Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You



Last updated Thursday, September 23, 2021

Author: Sonia Sotomayor
Illustrator: Rafael Lopez
Date of Publication: 2019
ISBN: 0525514120
Grade Level: 2nd    (GLCs: Click here for grade level guidelines.)
Date(s) Used: Sep. 2021

Synopsis: Feeling different, especially as a kid, can be tough. But in the same way that different types of plants and flowers make a garden more beautiful and enjoyable, different types of people make our world more vibrant and wonderful.

In Just Ask, United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor celebrates the different abilities kids (and people of all ages) have. Using her own experience as a child who was diagnosed with diabetes, Justice Sotomayor writes about children with all sorts of challenges - and looks at the special powers those kids have as well. As the kids work together to build a community garden, asking questions of each other along the way, this book encourages readers to do the same: When we come across someone who is different from us but we're not sure why, all we have to do is Just Ask.

Note to readers:
•  The book has great images to display the various characters in the story.
•  There are great discussion questions included throughout the book.

Discussion topics for before reading:
•  How do you use your voice?
•  What do you do when you are curious to know something?
•  Do you have the courage to ask? Why or why not?

Vocabulary

•  Thrive- to grow or develop well
•  Fragile - easily broken, not strong, delicate
•  Prick - to make a small hole in something
•  Insulin - is a hormone that lowers the level of glucose (a type of sugar) in the blood
•  Diabetes - a disease in which too little or no insulin is produced
•  Asthma - having difficulty breathing
•  Blind - unable to see

Discussion topics for during/after reading:
•  Do you ever wonder if people understand you?
•  After reading about this story, are you now more confident to ask a question?
•  What did you learn from the story?

Craft ideas:
•  Make a Grandparents’ Day card (Sunday, September 12, made a federal holiday in 1978 by President Carter to acknowledge the close bond between grandparents and their grandchildren)
•  Check our craft ideas on Pinterest!
https://www.pinterest.com/readingtokids/september-2021-back-to-school-fun/

Special activities:
•  CREATE A ME COMMERCIAL
The topic is focused on students sharing something about themselves within 30 seconds. The students present their fun commercials in front of the group via Zoom to learn something about their peers.

*Note: These craft ideas are just suggestions. You can use them, but you don't have to use them. You can expand upon them, or add your own twist. Remember, though, that the focus of your time should not be on the development and execution of a craft; the focus should be on the read-aloud and the enjoyment of the book!