Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson and E.B.Lewis (illus.)
As the snow whirls and twirls, carpeting the outside world; a shy little girl makes her debut appearance in Chloe's class.
Maya's whispered "Hello" is received with mocking derision and she becomes the object of endless contempt and disdain.
Her repeated overtures in befriending Chloe and her friends, are tossed away.
As spring dances in the air...
Maya comes to school all prettied up...her classmates lose no moment in displaying their loathing for Maya and her hand-me-down attire.
And one day...
Maya is gone.
Shocked beyond words, her classmate Chloe churns in a litany of emotions.
Filled with remorse, she yearns for Maya's return and laments at her missed moments of kindness.
Written by esteemed writer Jacqueline Woodson and brilliantly illustrated by none other than E.B. Lewis; winner of multiple awards including the Coretta Scott King award, Each Kindness is a haunting and poignant tale of lost opportunities of kindness.
Seen through the eyes of elementary level children, Each Kindness explores the unrequited acts of kindness that perpetuates our society. It's a shadow that polarizes us leaving our hearts full of gaping holes of sorrow.
It reminds us that we are so enmeshed in our rose-tinted-stained-glass vision of the world, judging, analyzing, labelling people for not conforming to our narrowed interpretation of the world, that we fail to see the beauty around us.
Maya is an unacceptable choice as Chloe's friend. Raggedly dressed, she is deemed a misfit right from the get-go. She never conforms to Chloe's choice of who or what constitutes a friend and becomes the brunt of taunts and insults.
The story demonstrates how cruel and heartless we can be when others do not conform to our perceptions and we lose no moment in demonstrating our loathing.
Albeit no expletives are used, the mannerisms and gestures convey boatloads of information - leaving gasping holes in our hearts.
A sense of superciliousness cloaks us when we see people coming from challenging situations and instead of holding out a hand to ease the pain; we seek pleasure in the pain.
Yet...the story is inspiring. It shows that despite the wordless assaults, Maya refuses to be a prisoner of her past, and although Chloe and her friends belittle her at every opportunity, Maya continues to hold out her hand in friendship.
When a forlorn Chloe understands that Maya will never return, she laments at the missed moments of kindness and realizes that kindness only propagates as we give.
A brilliant and transformational book. A must read for children and adults alike.
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