Blogger Spotlight: Multiculturalism Rocks!

Today is my first ever Blogger Spotlight!

This feature will be weekly and in it I will highlight people and their blogs who are POC and/or review books about POC.

I want a more creative name for this feature so if anyone has any suggestions leave a comment.

My first ever spotlighted blog is Multiculturalism Rocks! Please everyone welcome the wonderful Nathalie who created Multiculturalism Rocks! Seriously, Nathalie rocks and her interview made me even more in awe of her. she always comments on my reviews and her words always bring a smile to my face, she knows what to say when I most need to hear it.

1) Explain about your blog.

The explanation is in the name: "multicultural" is the world we live in today, and it's never been truer in any country than in the United States. "Multiculturalism" in children's literature is vibrant, full of life and it challenges conformity--of thought and expression, just to quote a few. The blog aims to celebrate that, because it truly is a joy when a person of color is featured in a book, or when a writer of color or illustrator has a book out there. It is a unique and enriching gift to the young reader, Western and non-Western. It's a bridge between cultures that invites to an analysis and understanding of the world we live in, while providing all the fun of a great read.

2) What 2010 debut book are you most looking forward to? And non-debut?

Ari, how can you ask me to pick just one book?! :)

Okay, for a debut author, Olugbemisola is the first name that comes to mind! Right now I'm dying to read her book, 8th Grade Super Zero. Yes the reviews are very good, but my anticipation goes beyond that: I fell in love with the trailer and I caught myself drinking her words during her interviews. I'm anticipating larger than life characters in her novel and a straightforward, unapologetic honesty in the narration. :)

As for a non-debut author, it's Sweet, Hereafter, by Angela Johnson. The themes of solitude and personal loss are close to my heart, and from working with kids of all age and background in the past, I am convinced her book will resonate on a deep emotional level with the audience.

3) What are your top five favorite POC books?

1-The House of Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer. The beginning is so thought provoking! I like that it engages the young reader into thinking about the implications of cloning.

2-Feathers, by Jacqueline Woodson. It is hard not to be touched and affected by the story, and the mix of sadness and hope as experienced by a middle-grader.

3-Dark Sons, by Nikki Grimes. My favorite poem is Divine Discourse.

4-Girls for Breakfast, by David Yoo. It is a fun and light read, but I had to put it on the list; I embarrassed myself by laughing out loud in public so many times because of that book!

5- The Pact by Dr. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt. The book isn't a YA and it is non-fiction, but I think a teenager can enjoy it, definitely be inspired by the story, and be encouraged not to give up on his/her dream whatever that is.

I wanted to put the following one the list, however the book isn't available in English.

-The Three Little Shoeshine Boys (original title in French: Les Trois Petits Cireurs), by Cameroonian author Francis Bebey. I read it when I was a kid, and the story is still very much alive in my heart. I mention it in the hope that someone picks it up and translates it. It's the story of three Cameroonian kids who, like it is the case for many, work after school to help their families. It's moving and humorous at the same time.

4) Talk about yourself =)

Well, I'm in my thirties. I have a background in nutrition, and I currently study cultural anthropology at an undergraduate level. I practice Tae Kwon Do and play volleyball.

I once worked as a fork lift driver, for over a year, to help my family. I am a former bookseller specialized in children's literature. I worked and volunteered with children in crisis, in Africa, Europe and here, and I witnessed first hand what a powerful healing tool storytelling is. That is one of the reasons I'm passionate about kid lit and multicultural books in particular, because they really do make a difference in a child's life.

The reason behind the languages I speak? Cameroon, like Canada, has French and English as official languages. I lived in the French part of the country, so as I child I first learned French and Bulu, my native tongue. Then in elementary school English was one of the required subjects. In middle school, Latin was mandatory and I studied it for four years. And I picked German--end of middle school, Cameroon, and this is public education--and studied it for seven years (because my big sister chose to learn Spanish. Go figure.)

I did my high school in France, and I later worked in Germany.

There is growing Chinese community in Africa, and I am now learning Mandarin (it's pretty challenging)

I have written several picture books--multicultural and non-MC, and I am currently working on a YA novel about an American teenager who travels to Africa. It is a coming of age and magical realism story. I am not published yet, but hopefully will be one day :)

5) If you could have dinner with two POC characters from any book who would it be and why?
Oh! I'll dine with Arnold Spirit from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian and Asha, from the Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins I think it will make for a deep and sometimes funny conversation about identity and fitting in today's society.

Finally any advice to those who want to read POC? And to those who are just starting to blog?

My advice to those who want to read POC:
-Go to your local bookstore and ask to see what they have. It will show the booksellers that there is a demand for POC, and they will be more than happy to place orders, and maybe this will lead to seeing more POC on bookshelves.
-Talk to your librarian for recommendations. Librarians are fabulous!
-Check online. There are more and more resources about Native Indian, Latino, African American, Arabic, etc... literature thanks to blogs like yours, the Brown Bookshelf, The Happy Nappy Bookseller and more. Cynthia Leitich Smith also has an amazing page full of book recommendations, broken down by cultures.
Once you get started, do not stop there. Writers generally have a website, so if you liked their book, take time to send an email and thank them. Most readers have no idea the fight and sweat it takes for a writer to get published :)

To those who are just starting a blog:
-Be clear about your goals--what you want to focus on, who you are blogging for,
-Ask yourself how much time you are ready to invest--how many times a week will you blog?
-Read a variety of blogs every day, 2 to 5 depending on your availability, and comment. Blogging is about sharing information. :)
Once your blog is up and running, have fun doing it; it shouldn't be a chore :)

Thank you so much for this insightful interview Nathalie! Her advice is spot-on and I really encourage everyone to head over to Multiculturalism Rocks! Nathalie's blog is unique especially her spotlights of foreign books in addition to American books. I'm confident that she will be published one day.

If you want to be featured in the Blogger Spotlight email me.

New Crayons

New Crayons is hosted by Color Online.

This week in review at Reading in Color

Male Monday: Secret Saturdays by Torrey Maldonado

Tuesday: Nothing

Waiting on Wednesday: The Clone Codes by Patricia McKissack, Frederick McKissack and John McKissack. The Mysterious Benedcit Society covers are to be changed. Also I announce my new project, which is to find the most diverse publishing companies in YA/MG literature.

Thursday: Blessing's Bead by Debby Dahl Edwardson

Friday: Nothing

Saturday: Beyond Freedom by Patricia Wall

For review

Borderline by Allan Stratton

The truth is closing in.

Life's not easy for Sami Sabiri since his dad stuck him at a private school where he's the only Muslim kid. But it's about to get a lot worse.

When Sami catches his father in a lie, he gets suspicious. . . . He's not the only one. In a whirlwind, the FBI descends on his home, and Sami's family becomes the center of an international terrorist investigation. Now Sami must fight to keep his world from unraveling.

An explosive thriller ripped from today's headlines, borderline is the story of a funny, gutsy Muslim-American teen determined to save his father, his family, and his life.

-This book sounds amazing! International terrorist investigation combined with humor makes this book sound great. Received from Harper Collins.

Culture is Our Weapon by Patrick Neate

An inspiring mission to rescue young people from drugs and violence with music

At a time when interest in Brazilian culture has reached an all-time high, and the stories of one person's ability to improve the lives of others has captured so many hearts, this unique book takes readers to the frontlines of a battle raging over control of the nation's poorest areas. Culture Is Our Weapon tells the story of Grupo Cultural AfroReggae, a Rio-based organization employing music and an appreciation for black culture to inspire residents of the favelas, or shantytowns, to resist the drugs that are ruining their neighborhoods. This is an inspiring look at an artistic explosion and the best and worst of Brazilian society.

-I believe the arts can save a community and this book sounds like an interesting read. Received from Penguin.

Beyond Freedom

Beyond Freedom by Patricia Q. Wall 2010

Rating: 2.5/5

IQ "It's hard sometimes, not to begin blaming yourself when all you get from white folks is meanness. [...] You're now dealing with what I call the black folks second struggle-the struggle that comes after we get free of slavery. We've managed to get our bodies free, but for some of us there's still that struggle to get our minds free, free of the white man's rule. [....] But don't you ever let their hatred cause you turn upon yourself. You've got to be a good friend to yourself. Your self-respect is the most precious thing you'll ever have." Uncle Ned pg. 103-104

Beyond Freedom tells the story of fifteen year old Matty Warren Smith who is growing up in Boston (specifically the neighborhood of Beacon Hill) during the War of 1812. She is a former slave, but she was freed along with the rest of her family when she was five and doesn't remember being a slave. Now that she's older she starts experiencing various forms of racism and realizes that white people look down on her and some will never respect her or her people. She makes a white friend who offers her employment in her Beacon Hill mansion and this experience is eye-opening.

I had a hard time believing Matty was fifteen, she seemed very naive and lived in her own bubble, protected by her family. I'm not sure if that is entirely realistic of the times, I find it very hard to believe that she never experienced racism until she was fifteen, I mean slavery still existed during her time so she must have had some experience of it early on (especially as a former slave). I thought Matty acted a bit immaturely or thought very simplistically about solving a problem, not recognizing the complexities that come with the choices she makes. Also, Matty knew her whole family history, including dates. Now I understand how stories get passed down from generation to generation, but she knew the story of her slave ancestors from Africa (born in Barbados) along with the dates of when they arrived in America (1730) and the ages of her various ancestors. I don't think that's possible, how would an uneducated slave from Africa/Barbados know how old she or he was and how would they know what year they arrived in America? They weren't educated and I'm sure the slave masters just guessed about their ages and didn't really care. I felt that this was historically inaccurate and the way it was told wasn't very original. Matty tells the story of her ancestors to her white employer's daughter, Lydia and I felt like the author just used Lydia as a prop so the author could explain Matty's family history. I also would have liked to see how African Americans felt about the War of 1812. Matty and her family live during this time, but they don't mention it. Her white friend and employer don't even remark on the war, it's as if they forgot it was going on (which makes some sense, but there were naval battles and Boston is a city close the water so the ships would have been going to war).

I did however really like the setting of this novel. I learned a lot about what life was like for freed salves in the North during the early days of our nation, way before the Civil War (1812). I think we tend to forget that discrimination happened to African Americans in the North, even those who were never slaves. I never knew that African Americans were not allowed on the Boston Common! Also, they weren't allowed to be mail carriers or be without a job (as if it's their fault that white people's prejudices won't allow them to be hired). I also really liked the fact that while this book was self-published, there were no careless errors like confusing typos or misspelled words. The relationship between Matty and her white 'friend' Lydia was very realistic. It's a classic example of white privilege and 'clueless white person' and that's something all African Americans (actually, all people of color) have to deal with. Lydia means well, but her actions only make things worse for Matty.

The historical aspects of this novel were good, but I don't think it will appeal to much to the older teenager. While the main character is fifteen, she acts more like a pre-teen and that can be exceedingly frustrating. Also, I'm not sure if too many people would be interested in the story unless they really like reading about history and African Americans because the story was slow-moving and nothing really happens (a few incidents here or there, but most of the the time it felt like history facts were just being spouted). The history lover in me was entertained, but the teenager in me was not so entertained. For that reason, I don't feel I can give this book a higher rating, as much as I want to. A book that only appeals to one type of reader is not recommendation worthy except to those it would interest. However, I would recommend the book to all historical fiction facts and anyone who wants to learn more about African American. The book is being taught in many New England schools and I think that's great, it's a story that needs to be told and the purpose of Fall Rose Books is to shed light on lesser-known chapters of early African American history which is a wonderful idea.

Disclosure: Received from the author, thank you Patricia!

Blessing's Bead

Blessing's Bead by Debby Dahl Edwardson ARC (quotes subject to change)

Rating: 3.5/5

IQ "I want to laugh at Sylvia just like how she always laughs at me, but when I look back at her, something weird happens: I see this look on her face that makes me feel, for just a second, like I'm looking at myself. It's a look that says she knows she's running all alone, running against a whole bunch of things she couldn't name, even if she wanted to. Her mouth is clamped shut like she's shutting out everything in the whole world with just her jaw. A person can do that, too-I know." Blessing (pg. 155-56)

Blessing's Bead combines two stories, one of Blessing and her great-grandmother, Nutaaq when they are both close in age (13) at different time periods. Nutaaq in 1917 and Blessing (who's Inupiaq name is Nutaaq) in 1989. Nutaaq is going through a series of struggles during this time, when white people (both Russians and Americans) were entering Alaska and bringing good and bad things with them. Blessing is sent from Anchorage to live with her grandmother in Barrow, after an incident in her family.

When I started off reading this novel, I didn't know that Blessing's story took place in the '80s. I liked that because it discussed something I knew nothing about, the "Ice Curtain." The "Ice Curtain" is a border that separated Alaska from Russia that was closed off shortly after Nutaaq's time. This was devastating because many Eskimos had intermarried with Russians and Siberians and now they were no longer allowed to see their families. Blessing's story picks up when people are protesting the "Ice Curtain" and want the border opened up, Blessing's grandmother doesn't even know what happened to her aunt (Aaluk, Nutaqq's sister who married a Siberian). I enjoyed reading about a period of time in history that concerned Eskimos that I knew little about.

I do think that the author rushed the story a bit and that we didn't learn as much about Nutaaq as I would have liked. My main problem was not with the author or how the book was written, but that I was constantly getting confused by people's names and their genealogy. The author uses the Inupiaq words for grandmother, great-aunt and other names in families but they look very similar to the names of characters (for example aaka is Inupiaq for grandmother and Nutaaq's sister's name is Aaluk. I would constantly mix them up). But I like that in the book, when words in another langauge are used often to help you really get a feel for the language and when and how words and expressions would be used. It adds an air of authenticity to the story and eventually I could figure out most words. Keeping the family history straight was especially difficult because in the Inupiaq (for the record, the n in Inupiaq has a tilde ~ over it which is pronounced the same way as the Spanish n with tilde, I just can't type it on my computer) culture, you name your child after a deceased relative because they tell stories and that is how family history is remembered (which is a lovely idea). However I constantly had to flip to the front of the book to look at the family tree to see who "aaka's grandmother" was (so Blessing's great-great grandmother which would be Nutaaq) or "aaka's great aunt" (Blessing's great-great-aunt, Nutaaq's sister, Aaluk). Also, I had little idea of where Nutaaq's story took place. I knew it was either in Alaska, Siberia or Russia, but which one was it? But again, that's probably because I don't know my geography so the islands the author mentioned meant very little to me (I'm presuming it took place in Alaska since that's where Blessing's story occurred). I wasn't too happy with the ending either as I felt it was forced. The ending was nice and I was happy for them but it left some questions unanswered and I found a little too 'all's well that end's well.'

The author does a wonderful job of describing Alaska and what daily life was like for Inupiaq (which is a tribe of Eskimos) people both in the early 1900s and the late 1980s. I could envision the depressingly dark days of winter and see the wolves circling the small reindeer camp (which was quite interesting to read about, Nutaaq's cousins took care of the reindeer, much like the herding of sheep or cattle). I think the most interesting part of the story was the 1980s which was Blessing's story. In the town where Blessing lives (Barrow) the children speak "Village English" and they must learn to speak "School English." An example of "Village English" is "I could use an ulu real good now.The School English way of saying it would be "I can use an ulu really good now." This was a very new concept to me (the idea that Eskimos spoke a different kind of English) but it's quite similar (I think) to how African Americans have Ebonics and Spanish speakers have Spanglish as well as how people in various regions of the U.S. (really, the world) have different accents and ways of saying things in English.I also really liked how the author would describe people and other events through Blessing's eyes as she had a unique way of seeing and describing tings (as seen in the IQ at the start of this review). I loved the stories the Inupiaq told, especially the story of the lemming, it's very cute and it imparts a good moral. The art of storytelling is summed up very well by Aaka, "But when I tell Aaka about how stories change, she says no, stories don't change. They grow in people's hearts, just like people grow. Stories say different things at different times, but they don't change." (pg. 108). The characters were generally very well-rounded and fleshed out and someone can relate to the story of every character (abandonment, feeling like an outsider, alcoholism, etc.), but their stories are not told in a preachy way, they are told as facts of life that people must deal with and triumph over.

Blessing's Bead was a good story that illustrates very clearly the life of Inupiaq life both in the early 1900s and in the late 1980s. It tells a story of hope, family and memories and the idea of having a bead connect a family is very powerful. One little blue bead is all it takes to help family members remember their loved ones. Blessing's voice is genuine as is Nutaaq's, although I thought Blessing was more immature than Nutaaq and she was slightly more frustrating of a character. I loved the descriptions of Alaska as well as the customs of Inupiaq life (although it sounds too depressing with all those dark days for me). The story of Blessing feeling left out amongst her own people (she didn't speak the language or know the customs of the Inupiaq's since Blessing grew up away from all that in Anchorage) is one that all people can relate to, regardless of race. 6th grade and up.

Read the cover story and the interview with the author, I found both very interesting!

Disclosure: Received from Lyn, my book fairy godmother :)

Waiting on Wednesday: Clone Codes + Another Cover Changed and Identifying Diverse Publishing Companies

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers is changing the covers of the Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee. Read more about it here Again thank you guys for speaking up and speaking out! I'm just sorry we missed it, I intend on doing a better job in demanding accurate, non-white washed covers and more diversity in publishing.

I'm with the Rejectionist, are you? Go on over there and leave a comment with your support (or y'know you could just leave a comment here, that works too, haha). No retreat, no surrender. We have to keep fighting and speaking out. For my part, I encourage people to join two Facebook groups, Don't Publish A Book With An Inaccurate Cover and Readers Against
WhiteWashing. Another thing I want to do (besides reading/reviewing/emailing/commenting/buying YA/MG books about POC) is figure out which publishing companies have the most diverse selections of YA/MG books. I'm going to start labeling my reviews with the publishing houses so people can see the results for themselves. I'll have to go back and label all my old reviews. Not only should we call out the companies that don't do a good job, but we should praise and support those who do. Doret got the ball rolling by praising Simon & Schuster. I'd love to see who everyone thinks the best publishing company is going to be. My top three guesses are (and I haven't started tallying them up yet so this is a complete guess); Random House, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins. I think Little & Brown and Putnam will put in a decent showing. I'm really curious to see what the results will be, but I need some help. Not only am I going to look at my old reviews, but I'm also going to look at 2009-2010 book catalogues, how many POC are on the cover and how well the book is promoted. I need help identifying the major publishing companies that I should research. Here' s the companies (in random order) I'm considering (agree? disagree? leave a comment). Remember, I'm only looking at MG/YA.

ETA 1/28/10: I'm so bad with remembering that publishers have many different divisions! Ok I've fixed it. Also, in March I will be spotlighting the smaller, indie publishing companies. I can't figure out if Scholastic is an imprint of Harper Collins? I didn't think it was. Anyone know for sure?

1. Random House
2. Harper Collins
3. Simon & Schuster
4. Penguin
5. Candlewick
6. Scholastic
7. Hachette
8. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Also, if you're a librarian or bookseller, please vote in this poll (actually it's on the sidebar but read the post for more information). The poll asks how often YA/MG books with POC faces on them sells or gets checked out. I'm really interested in reading the results, you have 2 days left to vote!

Finally, at Read Roger there's a post about Who Will Read about Whom? Check it out and Neesha Meminger's response.

Oh and I thought this was a really interesting discussion over at Fledging. It's about What is Street Lit? I recommend everyone read it, especially if you think every African American book is street lit. Yes, you would be wrong.


Now back to our regularly scheduled programming :)
Waiting on Wednesday is a meme started by Jill. It's when we book lovers share what books we can't wait to be released. This week I'm waiting on....


The Clone Codes by Patricia C. McKissack, Fredrick McKissack and John McKissack.

Release Date: Feb. 1, 2010

Publisher: Scholastic

The Cyborg Wars are over and Earth has peacefully prospered for more than one hundred years. Yet sometimes history must repeat itself until humanity learns from its mistakes. In the year 2170, despite technological and political advances, cyborgs and clones are treated no better than slaves, and an underground abolitionist movement is fighting for freedom. Thirteen-year-old Leanna's entire life is thrown into chaos when The World Federation of Nations discovers her mom is part of the radical Liberty Bell Movement.

After her mother's arrest for treason, Leanna must escape as she is chased by a ruthless bounty hunter. Soon Leanna finds herself living among the Firsts, and nothing will ever be the same again. But what does The World Federation want with the daughter of a traitor? So much is uncertain. Danger hides everywhere. Fear takes over. With help from unlikely sources, Leanna learns the origin of The Liberty Bell Movement and how its members may have answers about her past-and her new reality.

As family secrets are revealed, Leanna must face startling truths about self-identity and freedom. Through time travel, advanced technologies, and artificial intelligence, this exhilarating adventure asks what it means to be human and explores the sacrifices an entire society will make to find out.

-I'm pretty sure this is MG and it sounds really good especially the whole cyborg and clones treated as slaves and the underground abolitionist movement. And I love the little end line "what it means to be human and explores the sacrifices an entire society will make to find out." I'm curious do authors come up with the tag lines and their book summaries or do editors or someone else? I think it's really cool how the book is a family effort (mother, father, son)

PS Speaking of MG, you have till Sunday, Jan. 31 to vote on the 100 Best Middle Grade Books. Send an email to Besty listing your top ten favorite middle grade books. And please, consider coloring it up. After all, chances are the white classics (and I don't mean classics that only white people like, I mean classics with white people as the main characters) will be on the list, but what about the classics with POC (I'm telling you right now I nominated The Watsons Go to Birmingham).

Male Monday: Secret Saturdays

Secret Saturdays by Torrey Maldonado ARC Publisher: Putnam

Rating: 4/5

IQ "For me, I first had to see if I was a stereotype of a man. Next, I had to stop being that stereotype and act differently. It's hard. When I changed, some of my friends acted weird. Some made jokes. But others were true friends. I was real with them and they were real right back. Meaning they didn't put me down and they helped me work through my issues." pg. 184

Release Date: April 15, 2010

Secret Saturdays tells the story of two best friends, Sean and Justine (the narrator). Both boys are in 6th grade and half Black, half Puerto Rican and they live in the same building in the Red Hook Projects (NYC). The boys used to be really close, but Sean starts to act suspiciously, hang with the wrong crowd and less with Justine and their other friends. Sean used to get good grades and only verbally abuse people (more on that later), now he's getting in fights and failing tests. Justine suspects this has to do with Sean's secret Saturday trips, he has noticed that Sean and his mother leave early on Saturdays and disappear for the day. Justine wants his friend back and he's determined to get to the bottom of the secret Saturdays.

