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  • Macmillan to Publish Lane Smith’s Debut Middle Grade Novel

    Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of the Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, will publish the novel on May 05, 2015. In an interview with Parade magazine, Smith talks about the inspiration …

  • Diversity 101: Asians as the Model Minority

    Contributed to CBC Diversity by Janet Wong

    When we look at the spectrum of racial stereotypes, Asians seem to have it good: We’re supposedly smart, hard-working, and obedient. We never complain. Families stick together. We don’t rock the boat (especially the fresher off the boat that we are).

    What’s the Problem?

    As far as stereotypes go, we’re pretty lucky. Some would say blessed. Who wouldn’t want to be prejudged as all those positive things?

    For starters:

    • the amazing Japanese child who is dismissed as “just the typical Asian whiz kid”;
    • the B student who is considered an “embarrassment” to his Chinese parents;
    • the Korean teen who “brings shame” by getting a tattoo;
    • the Asian family of divorce.

    The problem with all stereotypes—racial, cultural, gender, whatever—is that they interfere with your ability to be seen as you. You want to play football, but the Model Minority Stereotype (MMS) says: “Try the marching band.” You want to be a hip-hop star, but the MMS says: “Math and science.” Or maybe you need help, but are unable to reach out. The MMS says: “Asians are quiet. She’s perfectly fine.”

    The MMS in Children’s Books

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    Many Asian American children’s books have used the MMS as a familiar point of departure. It’s a clever device that urges readers to look more carefully at Asians they know in real life. We show you what you expect—and then we turn the MMS on its head. Lensey Namioka’s Yang family is full of talented musicians but, in Yang the Youngest and his Terrible Ear, Yingtao is a musical dud who “bow-syncs” his way through a recital. Lenore Look’s Alvin Ho is quiet and timid at school, but he’s loud and rowdy at home. Lisa Yee’s Millicent Min is a Chinese genius, but her equally-Chinese Stanford Wong is an F student. In David Yoo’s The Detention Club, Sunny Lee is a brilliant overachiever “queen bee,” but she hides a terrible, definitely-not-MMS, secret.

    My Own Work

    The MMS has made appearances in my own work, too. In the chapter book Me and Rolly Maloo, 4th grader Jenna Lee is great at math, socially-isolated, and eager to find a friend. These traits make her an irresistible target for Rolly and Patty, who use her to cheat on a standardized test.

    But wait: is Jenna Lee Asian? I never say so in the book. Opting for a post-racial view of things, I chose not to give the characters in Me and Rolly Maloo definitive racial or ethnic identifiers. Lee is a wonderfully ambiguous surname, one that could be Asian (Ang), black (Spike), or white (Jennifer, director of Frozen). I left the choice of race to illustrator Elizabeth Buttler (elizabethbuttler.com), who decided to depict Jenna as Asian or part-Asian; Principal Young as Asian; Shorn L. Loop and Rolly Maloo as black; and all other named characters as white.

    There’s a video going around with a couple having an argument over what to have for dinner:

           “What do you want?”

           ”Anything.”

           ”OK, pizza.”

           ”Anything BUT pizza!”

    Sometimes you don’t know what you want until you encounter something you don’t want. I didn’t want to have to assign races in my text, but I wasn’t sure about Elizabeth’s choices either. The Rolly character is a popular and clever rich girl but also a weak math student and the co-instigator of the cheating. No race would be proud to claim her, so my visceral reaction was: “Default to white!” Which Elizabeth did with the other instigator Patty, perhaps the most evil of all the characters in the book (after her PTA princess of a mom). But Rolly is shown as black. Could we do this to black children? The MMS is a burden, yes, but it’s mainly a positive burden, like carrying a hundred-pound box of books around school. Black stereotypes are a five-hundred-pound bag of manure; I did not want to add to that.

    I asked my editor if it might it be better to have the strong math student (Jenna) be black or Latina; the weak-in-math and evil students (Rolly and Patty) be white and Asian; and the weak-in-math but kindhearted students be something else. If the chief instigator were Asian, wouldn’t that play into the very negative stereotype of Asians as cheaters (think “cheap designer knock-offs”)?

    Midway through I asked: how about if everyone simply looked mixed-race, as we might in a few generations? I took the mixed-race route in Minn and Jake, not referencing Jake’s ethnicity at all in the first book, where it was irrelevant—but then identifying him as one-quarter Korean when introducing his Korean grandmother in the sequel. We decided that this would be too convenient here. Difficult as our choices were, it was better to make them.

    In the end we all agreed that the villainous black (or possibly Indian?) Rolly Maloo was successfully offset by the courageous, spunky, funny hero Shorn L. Loop. Kids would hiss at (white) Patty but cheer for (white) Hugo. Asian Jenna, a math whiz, plays into the MMS but there are indeed many Asian children who are good at math.

    What I’d Like to See

    If the whole process above sounds borderline ridiculous, you’re right; it felt that way at times. But only because this kind of conversation is still the exception. I wish that all authors, illustrators, editors, and art directors would start insisting on this kind of discussion before a single child is drawn. Even if a book’s characters are “default-white”—that, too, should be made as a conscious and reasoned choice. Let’s turn these stereotypes on their heads, a book at a time; talk is a good place to start.

