The CBC Diversity Committee was established in 2012 as one of the committees created by the Children’s Book Council, the national nonprofit trade association for children’s trade book publishers. It strives to increase the diversity of voices and experiences contributing to children’s and young adult literature. Alvina Ling, executive editor at Little, Brown, is a founder and chair, and has edited titles by Grace Lin, Matthew Quick, Bryan Collier, Libba Bray, and Karen Healey.

Ling says that it is important for young readers to have access to books with diverse characters because “it helps foster acceptance and understanding of different people. These titles are for that child who is not seeing himself in the books he’s reading or a child from a different culture to have compassion towards people who are not like him.”

Stacy Whitman, editorial director of Tu, multicultural publisher Lee & Low’s young adult fantasy and science fiction imprint, agrees. She adds, “In our growing multicultural world, kids need to know what it is to empathize with people that are different. I think fantasy and science fiction does that best, because you’re already putting yourself in a setting that is already so different.”

Whitman cites recent projects such as Joseph Bruchac’s Killer of Enemies—a postapocalyptic Apache steampunk novel—and Karen Sandler’s conclusion to the Tankborn trilogy, Rebellion, as examples of non-Northwest European and Tolkien-influenced fantasies.

In recent weeks, #DiversityinSFF was a trending conversation on Twitter, of which Whitman was an avid participant. And though according to her it is very similar to the Race Fail 2009 discussion—in which fantasy and sci-fi fans lamented the lack of diversity in the genres—she hopes that this recent flare up will stir into action those with influence in the industry. “The recent Twitter conversation pushed agents to change their submission guidelines, encouraging people of diverse backgrounds to send their work. The publisher Tor also changed their guidelines. I hope others will do the same.”

And while Putnam editor Stacey Barney agrees that the clamor for more diverse books isn’t a recent one, she has noted a change in the discussion in recent years. “It’s creeping up to the top of more people’s agenda. The tenor in the conversation has changed in a positive way. It’s moved beyond ‘we need to have more black characters or black authors’ to ‘we need characters of color who are experiencing everyday events,’ not historical landmarks or in an urban setting.” She cites Crystal Allen’s How Lamar’s Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy (HarperCollins, 2011) as a great example of this.

Barney, who has edited several books with diverse characters, such as Tara Sullivan’s Golden Boy (2013), about the albino killings in Tanzania, and Kristin Levine’s The Lions of Little Rock (2012, both Putnam), does believe that more can be done to market books and authors of diverse backgrounds.

“I think people miss the point when they argue that there should be more editors of color, which I think is true,” Barney says. “However, what we lack is an infrastructure that will support these books once they’re published. We’ll see more acquisitions when we have more success stories. We have to remember that this is a business. Editors want to acquire books that will get the best marketing launch possible. We just don’t have that in place yet.”

The desire to promote their books is what inspired Malindo Lo and Cindy Pon to start the Diversity in YA tour and website in 2011. The two authors discovered that they were both publishing Asian-inspired fantasies that year, and wanted to celebrate them and all diverse teen literature with this initiative. Relaunched in 2012 with a Tumblr account, Pon and Lo continue to promote books about all kinds of diversity, from race to sexual orientation to gender identity and disability.

And while Lo agrees that there’s been a recent explosion in the blogosphere about the subject, she’s also discovered that writers continue to struggle to get their LGBQT books to the public. “As I have talked to more authors, I have heard stories about many of them—published and unpublished—who have been blocked in their endeavors,” she says. “I’m getting this impression that we’re in this stuck point. I’m hoping that the continued discussion raises awareness of this issue, and that there will be considered effort to change that for the better.”

What can librarians do? Whitman suggests, “The last few years people have been talking about the need for diversity, but it’s time to put our money where the mouth is. Librarians have always had finger on the pulse of what their readers need, but these resources haven’t always been available to them.”

Responding to the point that Sun made during Summer Teen about the importance of diversity in YA book covers, one attendee asked how librarians should act in regards to cases of “whitewashing.”

Logo for Disability in Kid Lit website.

Klise, an author and a librarian replied, “I work at an urban high school in Chicago, and know that to engage my very diverse student population in reading for fun, I need to display books with faces they can identify with. We have to be aware of the [whitewashing] cases. It makes for really provocative conversation for my book club at school. The teens share my outrage—and outrage, when funneled into activism, is what makes the world change for the better.”

