Riley Can Be Anything

Riley is a young boy who doesn't know exactly what he want to do when he grows up, so he decides to ask his brother for help. His brother starts listing a few different jobs, from doctor to jazz musician, always repeating to Riley that he can be anything.

I liked the original plot idea, but I didn't like its execution. There were several sentences that sounded wrong, wether too bossy or invalidating Riley's feelings. When Riley mentioned that he might not want to be pilot as he might be afraid of high, his brother completely invalidated his feelings by saying: “Stop worrying!”. He also summarized being a cook as “being a winner”. I wish there could have been more questions asked to Riley to help him understand what he likes, instead, of having to listen to the list of what exclusively male family members are doing. What about female role models???

There were some rare positive reinforcement, especially when talking about music and cuisine, but overall, I didn't like the message that were delivered. I would not recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley and The Ella Riley Group for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Read and reviewed: 2018-11-04