Finding Myself

Description

This project explores how mixed-race children navigate identity, belonging, and social dynamics within school environments through both creative storytelling and academic analysis. Centered around the original children’s book Finding Myself, the project follows Maya, a fourth-grade girl who experiences confusion, exclusion, and self-discovery after being questioned about her racial identity at school. The central goal of this project is to examine how children’s literature can be used to represent the emotional and psychological realities of mixed-race childhood while also engaging broader historical and social issues surrounding race and belonging. 

The project combines a creative component, the full children’s story, and a critical analysis grounded in interdisciplinary scholarship on racial identity, microaggressions, child development, and school belonging. Drawing on peer-reviewed research and historical context, the analysis examines themes including racial categorization, silence and withdrawal, family affirmation, ancestral connection, and the role of agency in building belonging. 

The project results in the findings that the experiences represented in Finding Myself reflect broader patterns documented in scholarship on multiracial identity and educational environments. Maya’s story demonstrates how seemingly small moments, such as peer questioning or feelings of difference, can deeply affect a child’s emotional well-being. At the same time, the project concludes that family support, cultural grounding, and affirming representation in children’s literature can serve as powerful tools for fostering self-understanding among mixed-race children.

Team

Members

Student: Jadalyn Baker

Supervisor: Charlie Thompson