Whitman adds that librarians can make sure to include diverse books in their collection development budget, even if their communities are not diverse. “Look for awesome books no matter what the characters’ backgrounds may be. Even if your community isn’t diverse, the world is. Buy your books accordingly. Seek out resources to help you booktalk those titles. The resources are out there; become aware of them and use and share them with your colleagues.”

RESOURCES FOR FINDING DIVERSE BOOKS FOR TEENS AND KIDS

From School Library Journal:

Collection Development
Tamora Pierce’s Fantasy Novel Picks | SLJ SummerTeen
By Tamora Pierce

Straight Talk on Race: Challenging the Stereotypes in Kids’ Books
By Mitali Perkins

LGBTQ Lit: Speaking Out
By Megan Honig

From Diversity to Civil Rights | Nonfiction Notes
By Daryl Grabarek

Jackie Robinson: Remembering an American Hero | Watch and Read
By Joy Fleishhacker

Islam in the Classroom
By Lauren Barack

Books to Celebrate the Everyday Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement
By Rhona Campbell

Resources for Finding Latino Kid Lit
By Shelley M. Diaz

Kick-Starting a New Life | Recent YA Titles
By Mahnaz Dar

Our Bodies, Our Minds | Confronting Self-Image in YA Fiction
By Mahnaz Dar

YA Underground: Books for Teens You Might Have Missed
By Amy Cheney

Interviews
Between Violence and Tenderness: Aristotle and Dante Author Sáenz Talks to SLJ
By Karyn M. Peterson

Lesléa Newman Discusses her Novel in Verse About the Death of Matthew Shepard, ‘October Mourning’
By Mahnaz Dar

The “Radioactive Energy” of Bullies | An Interview with Meg Medina
By Jennifer M. Brown

The Power of Pictures: A Visit with Bryan Collier
By Rocco Staino

Andrea Cheng on Etched in Clay, Which Charts the Courageous Life of Dave the Potter
By Rick Margolis

Looking for Light: In Darkness Author Nick Lake talks to SLJ
By Karyn M. Peterson

News Articles
First Book’s “Stories for All Project” Lobbies for Kid Lit Diversity
By Karyn M. Peterson

Community Angered by Tossed Black History Collection
By Lauren Barack

Picture Book About Islam Ignites Twitter Battle
By Shelley Diaz

Librarians Sound Off: Not a Lack of Latino Lit for Kids, but a Lack of Awareness
By Shelley Diaz

Kid Lit Authors Discuss Diversity at NYPL
By Mahnaz Dar

Blog Posts/Opinion
2013 Middle Grade Black Boys: Seriously, People?
By Betsy Bird

America’s Changing Face | Consider the Source
By Marc Aronson

From The Horn Book:
A Very Good Question
By Roger Sutton

Young dreamers
By Christopher Myers

Indigenous protagonists and people of color
By Elissa Gershowitz

Horn Book Resources for Talking About Race
By Horn Book Staff

Other recommended sites:
Children’s Books by and about People of Color Published in the United States
CCBC Blog
As Demographics Shift, Kids’ Books Stay Stubbornly White from NPR
CBC Diversity (Maintains a Goodreads account with updated booklists of diverse books and resources.)
Stacy Whitman’s Pinterest Board on Diverse YA Fantasy
Disability in Kid Lit
The Brown Bookshelf
American Indians in Children’s Literature
Rich In Color (Reviews YA books that feature or are by people of color.)
Gay YA
De Colores Blog (Reviews books that feature Mexican American characters.)
Diversify YA (A collection of short interviews that focus on all sorts of diversity.)
Cynthia Leitich Smith has compiled resources on diverse books, including multiracial titles with biracial characters.
Forever Young Adult’s new series on diversity in YA
Articles on Diversity on YALSA’s Hub Blog
It Matters if You’re Black or White: The Racism of YA Book Covers
Lee & Low Blog (The multicultural children’s book publisher’s blog.)
First Book Blog (The organization’s commitment to diversity in children’s books.)
Crazy QuiltEdi (Promoting literacy for teens of color, one book at a time.)

Students in grades three through eight can enter the Dare to Dream…Change the World Second Annual Writing Contest for Children by creating an original biographical poem and a paragraph about someone who not only dreamed, but took action and made the world a better place. The contest “aims to promote literacy, poetry writing, and nonfiction research while inspiring students to follow their own dreams.”

