No Brain the Same

Coming June 2, 2026. Pre-order today! No Brain the Same Neurodivergent Young Activists Shaping Our Future Edited by: Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson, and Jeanette Bradley/ Illustrated by: Jeanette Bradley We are the future. Through powerful poems, this book honors neurodivergent youth activists transforming their communities and invites kids to act—continuing the spirit of No Voice Too Small and No World Too Big. Fourteen poems by CooXooEii Black, Vanessa Brantley-Newton, e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, Liv Mammone, Lyn Miller-Lachmann, K. A. Reynolds, and others honor activists from all over the world and the United States. These fourteen neurodivergent activists began their work when they were young and continue it now, changing systems, politics, policies, and more. Additional text goes into detail about each activist's life and how readers can get involved. If you like this book, you’ll enjoy these: No Voice Too Small No World Too Big [TABS] Look Inside Downloadables Download the Cover Download the Series Activity Guide Author & Illustrator Lindsay H. Metcalf, editor Lindsay H. Metcalf grew up on a Kansas farm and is the author of Farmers Unite! Planting a Protest for Fair Prices. An experienced journalist, Lindsay has covered a variety of change-makers as a reporter, editor, and columnist for the Kansas City Star and other news outlets. Read more about Lindsay. Keila V. Dawson, editor Keila V. Dawson was born and raised in New Orleans. She has been a community organizer and an early childhood special education teacher. She has lived in the Phillipines, Japan, and Egypt. She is the author of Opening The Road. Read more about Keila. Jeanette Bradley, editor-illustrator Jeanette Bradley has been an urban planner, an apprentice pastry chef, and the artist-in-residence for a traveling art museum on a train. She is the author and illustrator of Love, Mama. Jeanette lives in Rhode Island with her wife and kids. Read more about Jeanette. Awards & Honors Coming soon! Editorial Reviews Kirkus Reviews Poets introduce 14 neurodivergent trailblazers. Using poetic forms as diverse as their subjects, authors sharing aspects of these young people’s identities celebrate their bravery and creativity. Some figures will likely be familiar, such as singer Billie Eilish, “a girl with Tourette’s” who “turned tics into chords”; others may be new to readers, like Liam Garner, an autistic youth who biked from Alaska to Argentina. A brief biography and a motivational tip (“Use your unique perspective to solve problems”) follow each poem. Bradley’s photorealistic illustrations convey subjects’ joy and determination. Some lines feel cliched, as when Vanessa Brantley-Newton’s double couplet series “Her Name Means Light” proclaims Helena Donato-Sapp—an anti-bullying advocate with ADHD, visual processing and memory disorders, and dyscalculia—“young yet wise beyond her years.” Others are thought provoking; Sally J. Pla’s free-verse intro to Dara McAnulty, who is autistic and who wrote the award-winning A Young Naturalist’s Diary, concludes that “saving Nature / is the only way / we can save / ourselves.” Hannah Emerson’s “Dear Adam” echoes the cadence of nonspeaking autistic poet Adam Wolfond (who communicates with a text-to-speech app): “floating reality / becoming dear great treeing / named Adam yes yes.” A list of affirmations matched to each subject (“You are not broken. Helena refuses shame for her identities”) summarizes the encouraging collection. Backmatter includes author information and defines terms, poetic forms, and conditions portrayed here, which include Down syndrome, anxiety, and stuttering. Eclectic and empowering. Details Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-62354-583-3 Ages: 5–9 Page count: 40 10 x 10 Publication date: June 2, 2026 [/TABS]