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Latinos and other People of Color (PoC) are expanding their presence into more than the White House. The last frontier, what might prove to be the most resistant to our inclusion is speculative literature [fantasy, magical realism, science fiction, horror, fables and myth, and alternate histories]. Por qué?
Among others, two important, interplaying factors might explain the resistance to our inclusion.
Spec lit is BIG money for those within certain cliques
Sci-fi, fantasy and horror are all over the American screens of cable, network TV and movie houses. Good or bad, blockbusters or not, apocalypse or dystopia, a lot of stories are making chingos of dinero, and in certain cases, the road begins in spec-lit short stories or novels. For writers of those stories, the lucrative film-rights would have to be spread around, if POC enter this arena.
The young, including whites, are attracted to the cultures of POC
Forget about backwards caps and low-hanging baggies, reggae and reggaetón--if the spec stories of POC reach the screen, Anglo kids might find more to love than just wearing J-Lo T-shirts.
POC stories can include themes sympathetic towards immigrants, the Chicano Movement, monetary retribution to Native Americans and descendants of slaves, Puerto Rican independence, the Cuban Revolution, the disenfranchisement of mexicanos after Texas's secession and the Mexican American War, families' communal values (instead of Western-ethic individualism), pride in ancient indigenous cultures like the Aztec and Maya (Matt de la Peña's Maya character, Sera, not the savagery of Apocalypto). And that's not a complete list.
If such ideals and beliefs from the novels of POC reach the screen in the most popular genres of speculative fiction, imagine what rebellious, white (and other) teenagers might adopt as their own values. Like, Amy Tintera's Callum Reyes character--"the perfect solider who's done taking orders!" Or, to plug my work, what if teens identify with my fantasy novel's Chicano hero who won't accept "assimilation" and joins others to save and change their world? Nomás diciendo....
It's no longer fantasy to imagine a Latino in the White House (although it's harder to imagine he would be sympathetic toward immigrants, workers' rights and stopping military invasions.) A more frightening possibility to the white-male-dominated establishment is the horror of their children accepting and even advocating for POC in EVERYTHING!
To look at it from the perspective of the white male, spec-lit establishment, as hot as spec lit is now, the old writers feel like they are finally being recognized and rewarded, as never before. For POC to demand entry into this monetary wonderland at this point is just the WORST time!
Hollywood and its young audiences may not agree. Sci-fi, as well as other spec lit, needs new blood, themes and direction, which is what Project Hieroglyph is attempting. Change will come and Latino writers entering these genres can have a great effect on its direction. Vamos a ver.
This Friday, I'll be on NPR, expounding on Latino writers and Sci-Fi, courtesy of Producer Daisy Rosario, Latino USA. I'll let you know info as it comes in.
For that broadcast, here are cites I used:
Latino readers will become more of a significant book market. "Hispanics" make up nearly a quarter of public school students, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, and are the fastest-growing of the schools' population.
Will there be Latino authors in Big Book of Sci-Fi?
Jeff and Ann VanderMeer will be editing The Big Book of Science Fiction for Vintage, an 800-page, time capsule of the last 100 years of sci-fi. They will have an open reading period for reprints when you can submit links or electronic manuscripts of your own work or recommendations of rare or often overlooked stories you think deserve their attention.
Clearly, to cover a century, they can't just focus on the contemporary scene. They say, "As ever, we’re committed to including work from a diverse array of sources." It may be a few months before setting up the submission process, but they'll make sure it’s widely publicized. It will be up to Latino authors and fans to submit material so this doesn't become another Big White Book of Sci-Fi. Connect with Jeff to make your literary contribution, when it's time.
Es todo, hoy, (but wait to see what mañana brings)
I usually do a ‘quick’ Trailer post on Saturdays and go on about my day. But, on this Saturday, the thoughts have simmered into a different post. I think it came to a boil today at the post office when I read a bumper sticker that stated “American-American”.
Wouldn’t we all love to be able to display such a sticker on our vehicles? Isn’t that the American dream that led Rodney King to ask “Why can’t we all just get along”?
Because, we don’t get along. There’s a lot of pride in hyphenating our Americanism and I say more power to each and every group. This America really is big enough for all that self love.
I prefer ‘Black’ to African American and I like ‘people of color’. I like the inclusiveness of these terms and the new centers they create. I’ve begun to wonder why more and more I see people question the use of ‘people of color’. I do know that it excludes American Indians because you can’t reduce a nation to skin color. Ah! There’s the rub! We cannot reduce nations to skin color. In being “Black” or “people of color” we are no longer tied to a place, we diminish our identity.
Hyphenations can be tricky, since some people love them and others don’t. It reminds me of how, recently, someone told me he didn’t like being called African-American when his background is Haitian.
Edi said, on 3/24/2014 4:05:00 PM
Oh, yes! Haitian (from Haiti) is quite different from African American (from the US).
The nonprofit First Book has pledged $500,000 to purchasing children’s books that feature minorities, characters of color and diversity stories.
The new ‘OMG Books’ initiative, an acronym for Offering More Great Books, will help young readers have access to stories that are relevant to their lives. Many of the kids who benefit from First Book’s services come from low-income families and neighborhoods.
Here’s more from the release: “[CEO Kyle] Zimmer stressed that her team is moving fast; the offer went out to major publishers today, and First Book intends to have proposals secured within a week…The hundreds of thousands of books First Book plans to purchase through the OMG Books program will be available through the First Book Marketplace, a website offering deeply discounted books and educational materials exclusively to schools and programs serving kids in need.”
In his new book, Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness?, noted journalist and author Toure says he wanted to explore “what it means to be Black now.” And, no, “post-Blackness” is not the same as “post-racial.”
“Post-racial suggests a world where race does not exist and racism does not exist, and it’s a completely ridiculous term… With post-Blackness, what I’m talking about is a conception of Blackness where the identity options are infinite. So, we’re not saying THIS is what it is to be Black,” he explained in the second installment of our Media Beat interview.
“There seems to be this conception that Blackness must stay in the hood as if Blackness is milk, and the hood is the refrigerator. And the further away you get from the refrigerator, it will spoil. And you go to Yale for four years, somehow you have lost your Blackness, as opposed to if you go to jail for 10 years, your Blackness is hardened?”
In the book, he even asks noted Black academics, celebrities, and activists the best question ever (yes, I said it) about a huge stereotype: “Would you eat watermelon in a room full of white people?”
Watch the full video to find out how ?uestlove of The Roots and Rev. Jesse Jackson answered.
The industry bible, Publisher’s Weekly, released their picks of Notables of 2010 in book publishing this week. Among the names were Barnes & Noble’s Len Riggio, veteran literary agent, Andrew Wylie, Google’s Tom Turvey and others.
One quick glance at the list and readers may notice something is missing. Although certainly notable and arguably deserving of accolades, PW’s list this year negates to mention any women in book publishing and virtually no people of color.
If you could nominate anyone as a 2010 Notable Woman or a Notable Person of Color in book publishing, who would you nominate? Would it be Jane Friedman for her e-publishing venture Open Road Media, perhaps Jamie Raab for Hachette’s notable success with Grand Central, perhaps Alex Simmons for his work with Kids Comic Con, Junot Diaz for being chosen as a prestigious member of the Pulitzer Prize Board or someone else?
Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
*Full Disclosure: This GalleyCat blogger is published by Grand Central.
Renowned poet Maya Angelou has donated 300 boxes filled with her personal papers to the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Angelou had this quote in the press release: “The Schomburg is a repository of the victories and the losses of the African American experience … I am grateful that it exists so that all the children, Black and White, Asian, Spanish-Speaking, Native American, and Aleutian can know there is a place where they can go and find the truth of the peoples’ history.”
The donation contains the notes for her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and some of her most famous poems. One notable inclusion are the notes for the poem written at the request of former President Bill Clinton, On the Pulse of Morning. The video embedded above shows her reading it at Clinton’s 1993 inauguration. Several unpublished manuscripts and poems have also been included in the lot.
I love love love the cover of MAXINE BANKS IS GETTING MARRIED. The bling on her finger and her big grin immediately caught my eye and made me want to pick up the book!!
Constantly on the lookout for how people of color have been represented on book covers over the years, and being in the midst of a weeding (for non-librarians, that means getting rid of old books that nobody takes out anymore) project, I came across this one – Garden of Broken Glass by Emily Cheney Neville (Delacorte 1975). Here is a book which does not include “African American” as a subject (most books that include African American characters seem to). Nothing on the jacket mentions African American characters. Yet here they are in this cover illustration by Jerry Pinkney.
