Diversity in the News

May 30th – June 6th

ON OUR RADAR

• Gendered covers are failing young adult readers at The Guardian
• UK's first black children's laureate: new history curriculum could alienate pupils at The Guardian
• Why Aren’t More Mexican Children’s Books Making it to America? at Publishing Perspectives – Patricia van Rhijin, director at CIDCLI, discusses the problems getting Mexican children's books published in the US. American publishers are "so square," she says.
• Related: A Mexican Conundrum at Fuse #8
• The Truth About Multicultural Stories at The Rumpus
• When the Personal Becomes Political – 2 books that “don’t overstate the obvious but bring a deeper awareness of race, white privilege, and the messy business of transforming society one mind at a time.”
• Guest Blog by Zoraida Córdova at Diversity in YA – Mermaids in America, or, how does this Ecuadorian girl end up writing fantasy?
• A Short List of Great Resources for Racial Diversity in Young Adult Sci-Fi at BitchMedia
• LGBT: The Next Generation by Bill Konigsberg at Diversity in YA

Industry Q&A with author Bill Konigsberg

Tell us about your most recent book and how you came to write it.

My most recent novel is Openly Straight. It will be published by Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic) in June of 2013. I came to write it because I was exploring the coming out experience for LGBT folks like myself. I wondered why it is that gay people have to constantly label ourselves in a way that seems to overshadow every other aspect of our identities, and how unfair it is that we must continue to do this all our lives. I was interested in the idea that we are being dishonest if we choose to highlight a different label. I felt (and feel) that there are tons of books about the process and value of "coming out," but precious few about what happens after we do.

 Do you think of yourself as a diverse author?

As an author who believes there is great power in diversity of thought and experience, I am definitely a diverse author. In my first novel, Out of the Pocket, I wanted to make sure that my cast of characters reflected the diversity of our culture. In that novel, my main character is a gay Caucasian male. His best friend, Austin, is half Mexican and half Caucasian. His other best friend, Rahim, is African American. I do think that there is a tendency in young adult fiction to whitewash our culture, which may relate to the fact that a high percentage of YA authors are white. In each of my books, I make a point of showing racial, ethnic, and sexual diversity. I do this because I think it is so important for teens to see themselves reflected in literature.

Diversity in the News

February 28^th – March 7^th, 2013

CBC Diversity felt it was time to step up our game when it came to participating in the conversations outside our blog concerning children's books and the representation of people within them. We want you, our readers, to know that you can rely on the CBC Diversity blog to provide links to news stories, discussion threads, tweet trends, and blog posts about these important conversations. We'll be posting weekly roundups to keep everyone abreast of the conversation and we'll be entering into a few more ourselves. We hope you do too! 

If you'd rather look at everything all at once, you'll still be able to find the links to these news articles and blog posts on our all-inclusive News & ... page as well as event details on our CBC Diversity Google calendar located on our Events page.

Spotlight on Awards that Highlight Multicultural Books

Featuring a guest post by Karen Hildebrand, 2012 Chair of the NBGS Award

---

Not only is it important to find stories that portray a myriad of identities to which children can relate and to cultivate these stories to execute the most authentic voice that will ring true, it is also important to send these tales out into the marketplace with their best foot forward, supported by the sales and marketing teams at houses and reviewed by critics in the industry to gain maximum exposure. One way to gain exposure for these books is with awards.

Below you'll find three awards highlighted, but there are many more awards that celebrate and "recognize children's and young adult literature titles that portray an authentic image of a racial, ethnic or religious group; or promote social justice and peace", according to the National-Louis University Library who have curated a list of just such awards. Cynthia Leitich Smith also provides a wonderful list of children's literature awards, many of which are specifically for books that focus on diversity in its many forms.

Antonio Gonzalez: How I Got into Publishing

Like many who work in publishing, books have always played a vital role in my life. No matter what stage of my life I’m in — I’ve always been drawn to books.

My publishing journey began at the age of 14. I was hired on as a page for the Dallas Public Library. Every weekday afterschool from 4 to 10 at night I shelved oversize reference books, aerial photographs, yellowing newspaper clippings, old-timey magazines, journals, small-town phone books, and even micro-fiche (!!). This was the dawning of the internet era; in between shelving, I’d teach patrons how to “surf the internet,” how to send email, and how to download Netscape Navigator and AOL.

During my breaks, however, I’d sneak away to the most secluded niches of the building to read my favorite books like Kate Chopin’s The Awakening or Alice Walker’s The Color Purple.