The plot of this book is original and then again it isn't. I thought the secret Saturday visits were obvious but that may be because I'm older than the main characters and I think younger readers may not be able to figure it out, but I had two guesses and halfway through the novel I was able to confidently say I knew what would happen. That was really the only thing I didn't like about the book. Along with the fact that some characters were cliches but that was mostly the minor ones, like Sean's crush, Vanessa could have been better developed as well as Sean and Justin's other friend, Kyle. Also, the author oculd have described New York a little better to really help readers visualize the setting (I liked the idea of Grey House though, adding a little creepy/ghost story). The only other thing I didn't like was how I couldn't really relate to Justin or Sean. Not because they're guys, but because they felt too young. I really like in middle grade novels when you can relate to the main character, even if they're younger, that wasn't the case with Secret Saturdays but the novel was still enjoyable.

A minor character that I thought was very well-written was Ms. Feeney, Sean and Justin's teacher. she could have easily become the cliche teacher who doesn't care or the cliche tough-but-fair-teacher but the author does a good job of making sure she is a good mix. She tries to inspire her students and get them to see their potential and reach out to them, but she also gets really frustrated with them and makes assumptions that she shouldn't. The reader gets to know Sean, Justin and Justin's mother very well and they mature slowly and painfully (but in a good/needed way), both boys lose their innocence (especially about friendship). Both boys love to freestyle and they are quite talented, I'm amazed that 12 year olds could come up with the rhymes they did, I'm 16 and I still wouldn't be able to do that! With so few words and a good beat, both boys use poetry and freestyle to express themselves and it's deep.

My favorite aspect of Secret Saturdays is the message. At the heart of the novel is the issue of stereotypes concerning males and how guys have to be tough as Justin's mom says "Boys and men out here think they can't ever be sensitive because that's considered soft or gay. And if the next guy shows some gentle emotion, they say he's soft or gay." (pg. 191, ARC so quotes and page numbers may change). I couldn't agree more. Boys are considered weak if they cry or express emotion and that's so wrong. I think it's endearing and cute when guys show emotion and I respect them for it. I don't want them crying in public over nothing (ahem Brett Favre!) but if something tragic happens (Hurricane Katrina, earthquake in Haiti, family tragedy), I don't have a problem with guys crying in public. To be honest, I think most of these stereotypes prevail in largely ethnic neighborhoods, but it does affect all guys, I just think it affects POC males more (macho comes from Spanish!).

The other key issue is verbal vs. physical bullying. To often we are taught that "First, people fight when their feelings are hurt. Second, you can fight with your hands or your mouth. Third, people who fight with their hands are too dumb to beat up somebody with their words." Or "Dis or get dissed on." I was even taught this mentality by my father! He's always taught me to have a comeback ready because if someone hurts me I shouldn't fight with fists, but with words since words can be more hurtful. Honestly, I never realized the error of this thinking, I always thought that's so true, because if I'm always quick on my feet, ready with a comeback whenever people try to cut me down, they'll think twice before insulting me. This is true but it's not right and Secret Saturdays helped me realize that. The mentality shouldn't be dissed or get dissed on (Note: I hate Your Mom/Yo Momma jokes. Don't diss people's mothers!) but that's the culture we live in and again it's most prevalent in the urban neighborhoods and amongst school age children. In this book, the kids tease each other mercilessly about their families; poverty, drug use, alcoholism, dead-beat fathers, etc. But they all have issues! They tease each other to hide that and it's so frustrating but it's also understandable. The author does a great job of helping readers to see why the kids act the way they do and force us to question why verbal abuse is often ignored and only physical abuse gets attention, to often the results can both be tragic and even if they don't end in tragedy, they are both very hurtful.

After finishing Secret Saturdays I had to think about it because my initial reaction was that the book was just ok, but that was largely in part because I needed to work through my own issues. Once I really looked inside myself and acknowledged that maybe this book was right, I felt that I could write a more through and honest review. All in all, I didn't think the writing was the best, but I thought the originality of the plot and the message behind (the pressure of guys to be tough and verbal abuse) the novel is so very needed in today's world that I would recommend it to all young boys (and girls, but guys especially need to read this book). I intend on having my little brother read this book in a year. 6th grade and up.

Disclosure: Received from the publisher. Thank you Stacey (Putnam)!

New Crayons + Negative Review Advice

New Crayons is a meme hosted by susan at Color Online. It's when I discuss what new books I got this weeks, crayons is a good way to describe multicultural lit!

