HILLSBOROUGH-You can call Surayyah, the junior high school of Hillsborough High School, "Ray" Fofana's first children's book "Roots".

The book "Ray Ray Painting Self-Portrait" is a celebration of Fofana's own family and the roots of hair follicles.

The "RayRay Self-Portrait" dedicated to other "outsiders" is based on 16-year-old childhood experience and growing up in a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural family.

The storyline of this book begins with an assignment to draw a self-portrait in an elementary school art class.

Fofana said it was true. Her mother was a white Jewish born in the United States and her father was a black Muslim born in Senegal. 

"We have to paint for ourselves," Fofana said. "And I'm not good at art anymore. Having to paint something like my hair is a bit daunting."

In the story, Fofana drew her head, body and clothes. But painting her hair can cause a lot of problems because her hair is "different".

"Most children in my class have the same or similar hair," she said. "In retrospect, I didn’t know what to do because everyone was doing the same thing, and I didn’t even realize—I never even thought about my hair being any different in this sense—until I I had to paint it. I was forced to face it. I eventually had to take the project home to complete."

When she returned home, the young Fofana approached each family member to find a match for her hair.

"They all have different hairs, and she unknowingly compares her hair with the hair of each family member, and then says,'Oh, that's not my hair'," Fofana said. “Until she finally realized that her hair was brought together by all her family members. So when she finished the self-portrait, she painted her curly hair and included small photos of her different family members’ hair.” 

This 34-page self-published book in mid-October was inspired by the pandemic. Fofana said that the idea for the book came up quickly—it would take about two to three weeks to flesh out her story. She said that the actual publishing process will take longer—about a year.

But the downtime caused by the pandemic allowed her to tell the story correctly.

"Write it—I particularly like that part of the process," Fofana said. "I am still in high school and I am very uncomfortable or worried about my story-because it is based on my childhood experience-if it is compelling enough to be told. Writing with this in mind makes it a little challenging , Even if this story is a true story."

Fofana is proud that "RayRay Paints a Self-Portrait" provides a representation for children who may not find themselves in other books.

"Considering what I wanted to see when I was young, and my special experience, it made me want to write something," Fofana said. "About what I know. And I most want to see families and children from different or non-traditional backgrounds behave in other places. This is'normal'."

Fofana hopes to raise awareness of race, culture and diversity, and create a more inclusive world. She hopes that this book can give readers a real, warm and welcoming picture, portraying a diverse family, just like the family she grew up in.  

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"This may be a unique experience for me, but other people can see themselves here," she said.

Fofana, who grew up in Somerville before moving to Hillsboro two years ago, hopes to write more books on identity and tolerance. But she also looks forward to life after graduating from Hillsborough High School.

"I like writing," said Fofana, who considers herself a city university. "But I would say it’s more like a passion. I know I can see myself doing something in the field of law, journalism, or political science. It’s scary to think about it because it’s coming, but I know what I want to do. Use one of these three areas." 

Today, Fofana likes her "amazing curls"-a symbol of who she is, where she comes from, and where she comes from-with one exception.

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"The only thing I don't like about my hair is that it's a lot of work and I'm lazy," she said with a smile. "Besides, I am definitely more confident in it, and I'm really happy that I did it. If I'm still trying to solve this problem, it would be too bad, because I know many people are like this." 

To contact Fofana, please visit https://www.rayrayseries.com/ or follow her on Instagram @rayraytellsstories.

Cheryl Makin is an award-winning feature report and education reporter for MyCentralJersey.com (part of USA Today Network). Contact: Cmakin@gannettnj.com or @CherylMakin.