PEORIA MAGAZINE February 2023

W O R D C O U N T

‘REPRESENTATION REALLY DOES MATTER’ A Q&A with Peoria lawyer and children’s book author Alexus McNally

BY AMY GEIER EDGAR PHOTO BY RON JOHNSON

Peoria Magazine (PM): First off, tell us about your background. Alexus McNally (AM): I am a first/ second generation—depending on your definition —Haitian American. My dad was born and raised inHaiti, and he lives there now. He came to the United States when he was 18 and met my mom, an African American woman. I was born in southern California in 1995. I am 27. My older sister went to Bradley University in 2005, and every summer, I would visit her here in Peoria. In 2012, my whole familymoved to Peoria so that we could all be together. I completed my last two years of high school at Richwoods High School. I currently live in Peoria with my mom. My sister still lives here, as well. PM: Where did you attend law school? What type of law do you practice? How did you make the jump from law to children's literature? AM: I attended law school at Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, Indiana, from 2017 to 2020. I spent my last year of law school abroad in Paris, earning a dual-degree in European Law (2019-2020). I ama human rights lawyer. I advocate for people who are poor and vulnerable in transitional countries and work to ensure that they have access to high-quality legal aid.

continue to spread that joy on a larger scale by publishing stories of my own. PM: What are your favorite things to write about? AM: My favorite things to write about aremy personal experiences after doing a lot of introspection, and expressing these experiences in an entertaining way, often as a poem. All of the books that I have published have a rhyme scheme in some way or another. PM: You said in an earlier television interview that the character in your books is based on you as a child. In what ways are you and the character similar? AM: The main character in the books shares my name (Alexus) and nickname (Ladybug). My nickname was given to me by my dad. I was very energetic as a child. Like other kids, I loved to climb trees and play at the park and go on adventures around my house and in my neighborhood. He says that the way that I would fly around from one activity to another reminded him of a ladybug. Like Ladybug in The Tree Monster , I was also bullied in school. … I had experiences similar to Ladybug's in Hair Scare throughout my childhood, and I've certainly had my fair share of bad hair days as an adult. Like Ladybug, I am also a problem solver … I also drew Ladybug using my own photographs.

I have always loved reading, writing stories and poetry, and being creative. I come from a big family. I have six siblings. My family did not have a lot while I was growing up, and these were all things that I could do that didn't cost any money. Two of the books that I recently published, I'm Not Afraid and The Tree Monster were actually written while I was a freshman and sophomore in high school. I wrote Hair Scare this May. My teachers carved out time in their curricula for students to be creative. Without this time to explore my voice, I may have never found it or found confidence in it. Teachers play such an important role in shaping children's lives. My mom is a preschool teacher, and I spent a lot of time in her class reading books to children and sharing with them the joy of books. I hope to

72 FEBRUARY 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE