Love Has No Skin Tone: A Lesson About Social Justice

In May of 2020, Nova is excited to go grocery shopping with her family. Little did she know, due to civil unrest, rioters damaged the stores where she usually shops. Her family drives to a store in a beautiful neighborhood far from where they live. As they arrive at the grocery store, the family is confronted by an angry man who does not want them there. The man's despicable behavior traumatizes Nova, and she wants to go back to her neighborhood.

This racist experience allowed Nova's parents to help her recognize and confront racism. Her parents have an open and honest discussion with her about diversity, inclusivity, and discrimination.

Nova learns that love has no skin tone and that it is better to treat everyone with kindness and respect.

Michol Whitney was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. As an educator, she has taught in parochial, private, and public schools. She graduated from Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, and is certified to teach General Education, Special Education, and English Second Language students. As a teacher for over 20 years, she is well aware of connecting with children through storytelling and reading. She loves to read, write, and tell stories on demand. As a child, she enjoyed reading narratives written in verse. She used the family encyclopedia of rhymes to make short poems for her enjoyment. While in high school, she wrote a rap about herself and encouraged her girl group of friends to do the same. Inspired by current events, Michol uses what is going on around her for teaching moments and writing material. She believes that reading and writing allow children and adults to escape where they are and enter imagination and wonderment.

Kayla Hargrove loves to draw and create character designs and simple sketches. She is fascinated by art, and art has been a strong passion of hers ever since she was a child. Art has played an enormous part in Kayla's life and has helped shape her into who she is today. She loves turning her dreams into reality. Her art is adorable and heavily inspired by Western cartoons. She specializes in two-dimensional digital art. She has illustrated several children's books and is always looking to illustrate more.