Before we get to book business, I have a question. I recently did a negative review and the author is unhappy with it. I don't personally attack the author in the review, I just give my honest opinion of the book. The author wants me to take down the review, while I realize you want positive publicity for a book, you should also want a honest review of a book. I thought it would be obvious that I review books honest and I blog with integrity, since it's apparently not clear, I changed my review policy to reflect the fact that I will give my honest opinion of a book and I don't write only positive reviews or only negative reviews. I'm curious how do my fellow bloggers handle writing negative reviews? Authors, do you prefer negative reviews to no reviews?

Back to cooler things like books!

From the library (so much for not going in January, in my defense I needed a book for school and the GLBT challenge!)

Orphea Proud by Sharon Dennis Wyeth

HOT ICE

Taboo to the touch

A fire in the cold

That was us

Welcome to a stage, where a soaring painting takes shape before your eyes, a big-booty poet stands at the mike, and there’s a seat right in front, just for you.

This is a place where wise old ladies live and boys act like horses.

This is a vision of love that was crushed and brought back to life.

And this is my story. I’m Orphea Proud. Welcome to the show.

As Orphea, who discovers her sexuality as a lesbian, shares her story, powerful questions of family, prejudice, and identity are explored.

-I'm so eager to read this book thanks Sarah for the recommendation. (ETA: Not Lizzy, sorry for the mix up. Still luv you Lixxy!) I really like the cover too and it sounds awesome so yay!

Received

Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham

Ludelphia Bennett may be blind in one eye, but she can still put in a good stitch. Ludelphia sews all the time, especially when things go wrong.

But when Mama goes into labor early and gets deathly ill, it seems like even quilting won’t help. That’s when Ludelphia decides to do something drastic—leave Gee’s Bend for the very first time. Mama needs medicine that can only be found miles away in Camden. But that doesn’t stop Ludelphia. She just puts one foot in front of the other.

What ensues is a wonderful, riveting and sometimes dangerous adventure. Ludelphia weathers each challenge in a way that would make her mother proud, and ends up saving the day for her entire town.

Set in 1932 and inspired by the rich quilting history of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, Leaving Gee’s Bend is a delightful, satisfying story of a young girl facing a brave new world.

-I don't know anything about the quilting history of Gee's Bend and it counts for the 2010 YA/MG Debut Author challenge. Also, I've read mixed reviews of the novel so I'm eager to form my own opinion on it :) Thank you Putnam and Sons

Won

Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee

Meet Maybelline Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chestnut, named for two Miss Americas and her mother Chessy's favorite brand of mascara. Chessy teaches the students in her charm school her Seven Select Rules for Young Ladies, but she won't tell Maybe who her real father is -- or protect her from her latest scuzzball boyfriend. So Maybe hitches a ride to California with her friends Hollywood and Thammasat Tantipinichwong Schneider (aka Ted) -- and what she finds there is funny, sad, true, and inspiring . . . vintage Lisa Yee.
-It sounds like a secondary character is a POC. Does anyone know if the main character is a POC (I know the author is)? Anyway, this book sounds good. Thanks Lizzy!

Cool New Link: Diversify Your Reading

ETA 1/25/10: Thank you everyone for the honest and helpful advice! I think I will do negative reviews but I work on not being so harsh and remembering that author's have feelings too (I think I do a good job of that but I can always do better) and their books are very personal. I'd rather do a negative reivew than no review.

It's Not Over: Publishing Needs to take the Hint (aka more cover failures) + POC Reading Challenge books needed!

Most of us (including me) have been celebrating over the fact that Bloomsbury is changing the cover of Magic Under Glass. But Bloomsbury is ignoring the point of this whole campaign, it's not just that the cover was inaccurate it's about the messages that the inaccuracy of covers portray. It's about publishing companies seeming to think that POC on book covers won't sell, especially in children's literature. That's a BIG problem. I want to know why do publishing companies think that? I would be most curious to see their survey results that say this, but more importantly, who cares? The publishing industry should be trying to publish books that reflect the world. The world is diverse so we need more diverse stories, especially in children's literature. I firmly believe that books teach tolerance, children won't learn to respect other cultures if there are few books about that culture. And the few books that are out there may have inaccurate covers! Bloomsbury's apology was not really an apology. They didn't acknowledge that they had done anything wrong, they were just sorry to 'cause offense.' Great, now explain why it happened in the first place and that it will never happen again. Are they even listening? I'm presuming Bloomsbury has read some of the articles about this issue, so they should publish a statement that's actually an apology and an explanation.

Here are some more examples of whitewashed covers that have been brought to my attention. And I'm kicking myself for missing the first one (I don't read much sci fi/fantasy so I probably would have missed the 2nd one).

