Industry News
-
Kyle Zimmer, Co-Founder and CEO of First Book, To Be Honored by the National Book Foundation as the 2014 Literarian Medalist
With Zimmer at the helm, First Book — a Washington, DC-based nonprofit social enterprise — has distributed more than 118 million new books to children in need. Said NBF Executive …
-
John Rocco Creates a ‘Blackout’ Companion
The story was inspired by Rocco’s experience with the Blizzard of 1978 during his childhood. Rocco recalls that the storm “hit Rhode Island with about 40 inches of snow and …
-
Scholastic to Publish Illustrated Poetry Book For Kids by Nick Cannon
NEW YORK, NY — Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, announced today that it will publish an illustrated poetry book for children by celebrity entertainer Nick Cannon …
-
Diversity in the News — August 2014
We hate to admit it, but summer is swiftly coming to a close and fall is almost here. Even though cooler weather is around the corner, there are plenty of …
-
Bruce Springsteen & Frank Caruso Collaborate On a Picture Book
Springsteen’s book — starring a bank-robbing baby — was inspired by a song from his 2009 “Working On a Dream” album, as well as a picture book entitled Brave Cowboy …
-
First Book and The International Reading Association Launch The ‘Lift Off to Literacy’ Campaign
The two organizations hope that people of all ages will pledge 60 seconds of every day (for a period of 60 days) to working on their literacy skills. Watch a …
-
Bloomsbury UK Revamps ‘Harry Potter’ Website
“Other new features include a Harry Potter quote generator and tons of magical downloads, including wallpapers, Facebook cover photos, and more. To top it all off, for the first time …
-
Actress Jane Lynch Collaborates With Two Writers on An Anti-Bullying Picture Book
Marlene, Marlene, Queen of Mean is written in verse and aimed at readers ages 3 to 7. Random House Children’s Books will release it on September 23, 2014. “In the …
-
James Patterson Will Not Retire From Writing
“No, at this point, I have a big folder of ideas. It’s like six inches thick, just page after page after page, and when its time for me to be …
-
WGBH Options TV Rights to ‘Pinkalicious’
“Published by HarperCollins, the books follow the life of Pinkalicious, a young girl who loves pink for all the right reasons. It’s what turns her from a ho-hum, everyday child …
-
Neil Gaiman Confirms More ‘Chu’ Stories in The Future
“For the second book, I wanted Chu to be a year older. I pictured the kids reading this book as growing one year older and Chu growing up with them…And …
-
CBC Diversity: Are We Really Ready For Unstoppable Characters Of Color?
Contributed to CBC Diversity by Award-winning author Sharon G. Flake
I love this business. I’ve been in it for over sixteen years. I have written nine novels for young readers, most of which feature strong, straight-ahead African American girl protagonists.
When my first novel, The Skin I’m In was published in 1997, it was hailed for the distinct voice and spot-on insight of its main character, Maleeka Madison, who is being bullied in the novel and confronted with issues of colorism. In Begging for Change, my main character Raspberry Hill is a girl who knows what she wants and needs and goes for it by using her wits as well as her entrepreneurial skills. In Pinned, my most recent novel, Autumn is a teenager who exhibits her strength as the team’s star wrestler, despite her struggles in school. Autumn is strong, bold, courageous and open-minded. I receive letters from kids who want to be just like Maleeka, Raspberry, and Autumn – kids who are outspoken, resilient, creative, and aspire to become strong women once they’re grown.But it seems that smart, outspoken, straight-ahead African American girls in books are still frowned upon by gatekeepers and those who serve up books to kids. In my latest novel, Unstoppable Octobia May, which will publish this fall, ten-year-old Octobia is sent to live in her aunt Shuma’s boarding house where she is given the gift of freedom. Freedom to dream, imagine, explore, question and walk the planet whole and complete.
Octobia is determined, inquisitive—unstoppable. She’s a lot like Anne of Green Gables, a character I first met during my late thirties. What I loved about Anne was her steely resolve to be her one and only true self—damn the consequences. But already Octobia has been met with some raised eyebrows because of her tenacity when it comes to solving problems, and the creative, imaginative way she views the world. Others who have read Unstoppable Octobia May have fallen in love with her. I’m already getting letters from readers who cheer Octobia for her vigor, independence and spunk. But to some, she’s an anomaly—a 1950’s African American protagonist who isn’t defined by the times but instead redefines what it means to be such a girl at such a time. I am finding that she is giving people pause, as she steps out of the box that publishing has historically kept such girls in.So how can we, as a publishing community, move past the tamping down of bold African American girl characters? In what ways can we transcend the double-standard that says we want more diversity, but only of a certain kind?
