Diversity 101: An Introduction

I grew up reading books by diverse authors and thinking about the characters who lived in them and the questions they raised. I went to a “good” college where we often discussed issues of race, culture, ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexuality. Yet here are a few of the things I wasn’t aware of when I started working as an editorial assistant in 2000:

• The Clark Doll Experiment
• The Indian burial ground trope
• The term “white privilege”
• That skin tone is a major source of sensitivity in many non-white communities
• The strong dislike or discomfort many cultures feel toward anthropologists
• The white savior cliche, in which a white person discovers the wonders of a native group, eventually becomes part of the group, is acclaimed as the best of them all, then leads them into battle against the white culture, which is trying to dominate the natives (see especially Dances with Wolves and Avatar)
• That for all its charms, The Story of Babar ultimately reproduces a colonialist narrative about the superiority of European life to African life

Diversifying the "Best of" Lists

Every year around December, various publications and organizations will post their “Best of” lists and editor’s choice round-ups. Here are a few diversity titles that we spotted among the crème de la crème.
 
Young Adult

ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE
by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

★ Publishers Weekly
★ School Library Journal

A School Library Journal Best book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Selection

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.--From Simon & Schuster

ENDANGERED

by Eliot Schrefer

Scholastic

★ Publishers Weekly

A National Book Award Finalist
A Junior Library Guild Selection

The compelling tale of a girl who must save a group of bonobos--and herself--from a violent coup.

The Congo is a dangerous place, even for people who are trying to do good.

When one girl has to follow her mother to her sancuary for bonobos, she's not thrilled to be there. It's her mother's passion, and she'd rather have nothing to do with it. But when revolution breaks out and their sanctuary is attacked, she must rescue the bonobos and hide in the jungle. Together, they will fight to keep safe, to eat, and to survive.

Eliot Schrefer asks readers what safety means, how one sacrifices to help others, and what it means to be human in this new compelling adventure.--From Scholastic

Industry Q&A with author Valerie Hobbs

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

My most recent book is Minnie McClary Speaks Her Mind. Like most authors, I invest a lot of myself in my characters and I've had a lot to say apparently about things that aren't right, that should be right. About how people should be treated regardless of ethnicity, gender, class, disability, sexual orientation, etc., etc. And I believe that children should be encouraged to think, not just fill in bubbles on state-mandated standardized tests. Miss Marx, Minnie's teacher, is the kind of teacher I wish I had been when I taught middle-school years ago. She encourages the students to think, to question, and to write about the things that concern them. It takes courage, especially these days, to be the kind of teacher she is.

Do you think of yourself as a diverse author?

I hadn't, I suppose because as a white woman I'm not considered "diverse", but my beliefs certainly fall into that camp.

Industry Q&A with author Tanita S. Davis

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

I read a newspaper account of Theresa Sparks, who was formerly a man. I was struck by what she had to say about love and family, and I wondered if my own family could have survived a transgender member intact. During this time, the hatemongers under the banner of the Westboro Baptist Church were up to some headline-grabbing stupidity, and I found myself wondering if people who claimed Christianity could ever love someone enough to accept them – thus Happy Families came out of a lot of quiet thoughts. It challenged me to explore my own hidden fears and beliefs and to make a personal resolve in favor of love.

Do you think of yourself as a diverse author?

Um... not really. In the mirror/window illustration made famous by Mitali Perkins☺, I consider myself a mirror – I'm turning my work around toward my community, and these are the people I see. I try to be inclusive of the sometimes invisible things – the differently abled or those with other challenges, multiracial blends, blended families, various faiths, etc. – because that's real-world stuff, and I really feel there's too much culture-less, colorless fiction being published.

Here's a Question:

Does the digital era flip our definition of censorship?

Still Bleeding... by Hardmerolgirl

Book Spotlight: Never Fall Down

The National Book Awards Gala is coming up this Wednesday and one of the finalists in the Young People’s Literature category is Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick. It is a novel based on the real life of Arn Chorn-Pond—a man who survived unspeakable horrors in the labor camps of the Khmer Rouge as a boy, escaped as a soldier, and was later adopted and brought to the United States. This is a story of brutality, but ultimately it’s an inspiring story of how the arts can save a life, and how the resilience of the human spirit can shine even in the darkest of times.

Patricia McCormick
Photo by Roberto Ligresti

In her brief introduction, Patty writes:

Nearly two million people died—one quarter of the population. It is the worst genocide ever inflicted by a country on its own people.

I used this quote often in my pitching because when I’d first read it, it shocked me…and I knew it would shock others. It did. What I learned from the many journalists and producers I spoke with is that a lot of people don't know these facts. This doesn't altogether surprise me as the Cambodian genocide is not a piece of history that is widely taught or discussed. Cambodians themselves would prefer to avoid their terrible past. When Patty and I discussed the history and the current relevance, she wrote me the following for background and context:

Book Spotlight: The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano

A Coming of Age Nuyorican History Lesson 

Undoubtedly one of America’s most influential Latinas in pop culture, the Emmy-winning New Yorker Sonia Manzano continues to define the TV-watching experience of many kids—especially young Latino and Hispanic children.

For me and many Latinos who grew up watching the humorous, albeit always educational, antics of Burt & Ernie and Cookie Monster, no human face is more associated with the globally broadcast Sesame Street (Plaza Sésamo en Español) than "Maria" embodied by Sonia Manzano.

Manzano joined the production of Sesame Street in 1971, where she eventually began writing scripts for the series. She has won 15 Emmy Awards as part of the Sesame Street writing staff. Many of those kids who grew up with Maria—myself included—will forever regard Sonia Manzano as a cherished storyteller.

This is why her powerful debut YA novel The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano (Scholastic Press) is so important and relevant for young readers of all backgrounds.