Remember – this is the 70s. It’s my impression that, in that decade, we were far more advanced in representing people of color on books. Even if – as in this one – the subject matter did not focus on color as subject matter (message: regular people come in all colors). In the glitzy 21st century, are we taking giant steps backward?
I fear we are.
Anita Silvey, in Children’s Books and Their Creators (Houghton Mifflin 1995) said this of the book:
Garden of Broken Glass uses shifting viewpoints to examine a group of lower-class multicultureal teenagers. Some readers may find Neville’s use of dialect in the novel to be inauthentic, but it remains a thought-provoking book.
On the positive side, in this century we (or shall I say – publishers) may have gained sensitivity in the way those characters are represented in the text itself?
Garden of Broken Glass: Unable to work out a satisfactory relationship with his brother and sister and cope with their alcoholic mother, a young boy finds solace with neighborhood friends and in his relationship with a stray dog. (What are the Library of Congress subject headings?: Family problems. That’s it. Just family problems.)
1 Comments on The Garden of Broken Book Covers, last added: 8/11/2010
Yeah, I think it’d be nice to see more books that happen to star people of various cultures, but not have the books actually be about “a person of such-and-such culture who __________.” You know, just have it be the story.
Just a quickie here – I was catching up on my blog reading and came across this posting called “Beautiful Portraits of Random Strangers“. The very first thing I thought: why aren’t book covers using these faces? (Or faces like them…) REAL people! Aren’t they gorgeous?
5 Comments on Random Strangers, last added: 8/2/2010
I love these faces! These are people you would run into on the street, people you would see in the grocery store…real people. Beautiful people. They would make great cover art.
Angelique said, on 8/1/2010 8:17:00 PM
I agree….those are wonderful portraits and would make for such compelling book covers!
Astres said, on 8/1/2010 8:59:00 PM
Yet they all have perfect skin *sigh*
tanita said, on 8/2/2010 2:08:00 AM
They are beautiful! I can’t believe they’re just snapshots, though – that’s a professional at work!
Rebecca C. said, on 8/2/2010 10:36:00 PM
Those are so amazing, I keep staring at a bunch of them… I’d love to see any of them on cover art.
In my research, I came across this Scott O’Dell title, Zia (Houghton Mifflin 1976).
Cover #1 was the original cover, published in 1976. Cover #2 came out around 1981, cover #3, around 1995, and the 4th cover is upcoming – scheduled for release in January of next year.
Mulling this over… does it tell us anything about the evolution of cover design? The story is based on the true story of Juana Maria – the last surviving member of her tribe, who lived on San Nicolas Island, off the coast of southern California. One might expect her, then, to look like the Natives of that area. Which she does, on the 1976 cover.*
Six years later she looks much more European. The 1995 cover is pretty, but less focused on the character. It’s interesting that the photograph on the upcoming release looks very much like the illustration (by Ted Lewin) on the original edition. She’s lighter skinned, but it’s an amazing match in terms of her features.
An interesting group…
*I do not hold myself up as any kind of authority on any culture, so please take my opinion with a shovelful of salt… or so.
5 Comments on Zia Over Decades, last added: 7/17/2010
Something about the way the title’s lit up on the newest cover makes me think of magic. Like, it makes me think that Zia is a witch or a wizard or something. And she’s creating that wind that’s blowing her hair around. With her magic.
Arlaina said, on 7/14/2010 6:02:00 AM
The fist cover is amazing and revolutionary! Each subsequent cover is so of its era. Fascinating stuff. Thanks so much for thinking so hard about book covers. I adore your site.
Jacket Whys said, on 7/14/2010 7:17:00 PM
I agree, the first cover is very good. Not so sure it’s revolutionary. When you start looking back it begins to seem that we’ve gone BACKward, not forward…
Blythe said, on 7/16/2010 11:11:00 AM
I’ve never read Zia, but I loved the jacket (and cover board image) on Island of the Blue Dolphins. I think the design is splendid.
I rather like the third cover… The “camera angle” and the lighting make for a nice effect.
I might just enjoy covers that show something actually happening, though.
The Plot: Genna Colon, fifteen, lives in a one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn with her overworked mother and three siblings. It's not an easy life: roaches in the apartment, her brother Rico hanging out with drug dealers, sister Toshi doing who knows what, but Genna keeps trying. She gets straight As in school, dreams of college, and finds love with Jamaican born Judah. One night, after a fight with her mother, Genna runs to the local gardens and makes a wish at the fountain.
