In this article, the author describes her research study about student engagement in artmaking. The study takes place at a suburban middle school on the East coast. For the purpose of her research, she developed a book-making unit. "The Artist's Book," comprised four art problems, challenging students to transform an old hardback book into a metaphor of self. Exploring identity, the cover design represented who the students are "on the outside," and the interior pages represented who they are "on the inside." Within the book, students also created a narrative artwork about a person or event that influenced them in some way. The final art problem was a stream-of-consciousness drawing where students illustrated a progression of their thoughts. (Contains 3 figures.)