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Since November 2016, I've decided to bring more attention to diverse authors and diverse books, because now more than ever #WeNeedDiverseBooks. So this will be one of an occasional series of posts.
The Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Entrada Kelly (March 2016, Greenwillow/Harpercollins, 304 pages, for ages 8 to 12) Synopsis (from the publisher): Soledad has always been able to escape into the stories she creates. Just like her mother always could. And Soledad has needed that escape more than ever in the five years since her mother and sister died and her father moved Sol and her youngest sister from the Philippines to Louisiana. Then he left, and all Sol and Ming have now is their evil stepmother, Vea. Sol has protected Ming all this time, but then Ming begins to believe that Auntie Jove—their mythical, world-traveling aunt—is really going to come rescue them. Have Sol’s stories done more harm than good? Can she protect Ming from this impossible hope?
Why I recommend it: The author makes us fall in love Sol's 12-year-old girl voice, a voice that's brave and funny and achingly honest. With so many quotable lines, I had trouble coming up with just one favorite.
This book will break your heart into thousands of pieces--and then knit them all back together. A strong sibling bond, good friends, and a kind neighbor lift this contemporary novel up into heartwarming territory, as does the power of Sol's imagination. Sol is so real, you'll want to hug her and buy her some ice cream. Favorite lines: When Vea's in a good mood--which is like, never--she brings home extra tartar sauce for Ming. Today wasn't a tartar sauce day.
I love your description: "This book will break your heart into thousands of pieces--and then knit them all back together." I think young people can learn to be strong through such books. Definitely one for my TBR list.
Just that short quotation you included makes me think I will really like the voice of this book, and if I like the voice, I don't even care what the story is about!
I have seen this book around, but haven't had a chance to read it yet. It sounds like a great read. I am glad my heart will be put back together by the end. :) Great review! ~Jess
I'm taking a blogging break. And during this time I'm going to read every diverse MG book I can get my hands on, that I haven't yet read. Because now, more than ever, We Need Diverse Books!* Reviews when I return. *I also donated to them today. If you're frustrated or upset about things, please consider doing something positive. Donate to a charity. Volunteer. Hug someone. Read.
0 Comments on Positive things to do as of 1/1/1900
Today is Picture Book 10 for 10, which is a community of educators who share "must-have" picture books for classrooms. My list includes stories that will inspire children to write about their own experiences in new ways.
Pia Ceres is LEE & LOW’s summer intern. She is a recipient of the We Need Diverse Books Internship Program grant. She’s a rising senior at Brown University, where she studies Education & Comparative Literature, with a focus in French literature. When she’s not reading, you can find her watching classic horror movies from under a blanket, strumming pop songs on her ukulele, and listening to her grandparents’ stories about the Philippines. In this blog post, she talks about her first book fair with LEE & LOW BOOKS.
By morning, a sticky summer swelter had set in, but the anticipation was unmistakable, electric in the air. They would be coming soon. Across two blocks, along 135th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard, booksellers, authors, and representatives from nonprofits fussed with tents and paraphernalia. Somewhere I couldn’t see, a live jazz band began to practice; its strident trumpet blared the beginning of a celebration. In moments, the hot asphalt would be teeming with families and lovers of literature from around the country gathering for the Harlem Book Fair.
The Harlem Book Fair is the largest African-American book fair in the country. With the aim of celebrating literacy within the Black community, the fair, held annually, offers a full day of presentations and rows of exhibition booths. Although it kicked off its 18th successful year last Saturday, this was my very first time participating in a book fair. Helping Keilin and Jalissa represent LEE & LOW and sell some of our books, I was open to every possibility.
The challenge came early on: Someone asked me to find a book for her niece, then added, “She hates reading.” Yikes. Sounds like a tall order, but not surprising. Most of the educators and families who stopped by our booth were concerned that their kids didn’t see themselves in the books assigned at school. It reminded me of when I was a kid and had to read about primarily white boys and the wilderness or dogs or something. For this woman, I suggested The Hula-Hoopin’ Queen. Maybe, I hoped, this would be the book that would start to change things.
At a book fair, one sees firsthand that books, particularly children’s books, are a meaningful part of relationships – an aunt wishing her niece a story that reflects her. I spoke with a dad who wanted an exciting bedtime story; a soon-to-be teacher, eager to fill her first classroom with books as diverse as her students; a mom who wanted to share her native language, and her young daughter who wanted to read it. As I listened to people’s requests, the book fair revealed a striking truth: For a lot of folks, books are expressions of love.
Of course, the day ended with a sudden and cinematic downpour, with jabs of wind that caused our white tent to take to the air like a storm-battered sail and had Keilin, Jalissa, and I drenched, scrambling to protect the books! Because if any day reminded us that books are precious, it was this one.
If books bridge worlds, then book fairs are a space for bridging those connections. The Harlem Book Fair allows diverse stories to come into people’s hands and helps create a world-full of readers – reflected, interconnected, loving and loved.
0 Comments on Bridging Stories and Communities: The Harlem Book Fair as of 1/1/1900
Here is what in truth is just a query masquerading as a legitimate blog post. I am never above misusing my power when I’m curious. And while I’m sure somebody somewhere has brought this up, I certainly can’t recall it being as big a topic as it could be.
The other day I was talking with some folks about ebooks and the state of electronic publishing for kids today. Now as you may or may not know, most library systems don’t have a lot of choices when it comes to purchasing e-materials. At New York Public Library we were a large system so we could afford to buy ebooks from Overdrive, 3M, as well as stuff like Freegal. Here at Evanston Public Library we just have Overdrive and Hoopla.
Now the thing about ebooks is that only a small selection of print materials come out in ebook form in any given season. A colleague of mine recently decided that it would be a good idea to buy a bunch of diverse ebooks for their collection, so they tried to find as many as they could that were available for purchase. The problem? For as few diverse children’s books as we see each and every year, we see even fewer diverse ebooks.
So I put it to you: Is this a problem that is already being discussed and addressed, or is this something we should make a concerted effort to rectify? Have studies been done on this already and I’m just late to the party? I honestly don’t know so I put it to you. If you have some knowledge to drop on me, drop it.
1 Comments on We Need Diverse eBooks Too, Y’know, last added: 6/1/2016
Hi Elizabeth! I honestly think if the mainstream world of publishing was a little less judgmental about indie authors (giving them more inclusion in prestigious review sites, award submissions, distribution routes and overall opportunities to participate in areas of this industry that only includes and highlights traditionally published authors) then this would introduce a much more diverse, unique and openly creative environment for all of us. As usual and still, It seems the pub world (for obvious reasons) just focuses on what sells (traditionally). Of course certain requirements and standards must be passed in order to guarantee only the finest books are being accepted, but at least make it fair for all authors to submit.
Give the children what they need and open the gates! Let the diverse ebooks flow…
The idea was to “provide hard evidence to publishers that diverse books sell,” according to a statement from NCIBA’s new Diversity Committee.
Brookline Booksmith participated in a similar campaign while I worked in the children’s section there. The Great Greene Challenge of 2014 was a competition to see which bookstore could sell the most copies of Varian Johnson’s The Great Greene Heist (Scholastic/Levine), a funny caper with a diverse cast pictured clearly on the cover. The most challenging part of handselling this book was its lack of wildly popular comp titles. The easiest way to sell a book from Intermediate Fiction was to say, “If you liked Percy Jackson/Harry Potter/Diary of a Wimpy Kid…” Recommendations for a middle-school caper novel often sounded a little out-of-the-blue. The solution? Honesty. When I explained to customers that we were competing to sell this title to prove to publishers that a book with kids of color on the cover could sell, it often piqued their interest. “That needs proving?” one customer asked. Some did walk away with copies of The Great Greene Heist. Others picked different books, but in at least a few cases, they picked different diverse books. The exchange almost always led to some discussion about the need for more diversity in children’s literature.
Let’s hope the same happened with this initiative! We’re looking forward to seeing the results announced. (And far be it from this New England bookselling alum to say which reason is the best region, but may the best region win!)
