Judge me by my personality, judge me by my heart, and judge me by my soul. Don’t judge me by my cover. My face, my skin, my body, has nothing to do with the way I act, the way I step up for my actions, the way I respect others. I can do so many things. I can laugh, and smile, and hug you when you feel down. Don’t judge me by the cover of my book. You haven’t heard my story yet. Judge me when you reach the end.

Tell me I’m intelligent. Tell me I’m fun to be around. Tell me you like me. Don’t tell me I’m too hard to understand. Don’t tell me I’m not worth your time. Don’t tell me I’ll never make it off the shelf. I might be a hard read. I can’t help it. It’s just the way I am. Maybe you don’t like difficult books. Well, I’m one tough novel.

Ask me when I’ll reach the top. Ask me how I’ll get there. Ask me why I didn’t leave you behind. Don’t ask me how to love, why to love, when to love. Just love. Just let peace live. Let discrimination die when you look at me. Then, listen to my story.

Stop when you become jealous of me. Stop when you start doubting yourself. Stop and look around you until you believe that every single color of this rainbow is bold, beautiful, and has an infinite capacity to love and live. Don’t stop when you’re almost there. Don’t stop until you know how this story ends. Don’t skip to the end. Don’t stop until your bookmark has nowhere else to go. Read all my pages and smile when you find something you can relate to. Clap when you culminate.

Back away from me if you’re afraid. Back away because you can’t stand the world you live in. Leave because you make it worse by sharing your prejudices. Just back away and come back when you’re ready. When you arrive, I’ll tell you not to back away until you’ve reached the end of the story. I’ll say not to back away when you’re so close but still yet so far. I’ll demand that you finish the challenge. When you do, we can be friends.

Don’t read just for the credit or the benefit. Don’t read for just the simple knowledge of knowing. Don’t read because your teacher told you to. Read because you want to learn. Read because you would like to know about other people, other cultures besides your own. Read because you want to. Read when you want to escape to a world where everything, for the most part, has a happy ending. Then, you shall know.

Maybe I’m too hard for you to read. Maybe you want to start off with an easier book. One that is guaranteed to have a happy ending. One that will end in blissful hugs and warm kisses. Maybe you can’t handle that. Maybe you will give up before reaching the climax. Maybe you won’t find out how my story ends. Maybe that suits you just fine. But because I’ve read, I know all about you, and one thing I’ve learned is that the cover doesn’t matter at all.