    Asian American MMS-Busters Mentioned

    Look, Lenore. The Alvin Ho series; first book: Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things (Schwartz & Wade/Random House, 2008).

    Namioka, Lensey. The Yang family series; first book: Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear (Joy Street, 1992).

    Wong, Janet. Me and Rolly Maloo (Charlesbridge, 2010).

    Wong, Janet. The Minn and Jake series; first book: Minn and Jake (Frances Foster/FSG, 2003).

    Yee, Lisa. Millicent Min, Girl Genius (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic, 2003).

    Yee, Lisa. Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic, 2005).

    Yoo, David. The Detention Club (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, 2011).

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    imageJanet Wong (janetwong.com) is the half-Chinese, half-Korean, sometimes MMS-y, sometimes-not, half-poet, half-prose author of two dozen books including Me and Rolly Maloo, a Horace Mann Upstanders Honor winner. She is also the current chair of the IRA Notable Books for a Global Society (NBGS) committee.

  • Jon Klassen Decorates a Bookstore Window

  • Looking For Alaska Special 10th Anniversary Edition in 2015

    New York, NY – Penguin Young Readers is pleased to announce the release of a special tenth anniversary edition of John Green’s LOOKING FOR ALASKA. Soon to be a major motion picture, …

  • Constantin Film to Develop ‘The Mortal Instruments’ as a Drama TV Show

    “Constantin had originally planned to turn Clare’s fantasy series into a feature film franchise but shelved that idea after the first Mortal Instruments film, starring Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell …

  • Tis’ the Season — For Great Fall Picture Books!

    With summer behind us and another school year underway, now’s a great time to look ahead and see what new picture books are about to hit our shelves. While there …

  • Susan Cain, Acclaimed, New York Times Bestselling Author of Quiet, to Publish New Edition for Children

    New York, NY — International bestselling author and co-founder of Quiet Revolution, Susan Cain will publish QUIET POWER: The Secret Strengths of Introverts in May 2015 with Dial Books for Young Readers, an …

  • Candlewick Press Books on Permanent Display at NYPL Shop

    October 9, 2014 – Candlewick Press announced today that select titles will be on display and available for sale at the Readers & Writers Shop in The New York Public Library. The collection, …

  • Bibliophiles Around the World Return to Slow Reading

    Some enthusiasts claim that slow readers should exclusively use print books. Others do not feel that such a limitation is necessary. For those who choose to use a mobile device, …

  • Chris Van Allsburg Hopes to Inspire Kids to Be Great Pet Owners

    The story follows a hamster’s transition from living in a pet store to moving in with a family. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers will publish The Misadventures of …

  • Newbery-Winning Author Kate DiCamillo’s 7th Novel Coming Spring 2016

    * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE *  CANDLEWICK PRESS ACQUIRES WORLD RIGHTS IN MAJOR NEW WORK FROM ACCLAIMED CHILDREN’S AUTHOR KATE DICAMILLO October 7, 2014 – Candlewick Press is pleased to announce …

  • Applications Open for Thurber House Residency in Children’s Literature

    Thurber House is a non-profit literary center, located in the childhood home of author and cartoonist James Thurber. Each year, Thurber House hosts one talented author for a month-long retreat. …

  • Meg Cabot to Create New ‘Princess Diaries’ Spinoff

    “From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess marks the first time I’ve illustrated my own children’s fiction (even though I have a BA in Fine Arts from Indiana University, …

  • ALSC/Candlewick Press “Light the Way” Grant Submissions Open

    The ALSC/Candlewick Press “Light the Way: Outreach to the Underserved” Grant was formed in honor of Newbery & Geisel-Award-Winning National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Kate DiCamillo, and the themes …

  • Call for Firecracker Awards Submissions

    The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) and the American Booksellers Association have again teamed up for the awards, which “seek to celebrate and promote great literary works from independent literary …

  • Jon Scieszka Talks About Why He Started Guys Read

    “Boys not reading is a worldwide problem. In the US, boys have tested lower in reading in every age group for every one of the last 30 years that kids …

  • Jodi Picoult & Her Daughter to Collaborate On a New YA Novel

    Barbara Marcus, President of Random House Children’s Books, oversaw the acquisitions process. Beverly Horowitz, Publisher of Delacorte Press, will edit the manuscript. The publishing house will release the book in …

  • PW’s 2014 Salary Survey Reveals Lack of Diversity in Publishing Workforce, Gender Discrepancy in Compensation

    A recent survey conducted by ‘Publishers Weekly’ of over 630 publishing staffers reveals the significant lack of racial diversity in the publishing workplace, and a persistent pay gap between male …

  • Egmont Publishing to Sell Its US Activities

    Press releaseNew York, October 2nd 2014 Egmont Publishing group has decided to sell their publishing activities in the USA as part of an overall strategic focus on market leading positions. …

  • Young Readers Finalists Announced For The 2014 Kirkus Prize

    2014 Young Readers Finalists for the Kirkus Prize El Deafo written and illustrated by Cece Bell The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by …

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