Presentation for 8th Annual Adolescent Summer Literacy Institute, William Paterson University, July 7, 2014 entitled "Deconstructing the Debate about the Lack of Diversity in Young Adult Literature."
1. Deconstructing the Debate about the Lack
of Diversity in Young Adult Literature
Sharon Rawlins, Youth Services Specialist,
NJ State Library srawlins@njstatelib.org
2014 Adolescent Summer Literacy Institute,
William Paterson University
3. Publishing decision makers define it as:
Stories that go beyond the white heterosexual
middle class (literary agent Barry Goldblatt)
Centers on community, including ethnic,
religious, LGBTQ (Angus Killick, Macmillan
Children’s Publishing Group)
From SLJ’s The Diversity Issue, May 2014, “The Publishing
Perspective” by Karen Springen, pg. 21-24
4. While people of color make up about 37% of
the population in the United States, less than
10% of books feature diverse characters.
Statistics Gathered by the Cooperative Children's Book Center
School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison
5. Year Total
Number
of Books
Published
(Est.)
Number
of Books
Received
at CCBC
African /
African Americans
American Indians
Asian Pacifics/
Asian Pacific
Americans Latinos
By About By About By About By About
2013 5,000 3,200 68 93 18 34 90 69 48 57
Children's Books By and About People of Color
Published in the U.S.
Statistics Gathered by the Cooperative Children's
Book Center
School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison
6. NJ Census White 73.8% 77.9%
Black or African American 14.7% 13.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6% 1.2%
Asian 9.0% 5.1%
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander 0.1% 0.2%
Two or more races 1.9% 2.4%
Hispanic or Latino 18.5% 16.9%
(separate from the concept of Hispanic origin)
White alone 58.2% 63.0%
(respondents who said "No, not Spanish/Hispanic/Latino)
7. Age distribution of people with daily activity
limitations in New Jersey, 2009
8. Here are eight steps to all-inclusive reading proposed by Lee & Low Books:
• Does your book list or collection include books with characters of color? LGBTQ?
Differently-abled?
• Does it include books with a main character of color? LGBTQ? Differently-abled?
• Does it include books written or illustrated by a person of color? Of different
nationalities, religions or sexual preference?
• Are there any books with a person of color on the cover? Do the characters on
the book covers accurately reflect the characters in the book?
• Think about your student population. Does your list provide a mix of “mirror”
books and “window” books for your students—books in which they can see
themselves reflected and books in which they can learn about others?
• Think about the subject matter of your diverse books. Do all your books featuring
black characters focus on slavery? Do all your books about Latino characters
focus on immigration? Are all your LGBTQ books coming out stories?
• Do you have any books featuring diverse characters that are not primarily about
race or prejudice?
• Consider your classic books, both fiction and nonfiction. Do any contain hurtful
racial or ethnic stereotypes , or images (e.g. Little House on the Prairie or The
Indian in the Cupboard)? If so, how will you address those stereotypes with
students? Have you included another book that provides a more accurate
depiction of the same culture?
We Should Hang Out Sometime by Josh Sundquist (NF) (Little, Brown, Jan. 2015) (Gr. 7-9) By revisiting MS, HS & college experiences, Paralympian, cancer survivor, and motivational speaker Josh Sundquist shares what it was like to grow up as "the guy with one leg." (Differently-abled)
Another title in the series of teen with ADHA
NF, out October 14, 2014 - memoir where author Shane Burcaw describes the challenges he faces as a twenty-one-year-old with spinal muscular atrophy.
Teenaged track runner loses her leg in accident and has to learn to walk again with prosthetic leg.
Mondays are Red (2003) & Mango Shaped Space (2005) several of the first books about synesthesia, the mingling of perceptions whereby a person can see sounds, smell colors, or taste shapes. Boy gets synesthesia as a result of his leukemia (Mondays are Red)
Suspicious of sixteen-year-old Marnie, a newcomer to their village, the residents accuse her of witchcraft when she discovers that the village madman is not crazy but deaf and she begins to communicate with him through hand gestures. (1999)
A boy with Asperger’s Syndrome proves he’s a genius. (2010)
Ultra-normal teenager Izzy learns that she has stage IV Hodgkins lymphoma. She undergoes standard treatments, goes through hell but through it all deals with it with humor and survives. (2006)
Jeffrey Alper, now in 8th grade, narrates this intense sequel to Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie. He is cancer-free now, but leukemia treatment left Jeffrey with a limp and a brain that is “a little scrambled up.” His best friend, Tad is a cancer survivor too. He helps Jeff take tests and Jeff helps him attempt to walk across the stage at graduation (although his cancer has come back).(2010)
Coming out in August, this book is about a 15-year-old Jewish teenaged girl who loses her eyesight the summer before high school after a firecracker misfires into a crowd. She must relearn everything from walking across the street to recognizing her own sisters to imagining colors. Her unintentional situation is contrasted with the intentional suicide of a classmate.
It takes place on the lawn of a high school where two former boyfriends try to set a world record for the longest kiss. (2013)
A 2014 Lambda Literary Award Winner, A 2014 Stonewall Honor Book; Named to the 2013 National Book Award Longlist