So I’m going to confess something to you. All year long, from January onward, I’ve been keeping track of any picture book, easy book, or early chapter book I’ve seen containing some kind of diversity. Have I missed books? Of course I have! You cannot make a list like this without missing something. Books from publishers like Kar-Ben Books and Inhabit Media (amongst others) should be better represented, but I failed to keep proper track early in the year. There probably isn’t enough Lee & Low or Cinco Punto either. At the same time, the books that I was able to gather could be potentially useful to folks. You will find them organized by their publication release dates.
I apologize beforehand that sometimes the notes here do not mention the specific ethnicities of the characters. Often this is because the book itself has not made it clear. For these titles, you will need to look at the books individually.
As ever, if you see something missing here please note it in the comments. Also, if you think I’ve included wrong information about a book, let me know so that I can make the change.
Enjoy!
Title Author Pub Date Age Subjects Type
Families
Shelley Rotner & Sheila M. Kelly
1/1/2015
Ages 3-6
family, alternative lifestyles, same sex families
Picture Book
3, 2, 1, Go!
Emily Arnold McCully
1/1/2015
Ages 4-6
strong girls, science girls, STEM
Easy Reader
How to Grow a Friend
Sara Gillingham
1/6/2015
Ages 3-6
Multi-ethnic Cast, friendship, nature
Picture Book
The Bear Ate Your Sandwich
Julia Sarcone-Roach
1/6/2015
Ages 4-6
nature, bears, cities, Diverse Main Character
Picture Book
Last Stop on Market Street
Matt de la Pena
1/8/2015
Ages 4-6
family, multigenerational, lower income, African-American, Diverse Main Character
Picture Book
The Tea Party in the Woods
Akiko Miyakoshi
1/8/2015
Ages 3-6
Diverse Main Character, Asian, animals, tea parties
Picture Book
Ready, Set, Kindergarten!
Paula Ayer
1/9/2015
Ages 4-5
Diverse Main Character, starting school, biracial
Picture Book
My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay
Cari Best
1/13/2015
Ages 4-7
Disability, friendship, sports, African-American, Diverse Main Character
Picture Book
Freedom’s School
Lesa Cline-Ransome
1/13/2015
Ages 4-7
Diverse Main Character, African-American, American history, freedom
Picture Book
Juna’s Jar
Jane Bank
1/15/2015
Ages 3-6
multi-cultural, moving, Asian-American, friendship, Diverse Main Character
Picture Book
Harlem Renaissance Party
Faith Ringgold
1/27/2015
Ages 4-7
Diverse Main Character, African-American, American history
Picture Book
Sofia Martinez: My Family Adventure
Jacqueline Jules
2/1/2015
Ages 6-9
family, Latino-American, Diverse Main Character
Chapter Book
Sofia Martinez: The Missing Mouse
Jacqueline Jules
2/1/2015
Ages 4-6
family, Latino-American, Diverse Main Character
Picture Book
A Dozen Cousins
Lori Haskins Houran
2/3/2015
Ages 4-6
family, Multi-ethnic Cast, boys, girls
Picture Book
The New Small Person
Lauren Child
2/10/2015
Ages 4-7
family, new baby, siblings, jealousy, Diverse Main Character
Picture Book
I Had a Favorite Hat
Boni Ashburn
2/17/2015
Ages 4-6
Diverse Main Character, Clothing, Imagination
Picture Book
The Red Bicycle
Jude Isabella
3/1/2015
Ages 4-7
multi-cultural, Africa, bicycles, philanthropy, world culture, Diverse Main Character
Picture Book
The Sock Thief
Ana Crespo
3/1/2015
Ages 4-7
Latin America, soccer, sports, altruism, Diverse Main Character
Picture Book
Jessica’s Box
Peter Carnavas
3/1/2015
Ages 4-6
Diverse Main Character, Disability, friendship
Picture Book
Party Croc! A Folktale from Zimbabwe
Margaret Read McDonald
3/1/2015
Ages 4-7
Diverse Main Character, folktale, promises
Picture Book
No, No, Kitten!
Shelley Moore Thomas
3/3/2015
Ages 3-6
Diverse Main Character, Cats, Pets
Picture Book
Stone Angel
Jane Yolen
3/3/2015
Ages 4-7
Diverse Main Character, Jewish, WWII, Holocaust, hope
Picture Book
Red
Jan De Kinder
3/9/2015
Ages 4-7
Bullying, Friendship, School
Picture Book
Bird & Diz
Gary Golio
3/10/2015
Ages 4-7
jazz, African-American, American history, music, Diverse Main Character
Picture Book
My Pen
Christopher Myers
3/10/2015
Ages 6-9
Diverse Main Character, Imagination, Drawing, Art
Picture Book
Red, Yellow, Blue (And a Dash of White Too!)
C.G. Esperanza
3/10/2015
Ages 3-6
Diverse Main Character, Imagination, Colors, Art, African-American
Picture Book
Peace Is an Offering
Annette Le Box
3/10/2015
Ages 4-7
Multi-ethnic Cast, peace, friendship
Picture Book
15 Things Not To Do With a Baby
Margaret McAllister
3/15/2015
Ages 3-6
Diverse Main Character, new baby, siblings
Picture Book
Thank You, Jackson
Niki Daly
3/15/2015
Ages 3-6
Diverse Main Character, manners, Africa
Picture Book
Salsa: Una Poema Para Cocinar / A Cooking Poem
Jorge Argueta
3/17/2015
Ages 4-6
cooking, Latino-American, family, Diverse Main Character
Picture Book
And What If I Won’t?
Maureen Fergus
3/17/2015
Ages 4-7
Diverse Main Character, family, mothers, behavior
Picture Book
Drum Dream Girl
Margarita Engle
3/24/2015
Ages 5-7
Diverse Main Character, Cuba, music, girls, multi-racial
MY NAME IS AVIVA by Lesléa Newman, diverse main character, Jewish. Aviva is teased for her unusual first name. After learning the story of her great-grandmother for whom she was named, she learns to be proud of who she is. Published by Kar-Ben, August 2015.
Adrienne May said, on 11/24/2015 6:15:00 AM
I thought Ben Hatke’s “Little Robot” (First Second; Sept 2015) should be on this list, but maybe you consider the robot to be the main character. The little girl could be black — maybe latina also. I thought multiple protagonists for this one but maybe I’m wrong.
How about “Happy in Our Skin” by Fran Manushkin (Candelwick Press; Aug 2015)?
Elizabeth Bird said, on 11/24/2015 7:09:00 AM
Excellent both of them. Not sure how I missed including Little Robot. I guess I have that on a different more middle grade list, rather than early chapter. It’s difficult to categorize graphic novels sometimes.
Elizabeth Bird said, on 11/24/2015 7:10:00 AM
As I suspected, I missed a load of Kar-Bens. Thanks!
Moira said, on 11/24/2015 8:45:00 AM
I wish this list included the names of the illustrators.
Jill Swanson said, on 11/24/2015 8:58:00 AM
Thanks for this great list! Two more that come to mind are Water is Water — Jason Chin’s illustrations feature a diverse cast — and Over the Hills and Far Away which was published in the U.S. this year and has gorgeous, diverse illustrations.
Keila Dawson said, on 11/24/2015 9:35:00 AM
Thanks for this list! My book, The King Cake Baby, Pelican Publishing Co., January 2015, is a fractured fairy tale, the Gingerbread Man tale retold New Orleans style. The plastic baby hidden inside our traditional Mardi Gras cakes run from an old Creole couple and others through his French Quarter neighborhood. Celebrates my culture and traditions.
Alys said, on 11/24/2015 10:38:00 AM
Over the River and Through the Woods by Linda Ashman, illustrated by Kim Smith published October 6 has a multi-ethnic cast, and diverse families represented.
Snowman Shuffle by Christianne Jones is a board book with an African American girl as the protagonist. August 1st.
Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper published February 1
Counting on Community by Innosanto Nagura Sept 22
Lillian’s Right to Vote by Jonah Winters July 14
New Shoes by Susan Meyer January 30
Girl Who Buried Her Dreams in a Can October 6
Granddaddy’s Turn by Michael Bandy July 14
I can think of a couple of picture book biographies or picture book nonfiction history, but I wasn’t clear on whether you were including nonfiction too.
Elizabeth Bird said, on 11/24/2015 10:45:00 AM
No nonfiction, no, but great suggestions here. Thanks!
Elizabeth Bird said, on 11/24/2015 10:46:00 AM
True. It’s taken from a spreadsheet that just included authors. I can try to amend it with illustrators for next year. Good thinking!
