When JaydenÕs Mom was given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to move to her dream neighborhood, she wasted no time in choosing what was best for her son. The move was not entirely easy. The history of the neighborhood, the whispers and invisible gates made things challenging at times. Changing their zip code, however, changed their lives.
Becoming Jayden: It's Bigger Than Me is a book is about a 10-year-old boy who moved to a new neighborhood completely opposite of what he had ever known. While discovering his new neighborhood and community, he and his mother discover themselves, who they are, how they belong, and how they BECAME!
This book is part of the new childrenÕs book series Bigger Than Me: My Story, My Culture, an exciting partnership between Bexley Public Library and The Ohio State University. The 2024-2025 pilot program for this community-engaged initiative was supported through The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences Office of Engagement, Office of Academic Affairs Outreach and Engagement, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Humanities Institute, Center for Ethnic Studies, OSU Libraries, Global Arts and Humanities Discovery Themes ÒArchival Imaginations,Ó and Bexley Public Library.
Bigger Than Me books are the culmination of a series of intergenerational heritage workshops on library research, oral history collection and narrative strategies hosted at the Bexley Public Library in 2024-2025 that brought children, their parents and extended families together to explore their own epic story.