At every step the children and young people who helped make You Can were keen to challenge other’s perceptions, and that is something that is captured in both the words and the images within the book. Alexandra says: “My favourite spread is the one with blind runner at the end because of the line ‘you can do almost anything anyone else can do, even if you have to do it differently’. It is such powerful line.”


Alexandra describes the accompanying picture, saying: “You have a blind runner and their guide runner, and when I speak to some children they assume that the guide would be leading the blind runner. But, when you look at the position of them both you can clearly see the blind runner is in the lead – he is the one who is racing. These details are important..” The You Can journey did not end for the children once the book was completed. Alexandra explains that some were keen to use the book as a platform to connect with others and share experiences. She said: “The children probably wondered if it would actually happen, so to see the physical book was great for them. They were really delighted to see what they had helped to produce. After it was finished, it was them who asked for a


Alexandra Strick.


it means to let people use their own voice. She says: “It did change my views because I realised that there is an adult tendency to second guess what children are saying, or we try to and put it in ‘better way’ for them. Actually they really enjoyed those moments where they were able to tell me and make me understand their ideas, and feel valued as having their own set of experiences that they could share. “What was really rewarding for me was realising that they were assessing some of these things for the first time, and were really unpicking the issues that they are dealing with in life. I hope it encourages them – the readers as well – to explore some of those things.” You Can features a diverse set of characters making their own journey through the book, which features the words of advice or support that Alexandra collected. As the title suggests, the book is about achieving goals, but the message to readers goes deeper than that. “We have a really lovely diverse group of kids involved,” Alexandra explains, “but we didn’t directly touch on disability or diversity. However, it was fascinating to see the children bring it up themselves. We had a child who was very definitely non-binary in the group, who was very passionate that the book reflected that gender isn’t a stationary thing – it’s not static, but is something that evolves and which young people need to be able to explore without being told what they should do or how they should be. These things came up very naturally in the group. “We did a video for You Can, and one of the children who is a wheelchair user chose to transfer out of her wheelchair and sat down on the sofa and said ‘I am doing it from here”, then talked about why it was so important for her not just to be labelled as a wheelchair user.”


Spring-Summer 2022 PEN&INC. 17


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