Stephanie Best said, on 11/24/2015 12:05:00 PM
Great list! Thank you! I’ve been doing the same. Here ya go….
Pool, Jihyeon Lee
Dia de los Muertos, Roseanne Greenfield Thong and Carles Ballesteros
Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras, Duncan Tonatiuh
Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America, Carole Boston Weatherford and Jamey Christoph
Trombone Shorty, Troy Andrews
Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, Laurie Ann Thompson
The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage, Selina Alko
Stephanie Best said, on 11/24/2015 12:13:00 PM
Oooh, I will look for this! Thanks.
Elizabeth Bird said, on 11/24/2015 2:33:00 PM
Pool! Can’t believe I missed it. The others are great nonfiction reads. I wasn’t doing nonfiction this time around, but if I make a list they’ll be sure to go on it. Thanks!
Lee Bennett Hopkins said, on 11/24/2015 3:38:00 PM
Bird: See my AMAZING PLACES (Lee & Low) starred in both PW and KIRKUS and a KIRKUS
Best Book of 2015, illustrated by Chris Soentiepiet and Christy Hale. And a Happy Thanksgiving to you.
Jacqueline Jules said, on 11/24/2015 4:28:00 PM
Thanks for this list and for including Sofia Martinez: My Family Adventure
fran manushkin said, on 11/24/2015 6:47:00 PM
It’s there, I’m happy to say!
Adrienne May said, on 11/25/2015 5:20:00 AM
Sorry I’m not the best at categorizing. I’m sure you are correct that “Little Robot” is MG.
Thanks for your list. There are a number of books I still need to read.
Adam Rex said, on 11/25/2015 11:01:00 AM
Particularly since it’s often the illustrator who chooses to make an uncategorized character non-white.
A few weeks ago, Scholastic and We Need Diverse Books announced a Special Edition of the Scholastic Reading Club program.
You know what I'm talking about, right? You remember your teacher handing out those book club flyers? You remember poring over the options, deciding which ones you'd get? And then the joy when they arrived!
I was on both ends of that program. As a kid, I got books that way, and as an elementary school teacher, my students got books that way, too.
Like anyone, Scholastic has an uneven track record in terms of the books they publish. Some are great, some are not.
When I saw the first page of the flyer for this collaboration between Scholastic and We Need Diverse Books, my first thought was "Oh no! Not Stone Fox!" That book has stereotypical imagery in it. The stoic Indian in it is violent, too, striking the white kid that is the main character. Even though it all comes out ok in the end, I don't recommend it. Stereotypes are just no good, for anyone.
I've finally gotten a chance to look over the entire flyer and am really glad to see Joseph Bruchac's Eagle Song is in there. I like that book a lot and recommend it. (The flyer also has Bruchac's story about the Trail of Tears, but I haven't read that one yet.)
Don't waste a dollar on Stone Fox. Spend three dollars instead, and get Eagle Song. Danny, the main character, is Mohawk. The setting is present day. His dad is a steelworker. They've moved to a city where Danny feels alone and is teased about his heritage. Like other Native families who find themselves in cities, they seek out a Native community, and find it at the American Indian Community House. Lot of good in this book! I highly recommend it. It was first published in in 1999 by Puffin Books.
0 Comments on Books to get (& avoid) from the We Need Diverse Books/Scholastic Reading Club collaboration as of 11/18/2015 11:26:00 AM
The Scholastic Reading Club and the We Need Diverse Books organization have established a new partnership.
The two collaborators have created a special book club flyer with over 75 books that star diverse protagonists and feature diverse storylines. During the holiday season, this flyer will be distributed to more than 100,000 classrooms and 2.5 million students.
Here’s more from the press release: “The collection showcases a wide variety of titles highlighting important themes about race and ethnicity, multiculturalism, different religions, LGBTQ stories, individuals with disabilities and more. The range of titles and the diversity of the authors will resonate with the widely diverse population of young readers served by Scholastic Reading Club through schools nationwide and help them understand and appreciate people, cultures and experiences different from their own. Additional titles beyond those featured in the flyers will be available online at Scholastic.com/ReadingClub.”
This past weekend, we noticed an unusual number of superheroes, cosplayers, and characters from our favorite TV shows flooding thesubways, buses, and streets of New York City. Did we unknowingly fall into an alternate universe?
Turns out that it was just New York Comic Con, the annual pop culture phenomenon dedicated to comics, graphic novels, anime, video games, movies, and television. The first convention was held in 2006 and it has continued to grow steadily over the past several years, bringing an ever-growing number of comics and pop-culture fans to New York City. And not only has Comic Con continued to grow, but so has programming dedicated to issues of diversity and diverse creators. We were lucky enough to get a pass for LEE & LOW staff. Below, three staff members share their highlights from the show:
Keilin, Marketing and Publicity Associate
Oh Comic Con. What a crazy event to go to, but definitely worth every minute!
I went to a Geeks of Color Meetup, hosted by Diana Pho (editor, Tor Books), and featuring Shelley Diaz (editor, School Library Journal), and author Melissa Grey (The Girl At Midnight). It was great to mingle with other “geeks” and to get to know Diana and Shelley.
The greatest thing about the Meetup was seeing the diversity in the room. There was one group of people that I joined that was talking about the new Star Wars movie coming out, and it didn’t matter that we were all from different backgrounds because we all could geek out about something we were all collectively excited for. Diana often hosts these types of meetups for people of color, and if anyone is interested, you can contact her on her website, Beyond Victoriana.
After the Geeks of Color Meetup, I booked it over to the Asian American Comics and Creators panel, which unfortunately was full. On the positive side, that just meant that there was a full house to participate in a discussion on Asian Americans in the comic book industry. While the depictions of Asian Americans in comic books has improved, there is more that can still be done.
The thing I like most about conventions like these is that it shows you the wide spectrum of people within fandoms, whether it’s seeing a black Wonder Woman or an Asian Peggy Carter. Nerding out is for everyone!
Rebecca, Marketing and Publicity Assistant
Thanks to things like the We Need Diverse Books campaign, diversity has been on people’s minds more than ever before. Last year, we saw one of the most diverse television seasons we’ve gotten in a while. It’s no surprise that diversity in comics and geek culture was on a lot of people’s minds at New York Comic Con! I attended 4 panels focused on various aspects of diversity at the show this year.
At the Pushing Boundaries panel, there was a discussion about representation. Author Marjorie Liu spoke about the burden that authors of color often face when they are the only ones representing entire cultures. They have to make sure that their characters are “perfect” and not stereotypical; however, trying to tell a “perfect” story gets in the way of an authentic narrative. This is the danger of a single story: one person from a marginalized or underrepresented group can’t represent everyone from that group.
Some of the other panelists, like Jeremy Whitley, the creator of Princeless, spoke about using their work to fill a need. Jeremy Whitley’s daughter is a person of color, so he wanted to write a comic where a young black girl would see herself as a princess that went on adventures. Geek Out was started as a space for LGBT+ fans of comics. At one point in the discussion, the panelists spoke about bad representation. Is bad representation better than no representation? There was no clear answer, as one panelist said he preferred bad representation to none at all. But author Marjorie Liu said, “As a woman of color, I’m allergic to bad representation.”
The pervading feeling at the “Geeks of Color: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” panel was that while people are paying more attention to diversity and things with diverse content, we still have a long way to go. Industries need to diversify from within as well as to seek out diverse creators. Diversity naturally happens when there are a variety of people creating things.
Authors Melissa Gray, Daniel Jose Older, Sara Raasch, and Kim Harrison discussed what made the protagonists of their novels “kick ass.” Melissa Grey (The Girl at Midnight) discussed how female characters are never allowed to be unlikable, like male characters often are. They’re usually expected to be “nice.” Daniel José Older wants his books to show the diversity in Brooklyn, because a book should be like a friend and tell you the truth.
At the Women in Geek Media panel, the panelists encouraged the room full of people to create their own works. Everyone, they told us, has a unique story to tell. Many of the women talked about having to create their own spaces and writing with a unique voice, which is what made them stand out. They also encouraged everyone there who was fed up with the lack of representation of women, people of color, and other marginalized groups in media to channel their anger thoughtfully and to hold content creators accountable.