Suddenly, she is back in time. Still in Brooklyn, but as for the time? It's the Civil War. She's dazed, confused, and hurt. The first people who find her don't help; instead, they are two white men who assume she's a runaway slave.
The Good: What a page turner! Genna is so engaging, and she is faced with so many challenges as she struggles to survive in the past. Having twenty first century sensibilities in the face of nineteenth century racism? "Hard" doesn't even begin to describe it, as she tries to build a life and friendships in her new time. I don't want to give too many of the plot points away, because seeing the obstacles Genna encounters and how she climbs over, goes around, or moves it is part of the reason this is a page turner.
Time travel to the past is a great device to use in looking at the past because it allows the reader to learn about history, yet there is no fear of anachronistic viewpoints because a modern day person is interpreting, reacting to, and weighing in on the past. So, here, the reader learns about life in Civil War era Brooklyn and sees the points of view and attitudes of a variety of characters, but there is always Genna's modern sensibilities weighing, judging, understanding.
The Brooklyn of the past comes alive; both in terms of setting (houses, landmarks, waterfront) but also in terms of how people think and act and believe. Part of me wants to go on a A Wish After Midnight tour of Brooklyn; then I remind myself, I don't drive in the city. Genna ends up working as a servant for an Abolitionist family. Happy ending? No; she finds out quickly that just because a person believes in freedom and the end of slavery, doesn't mean that person believes in equality or respect.
Elliott is working on a sequel; part of it is posted at her website. Also at her website? Links to additional information on the history found in the book, perfect for readers like me. An interesting point -- Genna's story is not set in the present (i.e., now), but rather in 2001, and it's clear that September 11 is going to be a factor in the sequel.
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Didn't Walter Dean Myers' publisher put together a Riot tour last fall? I think your idea has potential, Liz, even if you don't want to do the driving.
Like most people, I believe that books by African American author are not just for February. For example, Marguerite Abouet (the first featured author): "Aya, her graphic novel series, taps into Abouet’s childhood memories of Ivory Coast in the 1970s, a prosperous, promising time in that country’s history." So right there, Aya would fit with any type of booklist or blog series or challenge about graphic novels, historical fiction, the Ivory Coast. Abouet was born in the Ivory Coast and now lives in Paris, so also fits into any list, series or challenge about writers who aren't American residents or citizens.
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The Plot: A family is at the beach: "rock, stone, pebble, sand/ body, shoulder, arm, hand/ a moat to dig/ a shell to keep/ All the world is wide and deep." The family goes about its day and a host of other characters are depicted. At the end, they are together, one community, one world: "Everything you hear, smell, see/ All the world is everything/ Everything is you and me/ Hope and peace and love and trust/ All the world is all of us."
The Good: Really, it would be easier to say what isn't good.
Um, except it's all good.
The poem itself is deceptively simple; describing a day in the children's lives, but also describing all of us. It shows what we share and have in common.
The illustrations (pencil and watercolor) reflect the text and deepen it. They are full of details; each time you read the book, you see something new, a new connection. When does part of one scene appear in another? What people appear and reappear in the illustrations? It's more than a guessing game, a searching game. It underscores how we are all connected.
The family and people in the book reflect our world: different colors, different shades, different ages. It's not a big deal, in that it's not part of the text or done with a "look! look! look!" feel; it is a big deal because we need to have and see multicultural families in books, and yay, here is a beautifully illustrated one with two children of color on the cover.
I hesitate to say "what a great message," because message books are usually heavy handed. This is not; so I'll say, this book has meaning, and truth, and inspiration. It has reassurance and love.
From the website for the 2010 Conference: "The 26th Annual Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Youth will be held on Thursday, April 8 & Friday, April 9, 2010 at the Kent State University Student Center. The conference provides a forum for discussion of multicultural themes and issues in literature for children and young adults. “A New Horizon: The Next 25 Years!” is the theme of the conference, featuring the illuminating talents of great wordsmiths and a brilliant illustrator. Virginia Hamilton Conference is please to be a forum that showcases some of the wonderful talents in multicultural literature for youth. The conference will bringing together renown and local writers, illustrators, librarians, teachers, students, and scholars who share in the importance of multicultural literature."
It's a Thursday night, all day Friday conference. Cost for Thursday night is $40; for Friday is $120; for both, $150.
