Diversity (or the lack of) Explored

 On April 27,  author Laura Lacamara wrote a post called Will Latino Stories Sell? Over at Mommy Maestra.  Lacamara first picture book, Floating on Mama's Song is gorgeous.  In her article Lacamara gives hard numbers about under-representation.
  
The day before  Jen Doll wrote an article in the Atlantic Wire called The Ongoing Problem of Race in YA  She does not reveal anything new but its still good  for the lack of diversity in YA to be talked about.  What was more telling was a previous article by Doll called The Greatest Girl Characters  of YA literature.  It actually was not list itself which was exclusively White that had me shaking my head  but the comments. Though before I get to that, the first thing I noticed about the list is that there were a lot of older middle grade titles.  Overall it was not a great list and it was  founded on nostalgia.  Anyone familiar with children's literature knows characters of color do not have a chance when nostalgia comes into play.  There's always room for A Little House in the Prairie and Tree Grows in Brooklyn  but never  House on Mango Street,  Born Confused, The Bluest Eye or Huntress  All but Huntress (which I included because I was on roll) are classics but sadly these titles do not warrant the same amount of nostalgia pull.  So I was not surprised that they were all overlooked.   To be fair to Doll it looks like she did not work on this alone.

But in the Y.A. books of our youth, they are far more complex, and more thoroughly drawn. They have been for years, and they continue to be so. Here are a few of our favorites

Knowing that this diverse free list was a group effort and not the work of one person is a bit more troubling.  To Doll's credit, she admits to the oversight  in The Ongoing Problem of Race in YA.  However it should not have happened in the first place. If I created a list in which I neglected include any White authors or characters I would be called out with the quickness. And that's how it should be. Though that is not what happened here 

PaulaNash left the fifty four comment, and was first person to suggest a character of color, Cassie Logan from Roll of Thunder Hear Me Cry. Before that comment no one mentioned or even questioned why the list was all White. Some people probably raised their concerns  privately via email, hence the Ongoing Problem of Race in YA article.  Even so the fact that no one deemed it necessary make note of this in public comments is very telling.   People should want to comment freely about the  lack of fair representation at any time not only when the article, piece, entry what have you is on diversity.  When it is only the latter it proves to me a lot more still needs to change.  

If you have read this far down, I hope you are a little amped up to support   YA diversity. If that is the case, Guys Lit Wire is currently running their annual book fair. This year they have returned to Ballou H.S. in Washington D.C.   Head on over to GLW and find all you need to know,

Giants Beware - Jorge Aguirre, Rafael Rosado

 Giants Beware by Jorge Aguirre, illus. by Rafael Rosado After Claudette hears the story of the giant who loved baby feet and terrorized her village she wants nothing more then to slay it. Claudette goes on this quest with her best friend Marie, a princess training and Gaston, her younger brother who wants to be a pastry chef.  Aguirre has created some wonderful characters. I love the author ignores traditional gender roles, making Claudette the hero.  At the same time, Claudette's best friend wants nothing more than to be a princess.  While Claudette may not understand why any girl would want to be a princess she still supports are friend.  The fact that the author doesn't feel the need  to show princesses in a bad light in order to play up Claudette desire to slay giants is another three points in his favor.  Then there's Gaston, the younger brother who works magic in the kitchen and wants nothing more than this father's approval. This graphic novel was so much fun, I absolutely loved it.  The text and illustrations all blend together very well, making for some adventure filled and laugh out story panels.  Since this does not even come close to doing Giants Beware justice, highly recommend checking out

An excerpt
The NYT review

The Wild Book - Margarita Engle

The Wild Book by Margarita Engle
A little girl in Cuba named Fefa is diagnosed with Word Blindness in 1912, long before the learning disorder became known as Dyslexia. Fefa is determined to see the words that won't still still on the page. She decides to keep a book and write in it daily. This novel set all in verse is filled with all of Fefa's thoughts and feelings.

Fefa's voice is strong from the start. Engle's writing is pure beauty.
The others laugh
They always laugh
When I am forced to read
Out Loud
they mock
my stumbling voice
and when I have to practice
my horrible
handwriting
they make fun
of the twisted
tilted
tormented
letters

While there are few word the reader still gets well acquainted with Fefa's family and community. Engle is known for her verse novels, and this is my favorite so far. It is visually and rhythmically very well crafted.

Read an excerpt

Cat Girl's Day Off by Kimberly Pauley

Cat Girls Day Off by Kimberly Pauley
Natalie is the middle Ng daughter. All the Ng's have at least one special talent. The parents are well accomplished and the dad is a member of BERM, Bureaus of Extrasensory Regulation and Management,a special governmental organization. Natalie's older sister Viv is already working for BERM, and her younger sister Emma, a genius will be recruited in the future. Natalie keeps her talent a secret and doesn't expect to hear from BERM anytime soon. While Viv and Emmy have more then one talent all Natalie can do is talk to cats. Natalie has a great relationship with her cat Meep's but other then that her talent isn't very helpful until a celebrity blogger goes missing.

While watching a clip of celebrity blogger, Easton West, with her two best friends Oscar and Melly, Natalie hears the cat calling for help. After some convincing from her friends, Natalie agrees to find the cat and see what's really going on. Soon the three friends find themselves trying to find out what happened to the real Easton West. This was fun, silly and easy to get into. I laughed out loud more then once and the mystery aspect of the storyline is handled very well. Some of the best parts are Natalie's conversations with the cats. Natalie works well with her friends, but the cats are the stars.

Maximillian & The Mystery of the Guardian Angel - Xavier Garza

Maximillian & The Mystery of the Guardian Angel by Xavier Garza
Max loves luche libre, his favorite fighter is Guardian Angel. Max is excited about going to a match with his dad. It's his reward for earning straight A's in the fifth grade. This book came out last year, it looked like fun and I wanted to read it. However I never got around to it. After it was selected as a 2012 Purla Belpre honor, I moved it up my tbr list and very happy that I did. Max is a very likable character, and has a lucha libra filled summer. He even gets to meet Guardian Angel. Along with Max's voice, Garza does an excellent job of including the family. There are over exaggerated and very cool black and white illustrations of the fighters included throughout. The big match at the end plays out very well visually and will easily draw the reader into Max's love of luche libre. This is a bilingual story. English and Spanish are side by side, so a reader can read one and not be distracted by the other.