Here are some solutions that I see as necessary if we are not just say we want diverse books—but live that motto out and permit diverse authors, diverse narratives, and diverse characters to live, breathe and exist in ways we may not have permitted them to do so before.
- Empower all girls to see themselves as unstoppable. I’ve done this in a campaign that I’m launching called Raising Unstoppable Girls which will give girls the tools they can use to be themselves, own their power and speak their own truths.
- Let kids be the ones to decide for themselves if they like a character or not.
- Question our intentions. When we hear a single story over and over again –African Americans or Latino’s don’t buy books, for example—than we begin to see them as single truths. That sort of thinking may make it difficult to accept an African American girl sleuth raised to be unstoppable.
- Show more strong black girls on book covers. Not just because there are tens of thousands of such readers and book clubs across the nation, but because everyone, including white readers, miss out when they don’t get the opportunity to purchase and see themselves in such books.
- Partner with historically black colleges and other organizations in an effort to create a pipeline between the publishing industry and potential authors, illustrators, publishers and editors.
- Seek out stories that allow diverse characters to have an array of diverse experiences in order to showcase their depth and universality.
- Believe.
Some books that I love that do a great job of featuring strong African American girls are One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams Garcia, the Sassy series by Sharon Draper, and Maritcha: A Nineteeth-Century American Girl by Tonya Bolden.
Sharon G. Flake is one of the top authors for children in the world today. She has received several Coretta Scott King awards, as well the YWCA Racial Justice Award, and several recognitions from the American Library Association. Flake is a former spokesperson for Reading is Fundamental (Pittsburgh) and a National Book Foundation Fellowship recipient. Her ninth novel, Unstoppable Octobia May, is due in book stores September 30. You may contact Ms. Flake at sharongflake.com or on Twitter @sharonflake.
-
Dear Book Publishers: Letters From the 5th Grade
The Dear Book Publishers series is a showcase of letters written by 5th graders from Dothan Brook School. These students were tasked with looking at the diversity in their school library’s picture book collection along with the race of children featured on Kindergarten Second Step cards. Reacting to what they had learned, the students wrote letters to book publishers, the Vermont Agency of Education, the school principal, and the district superintendent. During the month of August, CBC Diversity will showcase all of the letters created by the Dothan Brook School’s 5th grade class.
-
J.K. Rowling Appears at Edinburgh International Book Festival
For Rowling, “Malala is an inspiration to girls and women all over the world. It is a real honour for me to introduce her at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.” …
-
Texas Pastor Files Complaint Against Supernatural YA Books
The pastor has expressed an opinion that allowing children to have access to these books is dangerous. “Cleveland City Manager Kelly McDonald declined an interview but we have Library Director, …
-
How Long Does it Take to Learn to Read?
“All average readers, the subjects wore noninvasive electrode caps that could swiftly pick up electrical activity in the brain. They were shown strings of letters/symbols that fell into four different …
-
A Make Way for Ducklings Store Will Open in Boston
“The store takes its name from Robert McCloskey’s Caldecott Award-winning picture book, the official children’s book of the state of Massachusetts…Hirsch has been offered a one-year lease on the 5,000 …
-
Random House Children’s Books to Publish the ‘Best Lowly Worm Book Ever!’
“Though not an entirely new experience for him as an artist, Huck found completing Best Lowly Worm Book Ever! an exacting endeavor. ‘Emulating my father’s style, and above all his …
-
Pottermore Releases New Content from J. K. Rowling About Singer Celestina Warbeck
LONDON, ENGLAND – J.K. Rowling’s website pottermore.com has posted new writing by the best-selling author about the international wizarding singing sensation Celestina Warbeck. The 500-word entry about Celestina, who is sometimes known …
-
12 YA Writers Contribute Stories to Holiday Anthology
The other eleven writers include Holly Black, Ally Carter, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Matt de la Peña, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, and Kiersten White. …
