Minna is neurodivergent and she wears masks when she struggles in social contexts.
With the help of those around her, with little tweaks, understanding and modifications, she has a more comfortable experience where she was wear one mask: her very own self.

This is a lovely read about the importance of treating people as they need to be treated. It is aimed at children, but it wouldn't go amiss for adults and young adults as they venture out into the world.
The images are great, with the facial expressions really showing the frustration, the panic and the happiness of Minna but also her friends at school. The explanation of needing to wear a mask is well done as well as the impact of whether a child is able to wear one or not. There is a good about of normalising how children need others to adapt their behaviour or emotions and help the children to do the same when they are in a situation where they might feel insecure, nervous or unsafe. This is a very good read and a jolly one as well as educational.

Overall, this book is a lovely, age appropriate and nuanced introduction to masking. I appreciated that the reasons we wear our ‘masks’ in certain situations were explored, as well as how scary and overwhelming it can be to feel unable to mask in new and unfamiliar surroundings. As someone who is autistic with ADHD, the difficulties and feelings Minna experiences were very familiar to me and sensitively explored. I loved how this book also celebrated friendship between neurodivergent people, Minna and Cedric’s friendship was lovely to see. The book is wonderfully illustrated and I will be excited to share this with the children in my life.

The focus later on in the book on how Minna’s school and friends made accommodations for Minna and the positive outcomes of these accommodations was really well done, and affirming to read. The information and education section at the end for caregivers was for the most part excellent. I felt this would be a great book to recommend to a parent or caregiver of a newly identified or diagnosed neurodivergent child. For a book that was generally so inclusive in tone and content, I was a bit disappointed in what I felt was some unnecessarily binary gendered language in this section. This is however an advanced reader copy so text may be altered in the final release.

Overall, as a neurodivergent adult with neurodivergent children in my life I am so happy to see books like this available. This will open up very important conversations between adults and children around masking, accommodations and needs. This book was also just really affirming to read, and I’m glad such media exists for neurodivergent children navigating life today.

Thank you very much to DK and NetGalley for the ARC