Hands Up! by Breanna J. McDaniel

 

Hands Up! 

Written by: Breanna J. McDaniel 

Illustrated by: Shane W. Evans 

Originally Published in: 2019 

The first book I will be introducing into my Social Justice collection is Hands Up! This story follows the life of a girl from childhood to adulthood. As she grows up, the girl puts her "hands up!" from washing her hands (barely being able to reach the sink), to joining a peaceful protest to march for the cause of herself and others. This book shows the reader that raising our hands can have a positive effect in our lives, such as scoring the winning basket in a basketball game as a teen. But can have negative effects as well, such as being picked up after a fall off a bike as a child. Overall, this book reminds us that there are positive things in our everyday lives, and they should outweigh the negatives. 

This book is targeted towards elementary school aged children since it is a picture book. Especially in today's American society with the growing support of the Black Lives Matter movement, this would be a great story for 2nd-5th graders, as I believe it would be the most effective to that age group. I think this age group would enjoy it the most because it can be related to current events and you can receive their honest opinions on it, because they will be able to comprehend the events. But any younger may not understand what the book is about and any older probably wouldn't want to read a picture book. However, anybody could potentially learn something from this book, as it is always good to be reminded to look out for the positives in our lives, rather than the negatives. This book can also open up a discussion as to what a protest is, as we see at the end of the story that the once 'little girl' is holding a sign saying "Lift Every Voice." There are others around her as well, all holding up signs on human rights issues that they are using their voices to stand up for. 

Other information:

Hands Up! is a Children's Literature book.

McDaniel, B., & Evans, S. (2019). Hands Up!. Penguin Young Readers Group.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/564439/hands-up-by-breanna-mcdaniel-illustrated-by-shane-w-evans/9780525552314

Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYkEJuk4NF4