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Here's the next installment in the Fire Escape's summer series of ten questions to ask about a story. This time, let's get physical.

Question Six: How is race described?

We've talked before about the dilemma of writing race on the Fire Escape. Remember the description of perfect physical beauty in Pretties, Uglies, and Extras, the futuristic sci-fi trilogy by Scott Westerfeld, with straight hair (not kinky) and wide eyes (not squinty) as that evil society's ideal? Remember the wide range of phrases J.K. Rowling wielded when white people emoted in Harry Potter, while characters like Parvati, Padma, and Lee Jordan were never able to blush or pale?

And then there are the tired clichés that have long cued race in our culture. I'm talking about coffee-colored skin, high cheekbones, flat noses, big lips, almond eyes. Ask yourself if the storyteller has stretched the language to come up with fresh terms or is relying on overused, boring descriptors.

Last but not least, try this exercise. If you've recently read a story where race isn't particularly defined, how did you picture the characters? Try imagining them as members of various races and be truthful with yourself about how you're affected.

One of the reasons I don't like movie adaptations of my favorite books is because when I read the book, I am usually still in charge of the race of the characters. In the film version of the Lord of the Rings, for example, I was surprised to find myself jarred by a white Bilbo and Frodo, taken aback by a white Gandalf, and worst of all, turned off by an Aragorn who didn't match the brown hero of my adolescent dreams. If a teen watches the film version before reading the book, isn't his ability to imagine someone like himself in the story overpowered by the race of the actors?

The virtual version of 10 Questions to Ask About a Story closes with #6. For the rest of the list, why not attend YALSA's inaugural Young Adult Literature Symposium this November 7-9 in Nashville? Early bird registration ends today, September 1st -- you can save up to 25% over advanced and onsite registration fees. Registration for the symposium is available at www.ala.org/yalitsymposium. Questions? Contact YALSA at [email protected] or 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4390.

This summer I'm sharing a series of ten questions which I encourage readers and educators to ask about a book. (BTW, I'll be offering my BOOKS BETWEEN CULTURES presentation at YALSA's YA Lit Symposium, where we'll be discussing these questions and more.)

Question Three: Do the illustrations or cover art make the characters seem either more or less foreign than depicted in the story?


Nowhere in Cynthia Kadohata's book WEEDFLOWER does Sumiko wear a kimono. Why did the publisher feel they had to make her look more Japanese than American, especially when a girl in jeans behind barbed wire would be more historically accurate and powerful?

And listen to Ursula LeGuin's perspective before considering the advance release copy of her novel POWERS (cover art below to the left), which the publisher eventually changed to reflect the protagonist's Himalayan ancestry:

The characters are white. Even when they aren’t white in the text, they are white on the cover. I know, you don't have to tell me about sales! I have fought many cover departments on this issue, and mostly lost. But please consider that "what sells" or "doesn't sell" can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If black kids, Hispanics, Indians both Eastern and Western, don't buy fantasy -- which they mostly don’t -- could it be because they never see themselves on the cover?

As I watched CAMP ROCK, Disney Channel's smash hit made-for-television movie, I found myself asking Question Number Two in my on-going series of ten questions. (Note to first time Fire Escape visitors: these relate to stuff I notice about a story, whether it comes via screen or in print, because of the strange between-cultures lenses I can't seem to take off.)

Question Two: Is ethnicity used to cue either a “good” or “bad” character trait?

Today's storytellers are spearheading a strange stage in the history of American culture. It strikes me as a correction to the historical overlooking of non-white people in books and movies. What's happening now is that if you're lazy with story, you'll use race, ethnicity, or class to inform a young audience how to feel about your characters. We're trying to train a whole generation to equate WHITE/RICH with BAD, and BROWN/BLACK/POOR with good -- although I'm not sure they're buying it. The problem is that as a storytelling mechanism, this new trick is as simple and stupid as the old one.

In CAMP ROCK, one can feel the careful casting and the intentionality of each actor's race. The villain is blonde (Meaghan Jette Martin) and the hero Latina (Demi Lovato). The antagonist's allies are an African-American girl who chooses emancipation to win the singing contest (Jasmine Richards) and a mixed-race ditzy chick (Anna Maria Perez de Tagle) who also ends up renouncing oppression and stepping out on her own.

Oh, quit whining, you might be thinking, at least they're including heroes who aren't white. That's good, right?

Yes, I'm glad Disney's come a long way from the days of African-American voices cast as human-wannabe monkeys or jobless crows. And peering over my between-cultures bifocals, CAMP ROCK was lively, good-hearted, and entertaining.