Through Chocolate Me!, readers of all ages are able to understand the importance of accepting others for who they are and all they have to offer. Through the characters within the book, young readers will be able to identify and empathize with the situations that occurred during the story. The book portrayed a young African American boy being bullied by several of his white peers. Because of this, the young African American boy let himself believe that his self worth was much less than that of his white peers.
The story begins with a young African American boy sitting on his front porch, watching a group of white peers playing together. Isolated from the others, he thought to himself about wanting to be like them and wished for “a name like theirs” (p.2 ). Throughout the book, the white children portrayed within the book (Timmy, Johnny, and Mark) would make comments about the African American boy’s appearance. These comments included how dark his skin was, his hair, how wide his nose was, and how white his teeth were. This torment caused the boy to question himself and his self worth, and caused him to wish that he could be like the other kids. When the boy’s mother saw how upset he was, she told him how he has skin like “velvet fudge frosting” and told him to “look in the mirror and love what you see!” (p.22) This gave him the confidence to love the skin he was in, and to understand that everyone is different, and that is a good thing! The book ended with the boy exclaiming, “Chocolate is sweet, chocolate is smooth, chocolate is me!” (p.29).
This book shows the importance of accepting others for who they are, and portrays the idea that every person has something unique to offer the world. Chocolate Me! allows readers to understand why inclusion is important, and what happens when children are left out and isolated from their peers. Though many of the white children may not have known the harm they were causing, it was evident that a great deal of harm was being inflicted upon the African American boy. The negative side effects from this caused him to ultimately question how valuable he was as a person. In the end, his mother helps him understand that it is not about how you look on the outside, and what matters most is on the inside. Everyone is different, and understanding and accepting diversity is a critical part in creating in all-inclusive community.