Month: May 2013
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Diversity 101: Who’s That Fat Kid?
Fat Politics and Children's Literature
Contributed to CBC Diversity by Rebecca RabinowitzMy Personal ConnectionI’m a fat person living in a virulently fatphobic culture. We’re soaking in it. The ubiquitous fear and hate of fatness is both glaring and invisible. It’s job discrimination; it’s insults from strangers on the street; it’s doctors who refuse to treat fat patients until we lose weight. I’m dedicated to fat politics, which is a social justice movement, and Fat Studies, which is a critical/academic lens.Stereotypes/Cliches/Tropes/ErrorsRead more »
In children’s books, fatness often symbolizes negativity. One common trope is the fat bully. Think of Dudley Dursley. Think of Dana, the fat bully in Carl Hiaasen’s Hoot. Think of Nazir Mohammad, the fat bully in Suzanne Fisher Staples’ Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind. Also common are fat victims. Think of Miranda in Cynthia Voigt’s When She Hollers – a fat girl who was terribly abused for years and has just committed suicide as the book opens. Miranda exists specifically to show Tish, the similarly-abused protagonist, what path not to take. Think of Dell in K.M. Walton’s Empty – a fat protagonist who’s raped, bullied, abandoned, and (like Voigt’s Miranda) driven to suicide. And think of Jake in Rebecca Fjelland Davis’s Jake Riley: Irreparably Damaged – Jake’s a fat bully and a fat victim. The tropes of fat bully and fat victim occur far too often to be random. Lest we think that any particular example might be random, textual evidence often specifically links the actual fatness with the negative trait, cementing the conflation. About Hoot’s fat bully: “This time Dana hit him with the other hand, equally fat and damp” [96]. About When She Hollers’ fat victim: "Tish had watched the fat girl lumbering out the doors and down the sidewalk to where the car waited. Waddle, waddle – her buns rolling up against one another – like a girl going down the hallway to the electric chair every day" [42]. Fatness is mapped onto negative characteristics as if it were some sort of profound literary symbol, and as if such mapping were harmless to people in the real world. -
Children’s Choice Book Awards Gala Venue Changed
Please share this information with your friends and colleagues who will be attending. The Gala is a charity event to benefit Every Child A Reader, a 501(c)3 literacy organization committed …
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Diversity in the News: May 2nd — May 9th, 2013
ON OUR RADAR Lionsgate Acquires Film Rights for R.J. Palacio’s Wonder via the CBC This, That, Both, Neither: The Badging of Biracial Identity in Young Adult Realism at YALSA YA …
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The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Announce the Karen and Philip Cushman Late Bloomer Award
The SCBWI is proud to announce the immediate launch of the Karen and Philip Cushman Late Bloomer Award for authors over the age of fifty who have not been traditionally …
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Melissa de la Cruz to Create a New Blue Bloods Series Spin-Off
The series will follow the adventures of newly-annointed vampire Oliver Hazard-Perry. When de la Cruz started writing the first Blue Bloods novel, she originally imagined Oliver as a vampire and …
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2013 Diversity and Outreach Fair
Removing Barriers to Service for All: Creating Meaningful and Integrated Library Experiences for People with DisabilitiesHeld at ALA's Annual Conference every year, the Diversity and Outreach Fair is coordinated by the ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services as a way to provide, "an opportunity for libraries and member groups to share their successful diversity and outreach initiatives with ALA Annual Conference attendees, celebrate diversity in America’s libraries and exhibit “diversity in action” ideas."With every new year the fair has a new theme. In general the fair "highlights library services to underserved or underrepresented communities [and past fairs have focused on]...poor and homeless populations; people of color; English-language learners; gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people; new Americans, new and non-readers; older adults; people living in rural areas; incarcerated people and ex-offenders; and mobile library services and bookmobiles." This year's theme is all about how libraries can and have created a better experience for people with disabilities.The selected presenters at the fair will hold a poster session in the exhibits hall. If you are a library professional and have a successful diversity initiative to share concerning people with disabilities, ALA encourages you to submit your proposal by May 17th, 2013.If you have any questions, contact the ALA Office for Literacy & Outreach Services at 800-545-2433, x2140 or email olos@ala.org with any inquiries. -
Lionsgate Acquires Film Rights for R.J. Palacio’s Wonder
“The novel has been on the New York Times Bestseller list since its publication in February 2012. Thorne is a BAFTA-winning screenwriter and playwright, whose credits include The Scouting Book …
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Rare Signed Original Maurice Sendak Sketch To Be Auctioned Off
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New York, NY, May 2, 2013–The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression announced today that they have acquired a Maurice Sendak original to be sold at the Annual Children’s Book …
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YA Author Maureen Johnson Calls for an End to Gendered Cover Designs with a “Coverflip” Challenge
This idea that there are ‘girl books’ and ‘boy books’ and ‘chick lit’ and ‘whatever is the guy equivalent of chick lit’* gives credit to absolutely no one, especially not …
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City-wide Student Winners of 27th Annual Ezra Jack Keats Bookmaking Competition Announced By Ezra Jack Keats Foundation and New York City Department of Education
At an awards ceremony to be held on May 17 at the Library, the four city-wide and 23 borough-wide winners of the Bookmaking Competition will receive medals. In addition, the city-wide winners …
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Everyone’s a Winner This Summer: Kids Read & Log Minutes to Earn Rewards; Parents Get a Free Kids eBook; Top School Wins Visit From Captain Underpants Author
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Sara Sinek, Scholastic, 212-343-6899, ssinek@scholastic.com Nadia Almahdi, Scholastic, 212-343-6355, nalmahdi@scholastic.com New York, NY – According to the recent Kids & Family Reading Report, 99% of parents think their child should read over …
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Scholastic Media Launches The Magic School Bus: Dinosaurs for LeapFrog’s Award-Winning Educational Entertainment Platforms
NEW YORK – MAY 6, 2013 – Scholastic Media, a division of Scholastic Inc., the global children’s publishing, education and media company, today announced a new addition to its global children’s science franchise, The Magic School …
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NPR’s Michele Norris to Be Presented with 2013 Impact Award at The Children’s Choice Book Awards Gala on May 13
New York, NY — May 6, 2013 – Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council are honored to present the 2013 Impact Award to Michele Norris for creatively …
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The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Announces the Winners of the Annual Crystal Kite Member Choice Awards
The SCBWI is excited to announce the winners of the 2013 Crystal Kite Member Choice Awards for our fifteen regional divisions: Africa ● Neil Malherbe – The Magyar Conspiracy (Tafelberg Publishers) Australia ● Meg …
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The 94th Annual Children’s Book Week Kicks Off on Monday, May 13th
The 94th Annual Children’s Book Week kicks off on Monday, May 13th! This annual celebration shines the spotlight on books for young people and the joy of reading. Since 1919, …
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A.S. King Wins the 2013 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the Young-Adult Literature Category
“Ask the Passengers was born out of 25 years of thinking about being a questioning teenager. It also was born of a habit I’ve had since I was a very …
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Jeff Stone on the Out of Ashes Book Series
“As with the original Five Ancestors series, the remaining Out of the Ashes books will each feature a different main character’s point of view (POV). Book #2 Lion follows Ryan’s …