All the panels I attended were full almost to capacity. It was great to see how much people are clamoring for more diverse representation. But the real highlight of Comic Con was meeting Amandla Stenberg!
Stacy, Publisher of TU BOOKS
On Thursday night of Comic Con, I went to the #BlackComicsMonth panel moderated by Dean MizCaramelVixen. It was an all-star lineup, including Chad L. Coleman (who played Tyreese on The Walking Dead), who is producing a new comic that stars his likeness, and comics artists and writers Scott Snyder, David Walker, Mikki Kendall, Shawn Pryor, Steve Orlando, Christine Dinh, Mildred Louis, Jeremy Whitley, and Afua Richardson. If you want to see the whole panel, you can view it on YouTube.
The panel started out by talking to a standing-room-only crowd of at least 300 people about what “diversity” meant to them. Christine Dinh spoke about how there are more young women reading comics—that kids are more diverse than ever. Another panelist talked about how what it means to be black could mean so many different things, and that all those representations were important—that there is no one way to be black.
Everyone on the panel emphasized how important the voices of people of color are in comic books. Kendall said, “If you don’t see yourself out there, put your stuff out there.”
Later that night was a fangirl panel (“She Made Me Do It: FanGirls Lead the Way”) discussing how important women are not only in the creation of art but also in the appreciation of it. On the panel were Jamie Broadnax, who created Black Girl Nerds; Rose Del Vecchio and Jenny Cheng from myfanmail.com, a site that sends fandom products to subscribers; and Sam Maggs, author of The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy and writer for The Mary Sue.
One of the main topics of the panel was discussing how women and girls get challenged to show their “credentials” as geeks. “I’m so over the cred thing. You don’t have to prove anything to show your passion for fandom,” Broadnax said. Maggs agreed and went on to discuss how those fans should also be reflected in the stories they consume, saying, “A range, diversity of stories can only mean better content for everyone. Why can’t white dudes look up to a black girl protagonist and have her be their role model?”
On Sunday, the We Need Diverse Books panel focused on the hashtag #IAmNotYourSidekick, discussing the importance of narratives that center the experiences of characters of color. On a personal note, the panelists discussed the first time they’d ever seen a “mirror” of themselves in a book. Some never did, at least until adulthood. Dhonielle Clayton, a Harlem Academy librarian and WNDB VP of librarian services, mentioned that she had mirrors, but only about slavery and civil rights, not fun books. Variety in representations of marginalized people is so important, she said.
The panel also discussed the importance of opening doors for writers of color, talking about the quotas of some houses (“we already have our ‘black book,’” even if the topics are completely different), and how writing cross-culturally is possible to do well, but how it must be done responsibly. Daniel José Older pointed out that too often white writers want to jump on the bandwagon of “diversity” as if it were a trend, but, he asked, “We talk about writing the other, but can you write about yourself? Can we write about whiteness?” (Older wrote an excellent article on this topic last year at BuzzFeed.)
Everyone on the panel agreed that the way to fix the problem was to talk up diverse books. “Buy diverse books!” YA author Robin Talley said. “The more you do, the more there will be.” Older also noted not to assume that a traditionally published book that stars a diverse character will have a million-dollar marketing campaign. “It likely won’t!” he said. Panelists agreed that word of mouth is one of the most important marketing tools for diverse books—sharing them with friends, talking about them on social media, and requesting them from libraries and bookstores were all mentioned as important methods of helping diverse books grow in the market.
The Mirror Book by Ronald King & John Christie (Bookwork Guildford)
I can’t really remember if I looked for literature with kids like me as a child. Did I read books about quiet, geeky girls because I could relate? Or did I read books about quiet, geeky girls because that’s what was available? Did I search for a character with whom I could identify? Or could I identify with most characters because I am white? It doesn’t really matter — when you boil it down, I didn’t have to look for literature that represented me because literature already did. I was (and am) privileged.
Working in the field of children’s literature, it is very clear to me that we need diverse books — we need diverse books, authors, publishers, retailers, and readers. Everyone should be able to pick up a book and find a character with whom they can relate. But a problem I personally encounter is that my privilege (as privilege is wont to do) can keep me from truly understanding how important it is to see oneself in literature. I want more diverse books and greater diversity in the industry, but I can only say that from my white, cisgendered point of view. I can speak. But I don’t really understand.
Recently, though, I actually had the powerful experience of finding myself in media. I’m part of a seemingly very small community: as a thirty-one-year-old, sober female, I have never met another person just like myself. My recovery group is primarily white men over the age of 50, with a small number of women all over the age of 40. I am almost always the youngest in the room. And, more often than not, I am one of two or three women in a room packed with twenty-plus people. Now, I adore my SMART Recovery group and have made some wonderful friends. But they don’t know, really, what it’s like for me. I ask any 20- or 30-something, single female to try explaining the difficulties of contemporary dating without alcohol to a room full of older, married, white men. You do it. Tell me how it goes.
And then I discovered John Mulaney’s stand-up. Mulaney is thirty-two years old, successful, and sober. He’s sober! And young! And funny! I watched two of his shows, glorying in his few bits about sobriety, and immediately sought more (thank you, YouYube). I didn’t know I was looking for someone with whom I could identify — didn’t realize it was missing from my life at all — but once I found him I had this remarkable feeling. I felt seen. Noticed. I was reminded that I’m not alone. That there are others like me. Okay, okay, he’s not a woman. But let’s not get over-excited here. Knowing there was one person like me pushed me to look for others, to seek more connections.
And this is what finding oneself in literature can do for a child. It gives worth. It allows companionship. It creates hope. And it sparks a desire to find more — more books with characters like this, more forms of media that apply to the child, and other children like them to share this experience with.
I will never truly be able to understand how important it is for a young, Hispanic woman or a straight boy with two mothers to see themselves in literature. Not really. But I was given a brief glimpse of that experience. And it was wonderful.
In this guest post from the Lee & Low archives, professor Katie Cunningham discusses ways to diversify Common Core recommended texts. As we gather resources to begin the new school year, Katie’s post is a good reminder that each year offers a fresh opportunity to look at the books we use with new eyes to see if they are serving us, and serving our students.
We live in an increasingly diverse society. Nowhere is this more evident than in classrooms, in both urban and suburban schools. Nationally, our classrooms are almost 45% non-White and the trend toward greater diversity is expected to continue. Our classrooms reflect this trend, but our classroom libraries do not. The New York Times found that despite making up about nearly a quarter of the nation’s public school enrollment, young Latino readers seldom see themselves in books. Those of us in schools working with children from minority backgrounds know this to be true as we scan our bookshelves and find protagonists that are overwhelmingly white and living in suburban, privileged settings. The Cooperative Children’s Book Center found that in 2011, only 6% of children’s books featured characters from African American, American Indian, Asian Pacific/ Asian Pacific American, or Latino backgrounds.
Toni Morrison said, “National literature reflects what is on the national mind.” More than ever, we have a responsibility to reflect national population trends through our literature selections. As of 2011, teachers are being directed to the Common Core State Standards and its corresponding Appendix B: Text Exemplars and Performance Tasks, which has suggested texts for read-alouds and independent reading for students at grade level bands K-12.
While not required reading, there remains confusion among teachers and administrators about how to approach the list. As you scan the suggestions, you’ll quickly find a return to traditional texts like Black Stallion in fourth grade and Little Women in sixth through eighth grade. I’m of the opinion that reading traditional texts like the Preamble and Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” (also in Appendix B) can give students cultural capital needed to be successful within the educational system.
Yet, while we can turn to the Standards for suggestions, we need to turn to the children in our own classrooms and ask ourselves whether they see themselves represented in books. Not only a responsibility, this is a moral imperative. We need to ensure a balance between traditional texts and books that offer contemporary portrayals of life and youth today, that reflect the lived experiences of the students in our classrooms.
The Uncommon Corps has started a campaign to better Appendix B and has a running Better B list worthy of checking out to hear what’s on the national mind. Teachers searching for a solution can also consider classic and contemporary multicultural pairings such as those below, especially when searching for titles that represent childhood. If we keep questioning what’s accepted as our national literature for children, we will rightfully start to see books that provide mirrors for every child in every class.