I would love to go, but look at a map. New Jersey, Ohio: not close. Given the conversations in the blogosphere about people of color, covers, race, reading, I would love, love, love to go to this conference but, frankly, I cannot afford to (travel plus conference costs plus taking vacation time equals no, not unless I win the lottery).
But there must be some kidlit bloggers near who can attend who will represent the blogosphere and report back! Anyone?
To further make you want to go, here is the brochure.
Also? The press release I read said the conference fills up quickly.
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Well, it sounds really exciting and I'd love to go, but alas, no money and I'm nowhere near Ohio either.
There's a conference in my neck of the woods with a similar focus, Reading the World, that I've attended once and really enjoyed, but I may not be able to make that either this year. Gotta pick and choose my conferences...
I'm looking into attending this COnference, and hopefully if that happens, I i will have happy to share the details & all the learning. I will report back! :)
The Plot: Eunice "Bug" Smoot is struggling, pay check to pay check. She is fiercely, aggressively independent, working, paying bills, paying rent, no food stamps or government money for her. Her father was never in the picture; her mother died when she was little, followed by her aunt a few years. Most recently, her grandfather "Papa C" died, leaving her nothing except a 1958 Cadillac Biarritz.
It turns out Bug's grandfather also left her a heap of trouble. The car is about to be repossessed -- by a demon. Not only did Papa C sell his soul to buy the car -- he skipped out on the bargain, hiding post-death from the repo demons just like he hid from bill collectors while alive. As Bug argues the car is HERS, thankyouverymuch, she gets even worse news. Seems like Papa C promised additional collateral - Bug's soul.
The Good: Bug is fierce and independent, has a mouth on her, isn't afraid to stand up for herself. "Diplomatic" is not in her vocabulary. During high school, her aggression and drive found a use on the basketball court; now, she drives fast delivering pizzas. What is great about Bug's whole in-your-face persona? She's going to need it to take on the demon Mr. Beals. Playing nice, being quiet, being soft isn't going to save your soul. Literally.
Soul Enchilada is a perfect mix of humor and supernatural. The chapter headings are fun, and the supernatural world Gill has built manages to both scare you and make you laugh at loud. The threat from Mr. Beals and Scratch (the Devil) is very, very real. But you also have djinn hunters who track djinn and their visas (that is the ISIS, International Supernatural Immigration Service) and quick jokes such Judge Hathorne, whose "family has a long history of presiding fairly and objectively" over contests between the Devil and humans.
ISIS; right there, you know that Gill hasn't just decided to use traditional stories about the Devil, demons, djinn and the deals for souls. He's taken those traditions and added new, invigorating, original twists.
Bug starts the book alone, but as she discovers the supernatural world lurking beneath the real one she not only assembles a team, she becomes part of a family, including Pesto, the cute guy at the carwash who turns out to know all about djinn and demons; his mother, Mrs. Valenci, who opens her heart and home to Bug; Castor and Pollux, arguing ISIS agents. Part of Bug's aloneness is not just the loss of her loved ones. Her mother, Mita, was Latina; her father black. Bug is a mix of cultures, feeling not quite welcome in either, saying "I don't speak Spanish" when any Spanish is spoken around her.
The cast in Soul Enchilada (set in El Paso, Texas) is a diverse mix. Readers wanting action, horror, a smart story, and
3 Comments on Soul Enchilada, last added: 1/27/2010
This looks great! I think I would read it based just on the cover alone. It's also nice to see something original and not all about the typical subjects of late. Great review!
Sometimes I can get to books on my tbr pile quicker when I listen to them. This was the case with Soul Enchilada. I just loved the voice of the narrator. It was a wild ride. And, you're right, it would be fun to revisit Pesto (great name) and Bug in a sequel.
And seriously, if you don't know what I am talking about, you have to add at least Black Eyed Susan and Color Online to your "must read" blog listing.
So it's over, yay!! The cover is changed, let's sing and hold hands and go back to how everything was. (end sarcasm font)
DARN IT, I cannot even post a "but it's not over" post because Color Online has already done it: "I am asking that you remain focused and committed to bringing about real change which is the realization of true diversity and representation in publishing." Practically every point raised at Black Eyed Susan's Color it Up post is as valid right now as it was yesterday.
So, what can be added to the conversation? I'm not a fan of "me, too" posts. I don't want to say, "look at the awesome thing I'll do."
