Diversity

Diversity in MG Lit #43 February 2023

By on February 15, 2023   /   Book Lists, Diversity  
This spring marks my sixth year of doing the monthly round up of new MG titles which are diverse in race, gender and/or sexual identity, ethnicity, religion, and disability. In that time there has been a substantial increase in the number of diverse titles in Middle Grade publishing. We’ve seen a particularly dramatic increase in the number of diverse authors attending the national conferences as featured speakers and winning national literary awards. Consider for example that in the last 6 years every single winner of the Newbery medal has been a diverse person. And eighteen of twenty-one honor winners have represented some aspect of diversity. In the bookseller conferences that I attend regionally in the Pacific Northwest and nationally somewhere between 50% and 90% of featured authors have been diverse. Impressive progress.
I love digging into the diverse ARCs that come to me at the bookshop and looking for new points of view at trade shows and on the on line resources available to me as a bookseller. In the last six years my own life has changed dramatically too, leaving me less time for writing blog posts. I will continue to do the diverse books roundup every other month. I’ll shift my focus slightly to newer voices and less frequently represented identities.
Here are this month’s new titles.
book title No Matter the DistanceNO MATTER THE DISTANCE by Cindy Baldwin is her fourth book and the one that deals most directly with her own disabling condition, cystic fibrosis. The story starts on familiar MG terrain–Penny’s best friend is moving away. But then Penny finds a lost dolphin in the river behind her house and forms a strong bond with her. But the young dolphin can’t survive for long in the river. How Penny finds the strength to help her new friend to her home in the ocean is gorgeously told in blank verse. Equal parts friendship story, gripping adventure, and medical drama. On sale 2/21/23 from Quill Tree HC.
I love to celebrate a debut! THE PEARL HUNTER by Miya T. Beck is fantasy set in pre-Shogun era Japan. Pearl diving twins Kai and Kishi are identical in appearance but miles apart in personality, When one is stolen by a ghost whale the other searches the ocean for her with the help of sea dragons and supernatural foxes. This is the best fantasy book cover I’ve seen in a while. Kudos to the team at Balzer&Bray HC and congratulations Miya on her debut. On sale 2/7/23.book title The Pearl Hunter
Another debut this month is IT’S BOBA TIME FOR PEARL LI! by Nicole Chen. It’s a charmer. It’s about a seventh grade Taiwanese American girl who hatches a grand plan to save her favorite Boba Tea shop from going out of business. In my experience, the soda fountains and pizza parlors which featured so prominently in my teenaged years have been replaced by the sushi bar and the boba tea shop for kids today. It’s a story that I think will resonate with many. I hope we see more of the enterprising Pearl Li. Quill Tree HC On sale 2/28/23book cover It's boba time by pearl li
Here’s another recent development which makes me very happy. In the promo material that came along with the ARC for those last two debuts, the book was compared not to a white author with whom their work shares a few thematic threads and not a high profile diverse author with whom their book shares no themes in common. They are being compared to diverse authors who a good fit in terms of character identity, theme, tone, and setting. Hurray! Thank you to the hard working publicity teams who make it happen!
book cover the many fortunes of mayaTHE MANY FORTUNES OF MAYA by Nicole D. Collier is her second MG novel. There are plenty of books about kids and sports, what I appreciated so much about this one is its willingness to really interrogate the role of luck, talent, ambition, fortitude, practice, and the support of friends and family in whether we succeed or fail. Themes that will be familiar to more than just young athletes. Verisify HC. On sale 1/24/23
Janae Marks newest novel is ON AIR WITH ZOE WASHINGTON. I appreciate all three of her books for casting light on a subculture so often overlooked–the families of incarcerated and exonerated people. In this third book, she tackles the difficult road back to full employment for exonerated people. Happily for this story it involves both baking and BBQ. Katherine Tegan Books. On sale 2/14/23
book cover For LambI have admired the work of Lesa Cline-Ransom for many years. Her newest book is a YA novel. Set in 1930 in Mississippi it deals directly, honestly and sensitively with the lynching of black women. I mention it here because it is well within the grasp of mature MG readers and it gives important context to current events. FOR LAMB by Lesa Cline-Ransom Holiday House On sale 1/03/23
New from the very prolific Christina Soontornvat is LEGENDS OF LOTUS ISLAND: THE GUARDIAN TEST. It’s a short and sweet fantasy adventure in which Plum and her friends go to the Guardian Academy and learn to communicate with animals, meditate and fight to protect the natural world. Budding eco-warriors will love it! Scholastic Press, on sale 2/7/23
As always this is just a fraction of the new diverse titles coming out in January and February this year. Please mention any I have missed in the comments below.
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Diversity in MG Lit #41 November 2022

By on November 16, 2022   /   Articles, children's bookstores, Diversity  
I’ve heard a lot of concern around new policies at Barnes & Noble that will change the way MG books are acquired, particularly as it relates to diverse titles. I went to my local B&N and did a shelf inventory. I ran a simple tally of all the books in the MG section noting whether they had diverse content or not. POC, LGBT+, disablility, neurodiversity, and religious diversity were included. If none of those qualities were present in the book or the author, I put it in the Not diverse pile. If the book was animal, toy, or mythological creature-centric I left it out of the count entirely. In a group cast, if more than one person was diverse, I counted it as a diverse book. I did not count chapter books, easy readers, nonfiction, or graphic novels.
It’s not a perfect system. For example, leaving out Dogman and the Wings of Fire (animal-centric books) drops the numbers of white writers in the count. And any count like this is only a snapshot of what is on the shelf in a particular day. Still it’s a window into what’s happening and B&N under the new book buying policy, regarding the diversity of the collection.
Here are the numbers.
Overall collection size: 1225 books
Diverse titles: 455 or 37%
not-diverse titles; 770 or 63%
There were 4 endcap displays with faced out titles.
Mystery: 30 books total, not-diverse 90%, diverse 7% and animal narrated 3%
Staff Favorites: 24 titles, diverse 100% These were all Indigenous American titles and all authored by indigenous authors.
Rick Riorden Presents books: 18 titles, diverse 100%
Spooky: not diverse 68%, diverse 32%
Total endcap faced out books: 110, not diverse 48%, diverse 51%
Obviously these results are disappointing considering the rate of diversity among MG students is pretty close to 50%. Still there were encouraging signs. The most recent statistics from the CCBC put the rate of diverse books created at 33% about diverse characters and 37% by diverse creators. So the content on the shelves at B&N fairly closely mirrors the available books.
Many of the white authored titles belonged to long dead writers who were quite prolific, Beverly Cleary, Roald Dahl etc. Among newer titles the rate of diversity was much more equitable.
There is plainly an effort to make diverse books more visible on end caps. The Staff Favorites titles were chosen for Native American history month and will change in December. On the other hand, if they are diligent about honoring Latin American history month, Asian Pacific Islander history month, Black history month, Pride month, and disability awareness month . That puts diverse titles on the end cap about half the time.
Barnes & Noble has a huge Manga section and the lions share of that section is diverse. Had I counted the MG section of those books there, I would have seen a clear majority of diverse MG books overall.
By its self my survey doesn’t prove anything, but I found it interesting to see the mix of older classics and new titles. The mix of what was faced out and not. I would encourage anyone who is concerned about diversity in publishing to take a close look at the actual numbers of diverse books at bookstores and libraries nearby. It at least gives us a factual basis on which to have a conversation.
And in the end a bookstore can only carry what sells in their local community. Much attention has been paid to the production side of the equation. I hope at least as much energy can be spent on encouraging diverse communities to come to bookstores and ask for diverse content. That’s is the only sure way to keep the progress we’ve made so far and continue it into the future.
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Diversity in MG Lit #40 October 2022

By on October 20, 2022   /   Book Lists, Diversity, New Releases  
This month brings a mix of fiction and nonfiction for MG readers. I’m looking forward to putting these books in the hands of patrons at Annie Blooms Books where I’m a part time bookseller.
But I’m also a full time writer and I have a big deadline in November so I’m going to skip the November reviews and write a short report on changes in how Barnes and Noble acquires MG fiction and a detailed analysis of the breakdown of titles on the shelf in my local Barnes & Noble store. I know it’s been on people’s minds and I always find gathering data a help in deciding where to expend my energies in promoting diverse literature for kids.
Here are the October new releases.
Graphic Novels
Freestyle by Gale Galligan is a sweet and funny look at the ups and downs of middle school. I appreciated the depictions of a hip hop dance crew. In addition to racial, ethnic and gender diversity its nice to see dance other than ballet presented in a graphic novel. (Scholastic)
book cover my nest of silenceThere are several good books about Japanese internment for MG readers. What intrigues me about My Nest of Silence by Matt Faulkner is the mix of prose and graphic novel elements. I’ll be very curious to see how it does in the bookshop. It does create a conundrum about whether to shelve it in fiction or in the graphic novel section. Librarians, I’d love to hear in the comments how you are handling it. (Atheneum)
Fiction
I love it when an author, who has already made a name for themselves writing about their own diverse experience, then chooses a story that transcends the subjects of race and ethnicity. A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga is an absolute charmer narrated by a fictional mars rover named Resilliance. It follows the machine’s POV as it reflects not just on its mission on Mars, but the meaning of friendship. A sweet story even non-space geeks will love. (Balzer & Bray)book cover A Rover's Story
The Lords of Night by JC Cervantes is a companion title to his popular Storm Runner series, set in the wolf of Aztec mythology. (Disney Hyperion)
book cover Shad HadidShad Hadid & the Alchemists of Alexandria by George Jreije is a spin on the boy goes to wizard school story, this time it’s an Arabic protagonist and the magic is alchemy. (Harper)
Nonfiction
The legacy of an integrated military is the result of the courage and excellence of many black servicemen and women. Dr. James B. Williams is one of the greats, his lifelong leadership in medicine and civil rights is an inspiration. Unlawful Orders: a portrait of Dr. James B Williams ,Tuskegee Airman, Surgeon & Activist by Barbara Binns is liberally photo illustrated and contains a detailed bibliography. (Scholastic Focus)book cover Unlawful Orders
Toxic masculinity is a problem that transcends race and ethnicity and yet it is most harmful to marginalized children. Boys will be Human: A gut-check guide to becoming th strongest, kindest, bravest person you can be, by Justin Baldoni is a thorogh look at what it means to be male and how to navigate the world in a way that is life affirming for boys. I recommend it for boys older than 10. It’s a great family resource for starting important conversations.(Harper)
Better Than We Found It: conversations to help Save the World by FrederickJoseph and Porsche Joseph is daunting in its wide-ranging content. But taken a section at a time, it’s a great introduction to issues for young activists. It covers topics from disinformation and climate change to indigenous land theft and the prison-industrial complex; 16 topics in all. Another great conversations starter for kids from about 10 well through their teens. (Candlewick)
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