ABOUT KATIE CUNNINGHAM: Guest bloggerKatie Cunningham is an Assistant Professor at Manhattanville College. Her teaching and scholarship centers around children’s literature, critical literacy, and supporting teachers to make their classrooms joyful and purposeful. Katie has presented at numerous national conferences and is the editor of The Language and Literacy Spectrum, New York Reading Association’s literacy journal.
0 Comments on Diversifying Your Back-to-School Reading as of 8/20/2015 4:28:00 PM
Literacy/kidlit folks: please take a minute to read, sign, and share this open letter to Jet Blue about their new Soar with Reading program. This is a promising pilot program that aims to encourage literacy by placing book vending machines in low-income areas of Washington, DC. Sadly, the selection of books lacks diversity, and only four out of the initial selection of books reflect diverse authors or characters. Author Zetta Elliott, with help from the community, has researched and written an excellent letter to Jet Blue. Please read and sign the letter here, then share it with your networks.
0 Comments on Soar with Reading: An Open Letter to Jet Blue as of 7/15/2015 1:08:00 AM
Title: Gracefully Grayson Written by: Ami Polonsky Published by: Hyperion, 2014 Themes/Topics: transgender, middle school, orphans, theatre, self-acceptance, bullying Suitable for ages: 8 -12 Opening: IF YOU DRAW a triangle with the circle resting on the top point, nobody will be able to tell that … Continue reading →
I have been mulling over how to expand my interviews, which I so enjoy doing, and have decided that while I want to continue with a focus on illustrators, I want to also incorporate chats with other members of the … Continue reading →
Today’s diversity read is one I had been looking forward to since meeting the author at one of the biannual SCBWI conference LGBTQ meetings a year ago. It doesn’t exactly fall into any of my categories, but boy, is it … Continue reading →
Mitali Perkins is the acclaimed author of such books as the middle-grade Jane Addam’s Award Honor Book Rickshaw Girl, which was included in New York Public Library’s 2013 list of ‘100 Great Children’s Books‘, and YA novel … Continue reading ... →
We Need Diverse Books. We absolutely do. Books that don't merely place a "non-mainstream" character into the story for the sake of inclusion. Books that go much deeper than the announcement of, or allusion to, skin color, origin countries, sexual preferences. Books that don't operate as if conforming to PC checklists. Books that function outside the circle of slogans and tell real stories.
Truly diverse books are books in which the culture and cultural heritage and economics of the characters are essential to the story being told. They explore wide ranging personages, languages, histories, orientations, dreams. They are steeped in the particular social and personal pressures faced by very particular (and particularly well-drawn) characters. They introduce characters that seem to live not just on the page, but off it.
Middle grade/YA novels such as Ann E. Burg's Serafina's Promise, Thanhha Lai's Inside Out and Back Again, and Patricia McCormick's Never Fall Down and Sold have, among many other titles, introduced lasting, fully dimensional, diverse characters to younger readers. With her second stunning middle grade novel, Blue Birds, Caroline Starr Rose has made another important addition to this canon.
Blue Birds is a novel in verse that explores a little-known chapter of American history concerning the "Lost Colony" of Roanoke. It's late in the 16th century. English explorers have arrived to Roanoke Island, off Virginia. Conflict and distrust erupt among the native tribes and the English.
Into this setting Rose has placed two young girls—Alis, from England, and Kimi, a Roanoke who has watched the English bring disease and disaster to her world. Out on her own, Alis discovers the natural beauty of the place. Watching, Kimi must decide whether or not to trust this fair-skinned creature. Will Alis and Kimi be able to peel back the social prejudice and befriend one another? Will they be able to step over the great divide that rises whenever individual people are presented with difference? And what will they do—what can they do—as tensions mount in their respective communities?
Rose has given us a complex story, a real and researched story, a story that, despite its roots in late 16th century America, feels contemporary. The questions about other are neither dodged nor trumped, and they never feel commercially strategic. The questions arise because such questions naturally do, because this is the story Starr is telling. And look how gracefully and honestly she tells it:
Why do they dress as they do? To speak their language, does it feel as it sounds, like sharpened rocks on your tongue? What makes their skin the color of a snake's underside? Why do the men not keep their faces smooth but grow hair from their cheeks? Do they ever bathe? For their strong odor lingers long after they've gone.
Though they have brought us heartache, must all of them be enemies?
In bringing readers Alis and Kimi, Starr has not just brought us a distant era. She's brought her readers a way of sinking in with real questions about difference—and a credible suggestion that such differences might be overcome.
0 Comments on when diversity is not a strategy but an essential element of the story being told: Blue Birds by Caroline Starr Rose as of 1/1/1900
I am loving the variety of books I am reading to complete this challenge, and today’s story comes under #5 bullying and #3 in as far as this little boy is questioning and non-conforming! Title: Morris Micklethwaite and the Tangerine Dress … Continue reading →
Top of the morning to you, froggies! I had one heckuva weekend, I tell you. Actually it was just one heckuva Saturday. First there was the opening of the new Bank Street Bookstore location here in NYC. I was one of the local authors in attendance and, as you can see from this photograph taken that morning, I was in good company.
At one point I found myself at a signing table between Deborah Heiligman and Rebecca Stead with Susan Kuklin, Chris Raschka, and Peter Lerangis on either side. I picked up the name tag that Jerry Pinkney had left behind so that I could at least claim a Caldecott by association. Of course that meant I left my own nametag behind and a certain someone did find it later in the day . . .
Then that afternoon, after wolfing down an Upper West Side avocado sandwich that had aspirations for greatness (aspirations that remained unfulfilled) I was at NYPL’s central library for the panel Blurred Lines?: Accuracy and Illustration in Nonfiction. This title of silliness I acknowledge mine. In any case, the line-up was Sophie Blackall, Brian Floca, Mara Rockliff, and her Candlewick editor Nicole Raymond. It was brilliant. There will perhaps be a write-up at some point that I’ll link to. I just wanted to tip my hat to the folks involved. We were slated to go from 2-3 and we pretty much went from 2-4. We could have gone longer.
I’ve often said that small publishers fill the gaps left by their larger brethren. Folktales and fairy tales are often best served in this way. Graphic novels are beginning to go the same route. One type of book that the smaller publishers should really look into, though, is poetry. We really don’t see a lot of it published in a given year, and I’d love to see more. The new Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award may help the cause. It was recently announced and the award is looking for folks who are SCBWI members and that published their books between 2013-2015. It makes us just one step closer to an ALA poetry award. One step.
How did I miss this when it was published? It’s a New Yorker piece entitled Eloise: An Update. It had me at “The absolute first thing I do in the morning is make coffee in the bathroom and check to see what’s on pay-per-view / Then I have to go to the health club to see if they’ve gotten any new kettlebells and then stop at the business center to Google a few foreign swear words.” Thanks to Sharyn November for the link.
Y’all know I worship at the alter of Frances Hardinge and believe her to be one of the greatest living British novelists working today, right? Well, this just in from the interwebs! Specifically, from agent Barry Goldblatt’s Facebook page:
BSFA and Carnegie Medal longlister Frances Hardinge’s debut adult novel THE KNOWLEDGE, about a London cab driver with a special license to travel between multiple alternative Londons, who, after rescuing a long-missing fellow driver, finds herself caught up in a widening conspiracy to control the pathways between worlds, to Navah Wolfe at Saga Press, in a two-book deal, for publication in Summer 2017, by Barry Goldblatt at Barry Goldblatt Literary on behalf of Nancy Miles at Miles Stott Literary Agency (NA).
Mind you, this means I’ll have to read an adult novel now. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Speaking of England, I’m tired of them being cooler than us. For example, did you know that they have a Federation of Children’s Book Groups? A federation! Why don’t we have a federation? I’ll tell you why. Because we haven’t earned it yet. Grrr.
Ooo! A new Spanish language children’s bookstore has just opened up in Los Angeles. And here we can’t get a single bookstore other than Barnes & Noble to open up in the Bronx in English, let alone another language. This is so cool. Methinks publishers looking to expand into the Latino market would do well to court the people working at this shop, if only to find new translatable material.
Fancy fancy dancy dancy Leo Lionni shirts are now being sold by UNIQLO. Some samples:
Smarties.