I'm joining the POC Reading Challenge, even though you may know (or have figured out) that I don't do challenges. Too little time, too many books, not organized enough to check in when I have or have not read something. But I'm joining, because this is important. The conversation, the need, the issue do not end with one cover. Or two covers. It's every day, every reading choice. And Bookshelves of Doom shows, it's not over.
What can a blogger do? When we shift from private readers to public readers, there is a shift in our responsibilities. "Me" still matters, of course; it's why my sidebar is my favorite books. But when I try to decide what to read next, the deciding factor isn't just "what do I want to read next" or work-related ("what do I read for this library committee", "what do I read to be a good librarian to my patrons"), it's also blog related, "what did I request from a publisher or author?" "what review copies and ARCs do I have?" and "What publisher haven't I reviewed in a while?"
And added to that list of factors should also be, "am I being diverse in my reading?" "when did I last read a book about a person of color?" If I don't ask myself that question, if I don't think of that question, well, it may turn out the books I've read are all white. Being white, I have the luxury to "don't think" unless I make the decision to think about.
But even then... well. This is one person, one blog.
Blogging is about a community. And it's a community publishers look at. Yes, they hope our reviews mean sales. And yes, there's a big world of readers out there, bigger than the blogosphere. Still. Blogging is a fairly new, unique way for publishers to get direct feedback from readers. And I'm not talking about feedback that picks apart books; I'm talking about feedback that says, yes, readers want and need books about people of color. So us blogging about POC books and saying we want more? Does send a message.
What else can be done?
You have enough people saying, demanding, wanting books about people of color and the books will
This week has made me intend to be even more thoughtful about diversity in my reading. A lot of stuff I read is GLBTQ focused, but I need to be more conscious of everything else, too! Thanks for committing to continue the conversation!
Your thoughts about blogging as a responsibility - moving from a private reader to a public forum - are spot-on. As are your suggestions about not only being mindful of our reading and posting habits, but also our library and list suggestions.
This issue impacts school libraries in a huge way. I posted the other day about the very real struggle a jr. high student had finding a novel to read when she really ONLY had enough time to scan the covers (a whole other rant about teachers expecting their students to find a book in less than 10 minutes) and even with me, the speedy-librarian, it was so hard to find a book for her. There were, no doubt real collection diversity issues at that campus (grrrr...) but even with the BEST collectoin ever, most kids look at the cover first. They need to see themselves represented there.
Wonderful post, thank you for speaking out. I agree with you and susan, this is not over. I think it's so great that you are going to start thinking "how diverse is my reading list", I hope all book bloggers start to think that way (even I need to because I find that I review way more books about African Americans than other ethnic heritages, I need to work on that).
Thank you for all the amazing work that you do spotlighting titles and providing information on all the YALSA stuff. Can we nominate books any time?
Becker, because its so easy for me to fall into what I want to read, I try to keep in mind what I may have missed or overlooked. So I just went thru the Rainbow List of books to see which GLBT titles I haven't reviewed but should.
MR, I've been thinking (not just for this!) as to what is the line, the difference between "just" a reader and a blogger. I don't have answers; just a lot of questions. I know I get my back up when people "should" on me (you should blog about this, you should read x books, you should do this) because there is so little time, even if I wanted to do all the "shoulds". Sometimes it does feel like readers think they are our editors, telling us what to do! But, still, I think once we put ourselves out there, our responsibility changes. We do need to do some of the "shoulds", if we can.
bookmoot, covers and collections are such a tricky thing. We need more, and we need people to know we need more.
Miss A, I'll put together a post with more details. I just skimmed YALSA's website; it looks like the award nominations are open, but the lists don't open until February. So I'm making a mental note to do a more detailed post in February about nominating titles.
I too don't join challenges -- I tend to get busy with other things and fail miserably at them. But I may join the POC challenge because it's about such an important issue. I find myself not only needing to read books about African-Americans, but also about Latinos (I think I've only read Cuba 15 and Esperanza Rising). We had an almost nonexistent Latino population at my school for years (just 2 -3 children) but it has grown significantly. I need for my collection and my booktalks to become more diverse so that I am reaching everyone.
You needn't had told me a post would come. You are a doer. I learned that with LIAR.
I am so glad you're here. Librarians are high on my favorite people list because of folks like you. You walk the walk and I can't say enough how much I respect and admire you for it.
