Diversity
Why I chose David Levithan: In fall of 2003, I had just finished graduate school and was working at The Children’s Book Shop in Brookline, Massachusetts (far and away my favorite job ever). I was a big fan of LGBTQ YA books, just as I am now, so whenever a new title would come in, [...]
Winning and honored titles included Sugar, a novel set on a plantation in the Reconstruction South, and Razia's Ray of Hope, about the struggle for girls' education in present-day Afghanistan.
Gracefully Grayson, by Ami Polonsky, tells the story of 6th grade Grayson, a transgender girl. Raised as a boy, Grayson has never felt entirely comfortable in her own skin. She spends her class time doodling abstract princesses in the margins of her notebook, trying to keep them unrecognizable because she knows boys shouldn’t do that—and [...]
A public librarian’s interaction with teens affirms her faith in bibliotherapy, as does her research. Read her story, along with a recommended list of realistic YA fiction. We invite you to suggest more titles.
Diversity in YA has received a lot of attention recently, thanks to the #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag that’s evolved into a formal organization for activism and awareness. Brandy Colbert’s debut YA novel, Pointe was published just two weeks before the influential hashtag was born. Excellent timing because Pointe isn’t only a novel with a narrator of color; it’s a novel [...]
Let’s get some things out of the way first. 1. Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero is absolutely fantastic. You need to order it for your library/bookstore/kid/friend/self. 2. The novel is a year in the life of Gabi, a Mexican American girl who lives in Southern California. It’s funny, sad, honest, raw, bold, [...]
During the event at Manhattan's Bank Street College of Education, Leonard S. Marcus, Brian Pinkney, Jason Chin, Coe Booth, Tim Federle, Matt de la Peña, and others talked about why they do what they do.
The We Need Diverse Books campaign has kicked it up a notch with an Indiegogo campaign. They’re raising money to support authors, diversify classrooms, develop educational kits, promote diverse programming, you name it. As of my writing this they are $40,000 or so away from their goal. Check it out: Diverse Campaign w Thanks Card [...]
This season’s nonfiction has forced us to think outside the box when it comes to forming benchmarks for good nonfiction, as the books tackle subjects in new and fascinating ways, as well as take on the issue of diversity.
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