Roxanne Feldman is one of those women that has been in the business of getting books into the hands of young ‘uns for years and years and years. Online you may recognize her by her username “fairrosa”. Well, now she has a blog of her very own and it’s worth visiting. Called the Fairrosa Cyber Library, it’s the place to go. However – Be Warned. This is not a site to merely dabble in. If you go you must be prepared to sit down and read and read. Her recent posts about diversity make for exciting blogging.
Me Stuff: Because apparently the whole opening of this blog post didn’t count. Now Dan Blank is one of those guys you just hope and pray you’ll meet at some point in your life. He’s the kind of fellow who is infinitely intensely knowledgeable about how one’s career can progress over time and he’s followed my own practically since the birth of my blogging career. If I appeared in Forbes, it was because of Dan. Recently he interviewed me at length and the post is up. It’s called Betsy Bird: From “Invisible” Introvert to Author, Critic, Blogger and Librarian. I feel like that kid in Boyhood with Dan. Really I do.
It was Adam Gidwitz who alerted me to a theatrical production going on in town right now that holds my interest in its hot little hand. He says the company is fantastic and that the show is entirely worth it. Though, with a name like BAMBIF*CKER/KAFFEHAUS: A caffeinated ride through sex, death, deer, and Zionism how could it not be?
Fact: The Cotsen Children’s Library of Princeton has been interviewing great authors and illustrators since at least 2010.
Fact: Access to these interviews has always been available, but not through iTunes.
Fact:Now it is. And it’s amazing. Atinuke. Gary Schmidt. Rebecca Stead. Philip Pullman. It’s free, it’s out there, so fill up your iPod like I am right now and go crazy! Thanks to Dana Sheridan for the info!
The other day I linked to a piece on the term “racebent” and how it applies to characters like Hermione in Harry Potter. It’s not really a new idea, though, is it? Folks have always reinterpreted fictional characters in light of their own cultures. This year the publisher Tara Books is releasing The Patua Pinocchio. Now I’ve been a bit Pinocchio obsessed ever since my 3-year-old daughter took Kate McMullen’s version to heart (it was the first chapter book she had the patience to sit through). With that in mind I am VERY interested in this version of the little wooden boy. Very.
Ever been a children’s nonfiction conference? Want to? The 21st Century Children’s Nonfiction Conference has moved to NYC this year and it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’ll be speaking alongside my colleague / partner-in-crime Amie Wright, but there are a host of other speakers and it’s a delightful roster. If ever this has ever been your passion, now’s thWe time to go.
Diverse books for kids don’t sell? To this, Elizabeth Bluemle, a bookseller, points out something so glaringly obvious that I’m surprised nobody else has mentioned it before. I’m sure that someone has, but rarely so succinctly. Good title too: An Overlooked Fallacy About Sales of Diverse Books.
And speaking of diverse books, here’s something that was published last year but that I, in the throes of the whole giving birth thing, missed. The We Need Diverse Books website regularly posted some of the loveliest book recommendations I’ve ever seen. We’ve all seen lists that say things like “Like This? Then Try This!” but rarely do they ever explain why the person would like that book (I’m guilty of this in my own reviews’ readalikes and shall endeavor to be better in the future). On their site, the WNDB folks not only offered diverse readalikes to popular titles, but gave excellent reasons as to why a fan of David Wiesner’s Tuesday might like Bill Thomson’s Chalk. The pairing of Lucy Christopher’s Stolen with Sharon Draper’s Panic is particularly inspired. The covers even match.
Daily Image:
I am ever alert to any appropriation of my workplace that might be taking place. Recently I learned that in the Rockettes’ upcoming holiday show there will be this set in one of the numbers. Apparently Patience and Fortitude (the library lions) will be voiced by (the recorded voices of) Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. I kid you not.
Years ago when I worked in the old Donnell Library I looked out the window of the Central Children’s Room to see three camels standing there chewing their cud or whatever it is that camels chew. They were with their trainer, taking a walk before their big number in the Rockettes’ show. The crazy thing was watching the people on the street. The New Yorkers were walking past like the it was the most natural thing in the world. This is because New Yorkers are crazy. When camels strike you as everyday, something has gone wrong with your life.
8 Comments on Fusenews: Nothing but death, deer, and Zionism as far as the eye can see, last added: 3/10/2015
Yep. Included it in a Video Sunday, though I didn’t post the trailer. Thanks!
In fact, as an update to that Video Sunday post, I have it on good authority that Richard Peck has sent Ms. Dunham a signed copy of Fair Weather in response to her tattoo of the same name.
Carl in Charlotte said, on 3/9/2015 12:13:00 PM
There was a Charles Addams from many years ago in which an octopus or sea monster appeared through a manhole and grabbed a man off the street, while the victim tried to fight it off with an umbrella. All the people walked past without noticing, except for one man who stood there shocked. (apparently an out-of-towner) His friend said to him, “It takes a lot to draw a crowd in New York.”
BTW, is that you on the Rockettes’ set?
Elizabeth Bird said, on 3/9/2015 5:34:00 PM
You are flattering me. But from this distance it could be. I’m going to all out lie and say yes. Yes, that’s me.
Charles Addams knew this city well. I may go read his Mother Goose in memory of him.
:Donna said, on 3/9/2015 10:46:00 PM
Betsy, first off—it was a pleasure getting to talk to you at the Bank Street Grand Opening By the way, you left Jerry’s name tag and your own, and even Tim left your name tag after he’d borrowed it (I watched him take that selfie lol), both stuck to the tablecloth ’til the end of the day. Remember how you said you save everything and I said I do too? Guess who has the name tags now? And no, you can’t have them back!
OK, this post is SO packed with great stuff, I want to touch on a few, so humor me, please
I agree we do not deserve a federation. Brits are definitely cooler than we are and, sadly, I think it will always remain that way : /
The “Seuss” post IS amazing! Lots of stuff I’ve never heard/seen before! Thanks for that link
Lots of fun learning more about you in the Forbes article (will shortly be reading the “Introvert” one)
Am now subscribed to The BiblioFiles! Thank you very much
And I’m guessing that’s Fortitude whose head is turned, checking out the female in front of the beautiful NYPL facade? Wow! Just love those lions
Thanks for such a great post, Betsy
Elizabeth Bird said, on 3/10/2015 3:31:00 AM
Great seeing you too! And that is indeed Fortitude turning his head. Patience is always on the left, Fortitude on the right. And if you stand in the center of 5th Avenue between the two you’ll probably be hit by a bus, but just before you are you can see that they both are looking directly at you. And thanks too for the poetry book link. Doesn’t look like it’s available through Baker & Taylor, which is a bummer. I’ll check and see if Ingram sells it later.
Even in Australia said, on 3/10/2015 6:23:00 AM
That’s the best thing about New Yorkers! Nothing fazes us. It also means that we feel free to dress/act bizarrely because no one will give us a second glance.
LEE BENNETT HOPKINS said, on 3/10/2015 12:37:00 PM
GREAT to hear news about Hilary Knight. We did two books together for Simon & Schuster – SIDE BY SIDE and HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Love him! Lee Bennett Hopkins
For some context--they estimate 5000 books for kids and teens were pubbed. They looked at 3500 of them. I took the number of books about an ethnic group and divided it by 3500 to get the percentage. I then did the number of books by an ethnic group and did the same thing. (CCBC breaks it out into two numbers--how many are about that ethnic group, and how many do not contain significant cultural content of that group. I added those two numbers together to get a total.)
I then graphed those percentages against the percentage of the US population of the same ethnic group. (Source: 2013 Census Bureau info) (I added the numbers for Asian and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander to get a number to compare to CCBC's Asian Pacific/Asian Pacific American)
Ideally, all of these percentages should be equal.
They're not:
We can certainly do better than this.
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0 Comments on We Need Diverse Books as of 2/19/2015 11:11:00 AM
In the world of children’s literature, I can’t think of a day that hasn’t been better than the one before it. On Monday morning, February 2nd, this theory proved true. Diversity in children’s literature was honored in a multitude of ways. Librarians, families, teachers and kids all awaited the Monday morning Youth Media Award announcements with anticipation. They waited to hear if their favorite girl would win an award in more than one category, if their favorite author would garner the top prize, if the book that reflected their lives and spoke to them would stand tall and proud amongst the best of the best. As the medal winners’ names were spoken, dreams were coming true all across the country.
