bit forced. I think the story would have been just fine if he had left it only at them being Deaf. But he had to make some of the characters Black and then added police brutality to the story as well. I just felt like it didn’t have to be there. The story was about Jilly P learning to become an ally and to ask questions and I think she could’ve done that with just the Deaf storyline. Really I just didn’t like that a black kid had to die in a story about an ally. It just didn’t sit well with me.
“How could you miss something you don’t know is there?“pg. 101
As for the characters, I did like Jilly. She had a great story arc that showed her learning about the struggles that different people go through. These things aren’t always easy lessons, so I was happy that it wasn’t depicted that way. Jilly wasn’t perfect, but neither is anyone else. I also liked that the parents were seen as learning more as well. It doesn’t always have to be a kid who can begin learning. Some adults need those lessons too.
“[…]we just didn’t want to worry you, says Mom. “I’m worried anyway,'” I say. “So what do we do?” We keep talking,” says Mom. Dad nods. “Even when it’s uncomfortable.“pg. 213
You Don’t Know Everything, Jilly P is a story that middle grade readers need. There are no other books that show readers how to become an ally and the best thing to do is LISTEN. I liked the lessons it told and some of the conversations it will spark will be amazing. This was almost a very strong contender for my favorite book by Gino.
Overall, I give this
