Amoya Blackwood is Brave

A story about standing out and never shrinking for others, Amoya Blackwood is Brave by Chantaie Allick and Aaron Marin is inspirational.

Amoya Blackwood is big! She proudly uses her voice in choir practice, smiles big and takes up space. That is until other voices started telling her to be quiet, be less. When those other voices were too much, Amoya began to shrink and hide herself. A visit to Gran’s reminds Amoya of her true self.

Chantaie Allick’s story of Amoya is very relatable to many, many readers. All too often children are told to make themselves smaller, quieter, to blend in instead of standing out. It’s a message they receive consciously and unconsciously. I love how Amoya Blackwood reminds readers that being their true selves is important. This story reminds me of one of my favourite people on Instagram: Jam Gamble, who is always sharing the importance of using your voice, to “Slay the Mic”, a term she coined. Reading the story, I had a visceral reaction to Amoya and her feelings and was in the story with her as she shrank, blending in, making herself small for the benefit of others. Amoya Blackwood is a very important story for young readers and their adults as a reminder to let everyone’s true selves to shine .

Aaron Marin’s illustrations are joyful and colourful when Amoya is showing herself and a little darker and sadder as she begins to shrink, however, the colour remains because Amoya still has that spark inside of her, that colourful energy waiting to be shared.