Each day that you have an opportunity to talk about diversity in children’s literature is a day when you are making the world more welcoming and real for all children. Literature awards can spark all kinds of conversations about why we need diverse books. (#WeNeedDiverseBooks).
The news spread far and wide like fire on a prairie (or snow headed for Chicago). Those announcements, though, were just a smattering of the literature awards that will be given this year. Also announced at the American Library Association’s Midwinter conference were the winners of the The Asian Pacific American Library Association (APALA) literature awards. These include a winner and honor book in children’s, young adult, and picture book categories.
The Asian Pacific American Library Association was established in 1980 to create an organization that would address the needs of Asian Pacific American librarians and those who serve Asian Pacific American communities. Since 2001 they have been honoring the best books published in the previous year for children and young adults related to Asian/Pacific American experiences (either historical or contemporary) or Asian/Pacific American cultures.
The APALA winners are announced during the midwinter meeting, but there is no fanfare until the annual ALA conference awards ceremony. And so, while we were all shouting “hooray” for the likes of Jacqueline Woodson, Kwame Alexander, Duncan Tonatiuh and others……..even more dreams were quietly coming true.
2015 Winners: Young Adult
Winner: Tiger Girl by May-Lee Chai (GemmaMedia)
Honor: Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang (First Second), illustration by Sonny Liew.
Children’s
Winner: Gaijin: American Prisoner of War by Matt Faulkner (Disney/Hyperion Books)
Honor: Ting Ting by Kristie Hammond (Sono Nis Press, Canada)
Picture Book
Winner: Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin by Chieri Uegaki and Qin Leng (Kids Can Press)
Honor: Father’s Chinese Opera by Rich Lo (Sky Pony Press)
Andrea R. Milano is a Youth Services Librarian at Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon and she is writing this post on behalf of the Public Awareness Committee.
Last week (Friday, January 30, 2015), I was at the Day of Diversity at the American Library Association's 2015 Midwinter Conference. This is my recap of the highlights (for me) of the day. I am glad I was invited. It provided me the opportunity to meet some terrific people I've known via social media for several years. A more personal reflection of the ALA's 2015 Midwinter Conference is forthcoming.
The keynote was delivered by former ALA President, Dr. Camila Alire.
She spoke about being in college (grad school, maybe), working on a project in which she did content analyses of depictions of Mexican Americans in children's books. She came across Bad Boy, Good Boy by Marie Hall Ets. It was published in 1967 by Cromwell. Here's the cover:
In her talk, Alire listed some of the problems she saw in it: the father/husband is the stereotypical depiction of violent Mexican American men with machismo, and the mother learned the right way to cook only after she went to work as a housekeeper for a white family. Roberto doesn't speak English and gets in trouble. The heroes of the story are a white policeman and a white teacher. Learning English is important in Roberto becoming the good boy of the book's title. Alire analyzed Bad Boy, Good Boy using the Council on Interracial Books for Children's Ten Quick Ways to Analyze Children's Books for Racism and Bias. It failed on many points.
Alire said that it is hard to find Bad Boy, Good Boy today. She said that it is important that we look for good books that accurately reflect the people being depicted, but that it is also important to talk about problematic books, too. She didn't name any present-day examples, but my colleagues have done similar analyses of Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner. It fails, too.
Alire shared data from 2002 and 2013 compiled by the Cooperative Center for Children's Books at the University of Wisconsin that shows there has been a decrease in the number of books by/about African/African Americans, American Indians, Asian Pacific/Asian Pacific Americans, and Latinos:
See the drop from 2002 to 2013 in the American Indian column? In 2002 there were 64. In 2013, the number was 34. Last year I looked at the 34 on the 2013 list. Focusing on those published in the United States, there were 14 books. Five of them had stereotypes and/or bias such that I cannot recommend them. My point is this: we can't look only at numbers. We have to open the books and look at the content, too. At AICL, I talk about the bad in terms of that content. Far too many people do not recognize problematic content. We have to do what Alire asked us to do: talk about the bad, too.
Alire pointed to resources people can use in their efforts to improve their skills in collection development. Among them is The Importance of Diversity in Library Programs and Material Collections for Children, edited by Jamie Naidoo. Written for the Association for Library Service to Children, it includes a link to American Indians in Children's Literature. In the Background section, Naidoo points to librarian Charlemae Rollins. In 1941, she wrote about stereotyping of African Americans in children's books. Back in the 1927, Native parents in Chicago wrote letters, objecting to the ways Native peoples were portrayed in textbooks. And all the way back in 1829, William Apes, a Pequot man raised by whites, wrote about being afraid of his own people. In A Son of the Forest, he wrote this:
[T]he great fear I entertained of my brethren was occasioned by the many stories I had heard of their cruelty toward the whites—how they were in the habit of killing and scalping men, women, and children. But the whites did not tell me that they were in a great majority of instances the aggressors—that they had imbrued their hands in the lifeblood of my brethren, driven them from their once peaceful and happy homes—that they introduced among them the fatal and exterminating diseases of civilized life. If the whites had told me how cruel they had been to the “poor Indian,” I should have apprehended as much harm from them.
These historical moments are important. After Alire's keynote, the first panel began their presentations. Leading them off was Violet Harris. The struggle, Harris noted, is not new. What is different is social media and its potential for effecting change. She pointed to the We Need Diverse Books campaign and to the articles Walter Dean Myers did for the New York Times. His Where Are the People of Color in Children's Books came out in March 15, 2014, but it was preceded by his "I Actually Thought We Would Revolutionize the Industry" which came out in 1986.
In his 2014 article, Myers cited the CCBC statistics that Alire used in her chart above. In her remarks, Kathleen Horning of the Cooperative Center for Children's Books told us that their phone has been ringing non-stop. Journalists and researchers who read the Myers article want more information. The data from CCBC tells us that, contrary to what a lot of people think, we are not in a post-racial society. She quoted her US Madison colleague, Bernice Durand, Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Climate, who said you need at least three people of color in any group to affect change. When she was in a position to make appointments to award committees, she followed Durand's advice.*
Jason Low spoke about some of the work that Lee and Low has been doing, in particular, pointing to the lack of diversity in movies and children's books. Here's a much-shared graphic they put together using CCBC data:
The panel was followed by a breakout session that I found disappointing. Much later, I realized that the breakouts were geared more towards the people in the audience who are new to all of this--those who are just starting out and want to make change in what they do in their libraries.
Lunchtime was a powerful hour as Sara Farizan, Ellen Oh, and Cynthia Leitich Smith did a "Lightning Talk" about their work as writers, and Namrata Tripathi spoke about her work as an editor. What made the four talks so riveting was that the four women shared personal stories from their own lives that shape the work they do.
Books are not mere entertainment. They inspire us, but they can hurt us, too, and we must speak about up more about problematic books. Pointing to problems can lead to change.
I'm running out of steam right now, but don't want to close this off without saying a few things about Satia Orange's closing. A former director of ALA's Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, she moderated the last panel. I'm paraphrasing and wish I had a recording so that I don't misrepresent what she said.
This is a dangerous time for black and brown children, she said. More than anyone, she called out the power structure in publishing. That power structure isn't with us in this struggle. It is in it for its own bottom line. More of us have to step up. She challenged the gathering to do something dramatic next week, and next month, for children of color.
The Day of Diversity began with a request that we call people in rather than calling them out. I understand that it is important to assume the best of people, but being nice, in its way, lets the status quo continue unchallenged.
Challenging the status quo is uncomfortable for me, and it is uncomfortable to those who I challenge. Most recently, David Arnold (author of Mosquitoland)blocked me from being able to see what he tweets because I pointed to his use of "warpaint" for his "part Cherokee" character. That book is getting starred reviews. Obviously people love it and see nothing wrong with its use of "warpaint." That sort of thing affirms misinformation about Cherokee people, and it is an affront to Cherokee children and their families who are weary of being misrepresented again and again and again.
During the day, I spoke with Kathleen Horning about the work of the Council on Interracial Books for Children. She said she thinks they made a difference because they called people out. I think that is what Satia Orange is asking us to do, too. Speak up. Be dramatic. The lives of children of color matter.
A new year means a new chance to get to all the things you didn’t get to last year. And by “things,” what we really mean is BOOKS. We also know that reading diversely doesn’t happen by accident; it takes a concerted effort to read a wide range of books.