Entries can be submitted through April 30, 2014. Winners will be announced by June 1, 2014. Be sure to check out the rules and submission information. The grand prize winner will receive $1,500 worth of Kane Miller and Usborne books for a school or community library of their choice. The top 30 entries will be published as a free ebook by sponsor Kane Miller Books.

The contest, cosponsored by Educational Development Corporation, has been announced by Jill Corcoran, compiler and contributing poet to Dare to Dream … Change the World (Kane Miller, 2013), a collection of biographical and inspirational poems for children featuring a culturally diverse mix of subjects ranging from Jonas Salk to Steven Spielberg, and from Christa McAuliffe to Michelle Kwan. A free, downloadable curriculum guide is available on the contest and publisher websites.

Pin It to Win

Teachers have until September 27, 2013 to enter Raytheon’s “Pin It to Win It” sweepstakes on Pinterest “that encourages knowledge sharing and promotes science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.” The contest is part of Raytheon’s MathMovesU initiative, which aims to inspire student interest in STEM subjects and support teachers by providing easy access to STEM education resources.

Educators must create a back-to-school Pinterest board, re-pin and share creative STEM education content, such as inventive experiments or lesson tips, to the MathMovesU “Back-to-School” Pinterest board. Twenty-five winners will be randomly selected to receive a MathMovesU bag filled with classroom supplies, such as calculators, rulers, protractors, and compasses.

Picture Book Art

From September 17, 2013 through March 24, 2014, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, will feature an exhibit of artwork from Eric Carle’s new picture book, Friends (Philomel). The title has a release date of November 19, 2013, and showcases Carle’s signature tissue-paper collage artwork. It tells the story of a little boy who braves harsh weather, tall mountains, and long distances to reunite with his best friend who moves away. Visit the Museum’s website for hours and admission fees.

“Friends was inspired by many of my own friendships,” says Carle. “One that I had as a three-year-old boy, another as a six-year-old when I was taken by my parents to Germany, and another as a young man when I arrived back in the United States with my portfolio in hand. I have always believed that friendship is very important. I know it was for me as a child. I can still remember my strong attachments and feelings for my friends when I was a boy.”

Canadian Children’s Lit Awards

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) has announced the finalists for its seven major children’s book awards: TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse, Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction, Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, John Spray Mystery Award, and Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy. The winners will be announced at the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Awards and Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse in Toronto on October 22 and in Montreal on October 29.

The finalists for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award ($30,000) are: Kids of Kabul (Groundwood; ages 11 Up) by Deborah Ellis; One Year in Coal Harbor (Groundwood; ages 9–13) by Polly Horvath; Susin Nielsen’s The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen (Tundra; ages 11 Up); The Stamp Collector (Fitzhenry & Whiteside; ages 8 Up) written by Jennifer Lanthier and illustrated by Francois Thisdale; and Virginia Wolf (Kids Can, ages 5–10) written by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault.

The Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award finalists are: Mr. King’s Things (Kids an; ages 3–7) written and illustrated by Genevieve Cote, Mr. Zinger’s Hat (Tundra; ages 4–8), The Stamp Collector (Fitzhenry & Whiteside; ages 8 Up) written by Jennifer Lanthier and illustrated by Francois Thisdale; Uncle Wally’s Old Brown Shoe (Orca; ages 4–8) written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards and Virginia Wolf (Kids Can, ages 5–10) written by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault.

The Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($5,000) finalists are: A Call to Battle (Scholastic Canada; ages 10–14) by Gillian Chan, The Lynching of Louie Sam (Annick Press; ages 12 Up) by Elizabeth Stewart, Making Bombs for Hitler (Scholastic Canada; ages 9–14) by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, Amy McAuley’s Violins of Autumn (Walker; ages 12 Up), and Yesterday’s Dead (Second Story Press; ages 10–14) by Pat Bourke.

The finalists for the John Spray Mystery Award ($5,000) include: Becoming Holmes (Tundra; ages 11–14) by Shane Peacock, Devil’s Pass (Orca; ages 12–14) by Sigmund Brouwer, Neil Flambe and the Tokyo Treasure (S & S; ages 8–13) written and illustrated by Kevin Sylvester.

A complete list of finalists in all the categories can be found on The Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s website.

For the first time, TD Bank Group is partnering with CBC Books to present the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Fan Choice Award. Young readers will be asked to pick their favorite book from the shortlisted TD Award titles in an online poll starting on Monday, September 9. The book with the most votes will win, and one entrant will win a trip to Toronto to present the award at the ceremony on October 22.