The story of “My Super Duper Me” is one that author Malcolm Mitchell knows well, as he experiences and teaches the joy of reading every day.
Our story starts with Theo, the new kid in school. He is an outsider who ends up in the back of the line and alone in the lunchroom. Suddenly, Mr. Burton, the new school librarian, arrives with a shelf of books that feels like they were written just for him, planting the first seeds of confidence.
Credit: handout - Courtesy of Scholastic
Credit: handout - Courtesy of Scholastic
For Mitchell, a University of Georgia alum and former New England Patriots wide receiver who helped the team take home the victory in Super Bowl LI, his second career as a literacy advocate and author once seemed like a distant possibility.
He entered college reading at a middle school level. This bothered him and he began to work on his literacy as hard as he did at football. He grew to love books, and after retiring from the NFL in 2019, he shifted his focus full-time to the Share the Magic Foundation. Since 2016, the group works to grow interest in reading and improve literacy rates and book ownership for children in underserved communities.
“‘My Super Duper Me’ is my opportunity to say every book that you read gives you a new gift, provides you with a new superpower,” said Mitchell, who grew up in Valdosta and now lives in Atlanta. “It gives you a new dose of information, with that new information, you can use it to take yourself further than you did before you had it. That’s my personal experience when I became a reader.”
This book is not Mitchell’s first. His previous children’s books include “The Magician’s Hat,” “My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World” and “Hey, Georgia.”
Andrea Davis Pinkney, has worked with Mitchell for 10 years in her role as executive editor at children’s book publisher Scholastic.
“He knows how to get into the hearts and minds of kids,” Pinkney said. “The characters in all his books, it’s like meeting a friend.”
The most gratifying part of the process for her is seeing the scope of readers who relate to Mitchell’s work.
“They’re all kids from all walks of life, all backgrounds, all ethnicities, all beliefs because the core value is reading,” Pinkney said. “No matter where Malcolm goes, kids are along with him because they experience what it means to be a reader.”
Mitchell took part in every aspect of the creative process, down to handpicking the book’s illustrator. Deise Lino, an illustrator from Lisbon, Portugal, was chosen because Mitchell felt she understood the book’s themes.
“I wanted her to fully embrace her culture and the perspective of the main character throughout her art,” Mitchell said.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
The story is likely so relatable because the characters are inspired by Mitchell’s firsthand experiences. Just as Theo was an outsider, he too was in his English class during his time at UGA, struggling to keep up.
“I know there are a lot of struggling readers,” Mitchell said. “I know that perspective and I know how lonely they can feel. That’s why Theo is so important to me, because he is acknowledging something that’s tough to say out loud.”
Mr. Burton was inspired by two people: his namesake, LeVar Burton, formerly of the PBS show “Reading Rainbow,” and Mitchell’s mother, who always encouraged him to be best person he could be.
Every book that Mitchell writes carries a new lesson, for both himself and his readers. “My Super Duper Me” taught Mitchell to be authentic in his storytelling — something he struggled with in his previous books.
“It wasn’t until I landed on ‘My Super Duper Me’ (that I) realized that books have helped me grow, and every book I’ve read taught me something new that’s helped me be just as authentic as I could be,” Mitchell said.
MORE INFORMATION
“My Super Duper Me” will be released on Aug. 4. For more information on the Share the Magic Foundation, visit readwithmalcolm.com.
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