So, we thought we’d help on both counts by offering up a list of the diverse authors we’re resolving to read in 2015. Some are new, and some have just been on our list for years. This is the year we plan to get to them – perhaps this will be your year, too?
Ink and Ashes is Tu Books’ first New Visions Award winner! This debut novel follows a Japanese American teen named Claire Takata. After finding a letter from her deceased father, she opens a door to the past that she should have left closed.
The award-winning Killer of Enemies follows seventeen-year-old Apache monster hunter Lozen in a post-apocalyptic world.
The prequel, Rose Eagle, follows seventeen-year-old Rose of the Lakota tribe. After her aunt has a vision, Rose goes on a quest to the Black Hills and finds healing for her people.
Everyone’s talking about Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson’s memoir in verse about her childhood in the American South and in Brooklyn that recently won the 2014 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. But have you read it yet?
Junot Diaz’s Pulitzer-prize winning novel follows Oscar, an overweight, ghetto Dominican American nerd as he dreams of becoming the next J.R.R. Tolkein. This book is filled with Dominican history, magical realism, science-fiction and comic book references.
In this debut novel, Kristen, has a seemingly ideal life. She’s just been voted homecoming queen and is a champion hurdler with a full scholarship to college. Everything unravels when Kristen and her boyfriend decide to take it to the next level, and Kristen finds out she’s intersex. Somehow her secret is leaked to the whole school.
This novel covers the Parsley Massacre of 1937 in Dominican Republic. Anabelle Desir and her lover Sebastien, decide they will get married at the end of the cane season and return to Haiti. When the Generalissimo Trujillo calls for an ethnic cleansing of the country’s Haitians, Anabelle and Sebastien struggle to survive.
Lewis “Shoe” Blake, a boy growing in the Tuscarora Indian Reservation in upsate New York in 1975, isn’t used to white people like George Haddonfield being nice to him. Lewis is also the target of the bully Eddie Reininger. Will George still be Lewis’s friend when he finds out the truth of how Lewis actually lives?
Alex Sanchez’s debut novel follows three boys, Jason Carrillo, Kyle Meeks, and Nelson Glassman, as they struggle with their sexualities and their friendships.
Masako Katori lives with her dead-beat husband in the suburbs of Tokyo, where she makes boxed lunches in a factory. After violently strangling her husband, she uses the help of coworkers to cover her crime.
Summer of the Mariposas is a retelling of the Odyssey set in Mexico. When Odilia and her sisters find the body of a dead man in the Rio Grande, they decide to take his body back to Mexico.
In Under the Mesquite Lupita is an aspiring actress and poet, and the oldest of 8 siblings. When Lupita’s mother is diagnosed with cancer, Lupita struggles to keep her family together.
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, which is set in a fantasy Asian-inspired world, inspired an anime of the same name. Balsa is a body guard who is hired by Prince Chagum’s mother to protect him from his father, the emperor, who wants him dead. A strange spirit possesses Prince Chagum that may be a threat to the kingdom.
American-born Sunny is an albino girl living in Nigeria. Although she doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere, Sunny discovers her latent magical abilities and joins 3 other students to learn how to control her powers. Sunny and her friends have to capture a career criminal who uses magic as well.
White Teeth focuses on the intertwining stories of two wartime buddies living in London with their families, and addresses topics such as assimilation and immigration in the U.K.’s cultural hub.
Naila’s conservative immigrant parents say that they will let her wear her hair how she wants, choose what she will study and be when she grows up, but they will choose her husband. When Naila breaks this rule by falling in love with a boy named Saif, her parents take her to Pakistan to reconnect her with her roots. But Naila’s parents’ plans have changed, and they’ve arranged a marriage for her.
Everyone thinks George is a boy, but George knows that she’s a girl. After her teacher announces that the class play is Charlotte’s Web, George hatches a plan with her best Kelly, so that everyone can know who she is once and for all.
1 Comments on Fifteen Diverse Authors You Should Resolve to Read in 2015, last added: 1/29/2015
My husband’s best friend returned to us the other day from his vacation in South America bearing gifts. Amongst them was a t-shirt for my daughter featuring this cartoon tyke:
Know her? If you’re American the answer is probably no. But if you were Argentinian you’d instantly recognize her as Mafalda. She was Argentina’s answer to Charlie Brown from 1964 to 1973 and is basically recognized all over the world . . . with the exception of the U.S.
She gets me to thining. When we talk about the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign we need to look beyond standard fictional fare. We need to look at easy books, early chapter books, nonfiction, poetry, fairytales and folk tales, and, yes, graphic novels. And of all the comics published specifically for the young reader market in 2014 that were marketed to libraries, only one had anything even faintly resembling Latino content (Lowriders in Space by Cathy Camper, ill. Raul the Third).
None of this is to say that if Mafalda were translated for the American market she wouldn’t appear with an adult publisher like Dark Horse. Like the aforementioned Charlie Brown she had some pretty advanced jokes. No, for me Mafalda is just proof positive that when we’re looking for diverse characters, we shouldn’t forget about the ones published internationally. Our scope is so limited here in the States. If there is any unexpected offshoot of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign, I hope it’s that we are able as consumers and publishers to expand our focus and look into those characters and creations from countries outside of our own. Mafalda is just the tip of the iceberg.
Comics with Latino content… Claudia Davila’s “Luz” series is very good. And don’t forget last year’s “Gumazing Gum Girl” by Rhode Montijo (I seriously hope he continues this series!!).
We’ve collected Mafalda for many years at OPL– sadly, I’ve been weeding it a bunch lately. She’s not very popular at the moment, at least in our communities. But these things are cyclical– chances are she’ll have a resurgence at some point, maybe now that Liniers is getting so big? I did see a couple Mafalda displays at FIL in Guadalajara this year, usually get to the Liniers.
Amy said, on 12/22/2014 8:16:00 AM
*NEXT to the Liniers.
Ana said, on 12/23/2014 10:54:00 PM
Most Latin Americans will instantly recognize Mafalda. She has a proud spot in my Spanish language collection. Any good collection serving teens from Latin America (especially immigrant teeens) needs to have her in their collection. Mafalda is often political, sometimes critical of the US and definitely critical of imperialism and social classes. She’s profound at times. Nothing like Peanuts ( though Peanuts is great) in the sense that Mafalda is simply another type of cartoon. She’s not for children. Teens for sure. She’s edgy, political, and critical of society. She is incredibly important to Latin Americans. I’m so glad you mentioned her.
The plot of this one sounds sad--thank goodness it has some bright spots!
I will be sure to read this one as I've enjoyed Erin's previous works. Diversity presented in a interesting way.
I love your description: "This book will break your heart into thousands of pieces--and then knit them all back together." I think young people can learn to be strong through such books. Definitely one for my TBR list.
This sounds like a sibling story that is not only important to read but also a spellbinder. Appreciations for this add to my list, Joanne.
Strong relationships, interesting plot, well-crafted voice...sold! Putting it on my list now. Thanks.
Oh, there's plenty of humor to balance the sadness.
Yes! I loved BLACKBIRD FLY! And it's so important to give diverse titles/authors our attention, because we live in a diverse country.
That's great, Joanne!
Thanks for stopping by, Jan!
Thanks, Elizabeth.
Voice is so important to me when I'm reading. You make this sound irresistible. Thanks for the post.
My kind of story! Glad you didn't share too much, because I want to read this book! Yes, for Diverse Children's Books!
Just that short quotation you included makes me think I will really like the voice of this book, and if I like the voice, I don't even care what the story is about!
That's always my hope, Rosi!
Can never have enough diverse children's books. Your blog features a lot of them too, Patricia.
I feel the same way, Kim.
The premise and plot of this story sounds so interesting and intriguing. Thanks for sharing about this book. I like the cover.
It's a great cover, isn't it, Nasreen?
I have seen this book around, but haven't had a chance to read it yet. It sounds like a great read. I am glad my heart will be put back together by the end. :) Great review!
~Jess
Erin Entrada Kelly is a terrific writer. Glad to know she has this out, as I really enjoyed BLACKBIRD FLY.
And we have another book to look forward to in March 2017, HELLO, UNIVERSE.
Thanks, Jess.
This book sounds really good! Thanks for the review!
You're welcome! Thanks for stopping by.