I sold a lot of “I Read Banned Books” shirts at Book Bonanza two weekends ago, and moderated a fascinating banned books panel with some extraordinary authors. I also spent a lot of time talking to readers about our responsibilities as book people and parents and members of our communities to ensure that kids – ours or any – get to see not only themselves in the books they read, but everyone who is not them.
That part might be the most important for a truly inclusive and equitable world. When you see other people who are not of your family, your community, your race or ethnicity, your gender identity or expression, your socio-economic level, education level, or default as human, with their own stories, their own achievements and heartaches, and with all the same rights as you have, it becomes unthinkable to allow anyone to treat them with any less dignity or humanity than we all deserve.
I believe that the best way to experience other people is in person, through community, travel, and life experience. But the second-best way is through stories and books. For most of modern history, the publishing of those books was conferred upon a very few, select authors (usually white and male), and the content of the books was gate-kept by those same publishers. But with the widespread success of independent publishing, the storytellers and the stories are far more diverse and inclusive than ever before.
The publishers are still gatekeepers, but the indie authors are ignoring the barriers, and writing the stories they want to read. And they’re not the only ones who want to read them. This week alone I’ve read books about white, Black, Asian, and Latino characters. They’ve been gay, straight, transgender, and non-binary. There have been love stories, tragedies, stories about adoption and gender expression, starring adults, children, and teenagers, But when those stories about people who are not like us are hidden in algorithms or banned from shelves it can be as if they’d never been written.
I spend a lot of time studying algorithms, because it’s how I am able to market my own books to readers who have never heard of me. But algorithms don’t know me, they only know my search history (which is almost entirely based on what I’m writing) and they keep track of the things I buy. I don’t often find great books because Amazon suggested them, and algorithms are basically just giant AI models that have learned to point me in the directions I’ve already gone. So I rely on my friends, on authors whose own books I’ve read and loved, on readers who have connected with my books, and on librarians. High numbers of great reviews now either indicate a book that’s been out for a while or something the tiktockers discovered, and both can be equally valid reasons to browse the back cover copy. The Trans-Rights-Readathon that happens in the Spring is a great way to find recommendations for trans-centered books, and review lists for things like Pen America, Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Pride Month (and all the other months recognizing marginalized people) are also times to take note of books to consider.
Algorithms are insidious about their biases, book banners are out loud and proud about them. Not only have the Moms For Liberty-type of parents, school board members, and city officials actively removed books from classroom and library shelves, the book challenges and threats to jobs have created an environment where teachers and librarians don’t even want to take the risk. Get a few books banned in a district, or get a teacher hauled in for questioning by a school board for reading an inclusive book out loud, and you get a shadow ban that is just as effective as pulling books from shelves.
So I’m going in search of kids’ books that they don’t want our kids to read, middle grade books that challenge readers to think, and YA books that present a picture of the world the way it looks for a multitude of people. I’m reading those books myself with an eye toward curriculum – is this well-written? Are there valuable discussions to be had while reading? What are the questions this book asks? What questions does it answer? When I find good ones I’ll share them here, and when I have enough, I’ll put together curated book boxes to offer my friends and readers who have children as a way to bring deliberately inclusive stories into their libraries.
First up on my recommended reading list for early readers, the lovely picture book by Scott Stuart called My Shadow is Pink. It has more than 1300 reviews with a 4.9 star average, and belongs in every young child’s library.
I’ll keep the recommendations coming, and stay tuned if you’re interested in learning more about the Deliberately Diverse Book Boxes coming soon.
Hi April, while I am sure you are familiar with Katherine Paterson, I thought you may not have seen her statement below ( last paragraph). Living in Vermont, I had the pleasure of listening to her conversation Feb, 2022 . A podcast, with David Goodman from VTDigger , an online newsletter.
“Katherine Paterson is one of America’s most celebrated writers for children. The author of more than 40 books, she is one of just six writers who have twice won the prestigious Newbery Medal, for “Bridge to Terabithia” in 1978 and “Jacob Have I Loved” in 1981. She has also won the National Book Award twice. In 2000, Paterson was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress.”
“Paterson’s books are among the most beloved in children’s literature. They are also among the most banned .“Bridge to Terabithia” rose to No. 8 on the American Libraries Association’s list of the 100 most frequently challenged books in the 1990s. Her book The Great Gilly Hopkins was No. 20 on that list.”
“ If you write a book that has any power in it, it has the power to offend,” Paterson said. “I don’t want to write a book that has no power in it, so I have to run the risk of offending.”
I always look forward to your recommendations!