You made me blush, too. I swear I read my posts and shake my head always wishing I could write like you and Ari and Zetta- any my friends.
We will get change because we won't stop until we do.
Unlike some of the people who have blogged about the fail, I do not like this cover – it’s a run-of-the-mill, assembly line cover just like many, many other covers. It seems some marketing departments figure they’ve discovered the formula for selling lots of books. Boy, I like to think it’s not true.
Some have asked “where is the outrage” on this issue. I thought there was plenty of outrage with the first blog outing of a “racefail” cover. I guess not enough. I’m hoping this second run does the trick.
I, for one, will be looking to see/highlight people of color on more book covers. And real people, not just the beautiful ones.
6 Comments on Oh, no. Not again!, last added: 1/20/2010
I totally agree with you about the cover – it just doesn’t look interesting to me. I’d seen some reviews and talk about this book before the controversy, but I didn’t even dig far enough to find out what the book was about because it looked like dozens of other fantasy books. Meh. I would have been MUCH more intrigued if it had had a dark-skinned girl on the cover.
Julie Larios said, on 1/17/2010 8:59:00 PM
I haven’t even seen the book, so I may be speaking out of turn here, but part of the outrage about LIAR came about because Justine Larbalestier came out with her own response to the disappointing cover – she, also, was stunned by the “racefail” (that term is new to me….) I’m curious – has anyone heard Jaclyn Dolamore, the author of Magic Under Glass? She is not a person of color – has she weighed in on this? I’m also curious about the, UK cover, which doesn’t come any closer to portraying people of color -it just shows two slightly Edwardian children – I’d say both white – next to a piano. What’s up with that? You can see it if you click on the My Books link at Dolamore’s website – http://jaclyndolamore.com/
L. said, on 1/18/2010 1:07:00 PM
First thing I did when I read about this was go to Dolamore’s website. Didn’t find any reference to the coverfail. I’m sure other bloggers will be commenting on it.
I think that Larbalestier waited to comment as well – it’s my recollection that there was a lot already said before she weighed in. The controversy gained outrage, maybe, when we found out that the author was not in favor of the cover. I imagine that if you’re an author of a book that does this, it makes you pretty uncomfortable. I would think it required a lot of consideration of multiple issues before commenting.
mclicious said, on 1/18/2010 3:43:00 PM
That’s a good post you linked to. I vote for boycotting and annoying them with intelligent but rude emails telling them what assholes they are. Clearly there is more to be said about this. I think it needs to move from blogs (well, not disappear from blogs, just grow out of them) and go to bigger news sources. Why isn’t the Times reporting on this? Or Publisher’s Weekly? Or Writer’s Digest? We need to make people who aren’t already attune to publishing issues attune to this.
Julie Larios said, on 1/19/2010 10:32:00 AM
Rethinking my earlier comment: It’s a very different thing for a debut author to have to buck her publisher’s cover decisions than it is for Justine Larbalestier to do so … I don’t think Dolamore should really be asked to explain her silence (well, it’s not even silence, since the video trailer she’s responsible for does show a person of color) – but I do think Bloomsbury should have to explain their decision. Last time, with LIAR, they said the cover reflected the unreliable narrator, and I thought that was quite a stretch.) I’d be much more interested in how they explain the latest lapse in judgment – not having read the book, I don’t know what kind of metaphor the marketing people thought the race switch could reflect – it’s going to be another stretch, I’m thinking…..
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The industry bible, Publisher’s Weekly, released their 
Remember – this is the 70s. It’s my impression that, in that decade, we were far more advanced in representing people of color on books. Even if – as in this one – the subject matter did not focus on color as subject matter (message: regular people come in all colors). In the glitzy 21st century, are we taking giant steps backward?
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, her graphic novel series, taps into Abouet’s childhood memories of Ivory Coast in the 1970s, a prosperous, promising time in that country’s history." So right there, Aya would fit with any type of booklist or blog series or challenge about graphic novels, historical fiction, the Ivory Coast. Abouet was born in the Ivory Coast and now lives in Paris, so also fits into any list, series or challenge about writers who aren't American residents or citizens.
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Hyphenations can be tricky, since some people love them and others don’t. It reminds me of how, recently, someone told me he didn’t like being called African-American when his background is Haitian.
Oh, yes! Haitian (from Haiti) is quite different from African American (from the US).