Title: I Am Just Not Good at Anything!
Author: Nicole Atkinson
Publisher: XibrisUS
ISBN: 978-1-5434-8385-7
Pages: 32
Genre: Juvenile Fiction / Self-Help
Reviewed by: Margaret Washington
Pacific Book Review
Gina is a young girl who has low self-esteem. Author Nicole Atkinson brings a few examples of why Gina feels this way in her book titled, I Am Just Not Good at Anything! With interleaving text and pictures, readers are brought to Gina’s piano lesson, swimming pool and tennis court, only to eventually see Gina getting frustrated after each incident, and each time tells her mother she is done with it. She thought she would be able to do these things, but her fingers hurt on the piano, her arms flailed while swimming and she had a problem hitting the tennis ball over the net. Gina began to cry at home and she told her mom “I am just NOT good at anything!”
Thinking very low of herself she was asked in school how to spell the word “Crawl.” Gina spelled C-R-A-W-L, CRAWL. Then she went on to spell correctly “Blossom,” then “Fantastic,” and before she knew it, she won the spelling Bee! Bringing home a trophy gave Gina a big smile on her face and the story ends with a happy-ever-after theme.
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” as an idiom which actually is not exactly what Gina did. She tried other things instead of trying piano, swimming and tennis over and over. Eventually she found what she was good at, realizing not everyone is good at everything. Nicole Atkinson makes a clear lesson for children not to be upset if they cannot do certain things; Kids will find the things in which they can do the best – it just takes time and patience. This a good lesson, of course. As W.C. Fields said, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit.” So in a way not sticking with the piano, or swimming or tennis gave Gina the opportunity to win at the spelling bee.
All children are winners – it is just finding the right challenge for each to succeed. I Am Just Not Good at Anything! will help encourage children to find what they are good at, and not to be upset as Gina was. I Am Just Not Good at Anything! is about “tough love,” and a lesson needed to tell children who may be doubting their ability in certain areas. Yes, it may be best to try, try again – but eventually you have to make the decision to move away from what you are not good at so you can find out where you are excellent.