1. The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stuart. Published by Little, Brown. Brought to my attention by Bookshelves of Doom (follow the link for more info and for illustrations that prove her point!). The books have feature a character named Sticky (I immediately thought of Sticky from the Proud Family, anyone know who I'm talking about? lol!) who is described as "a skinny boy with light brown skin [...] and a bald head." The illustrations inside the book portray this exactly right, an African American bald-headed boy. The covers (sorry for the small images!)? Not so much. They feature a white, bald-headed boy. There's only one bald-headed character in the books, so it

has to be Sticky. Now this is just stupid in my opinion. Why would you make a character look one way on a cover and another way in the inside illustrations? Think before you print, publishing companies, think!

ETA: I haven't read the books but my sister read the 1st one and thought it was ok. When I asked her about the cover she said that based on the description of Sticky she always thought he was Black.

2. The Dragon and the Stars Edited by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi. This is a sci fi/fantasy anthology of Chinese culture. It sounds amazing. The problem? (read the comments for a better explanation). The dragon on the cover is a Western dragon. Now I admit, I didn't know the difference, but it was explained to me and I did some research (like staring at the cover of Silver Phoenix, haha) of Oriental dragons. This was first brought to my attention and explained to me by Tarie. An Oriental dragon is long and thin with no wings (and I think a lot more colorful and pretty). And we all know what western dragons look like. Why would you put a Western dragon on a book about Chinese fantasy stories that include dragons? Seriously?!

These are the only two examples I currently know of. I'm disheartened and I'm sure there's more that I'm missing. I'm working on doing a post about the most POC-friendly publishing companies. We need to shine spotlights on the companies that do good and try and make the publishing companies that aren't very diverse see why this is important and yes we have to call them out.

So what can we do? Do what you did for Magic Under Glass. Blog about this issue, email publishers and buy/read/review books about POC! Which leads me to the POC Reading Challenge. I'm co-administrator of this challenge along with Pam and Katy and it's going to be awesome! I'm so excited, but I want to see more participation :) I want to have lots of prizes, but lots of prizes cost money. So I would LOVE you forever ;) if you could donate a book to the challenge as a prize. I'm going to contribute something too (that's what babysitting and summer jobs are for) but I want to have a diverse

round of prizes.

What do we need? Adult and YA books about POC only (or bookstore giftcards)! I'm not sure how many YA and adult fiction bloggers we have doing the challenge (and we may need some MG, I'll have to check). So authors and fellow bloggers (especially my bloggers of color), would you consider donating a book about a POC as a prize? Let's help get books about POC into the hands of readers who want to read about them. Now I totally understand if you don't want to because you only have one copy of a book, I have to own all my favorite books (even if I've already read them). But if you have extra copies of a book or you don't need to own your books and are willing to give it away (I'm awful because I don't like borrowing, I'd rather trade and be done!) it would so be appreciated! You can email me or leave a comment here or at the challenge blog or email Pam or Katy. Thank you in advance!

Fat Hoochie Prom Queen

Fat Hoochie Prom Queen by Nico Medina


Rating: 3/5

IQ "Maybe she thinks that a life of overexercise, denying yourself happiness and decent sustenance, and tracking the development of wrinkle lines more than, say, the state of current affairs is what I want for myself. But it's not what I want." Madge pg. 60-61

Fat Hoochie Prom Queen is an entertaining "I'm fat and I'm proud" book which is so needed. Margarita "Madge" Diaz is big and she couldn't care less. As you can see in the above IQ quote, she knows that there are more important things in life than starving yourself. Madge is fat yes, but she's also really popular. Her former friend-turned nemesis, Bridget Benson challenges her to run against her for prom queen. It's the cliche (skinny, blond hair, blue eyes, white actress) vs. the original (fat Latina) and it gets ugly. It also gets funny and crazy unpredictable.


The actions of Madge and her friends are crazy. They party almost every weekend, drink constantly (including Liquid Cocaine and no you won't die from trying it, haha), get high and are completely unapologetic about it. A problem I had with this novel was it could be a bit unrealistic at times. The novel doesn't mention the repercussions that come with drinking and doing drugs. Madge and her best friend Lucas have a car-service (Lucas is rich and his mom supports his drinking habit) and that's responsible since they don't drink and drive. But it's not very realistic either. It was nice seeing how the other side lives, but I think the book should have more explicitly stated that if you don't have a car service and you drink and drive you could get hurt or kill someone (or yourself), etc. But Madge and Lucas look out for each other while drinking and doing drugs so it does become clear that you should always have someone looking out for you. Also, it seems like Madge is never home. We learn that she doesn't get along with her mom because her mom is always pressuring her to eat healthier, makes her feel bad about herself and disses Madge's older sister, Vanessa, who didn't go to college. So they have their issues and Madge's father is a workaholic. I would have liked to see Madge's parents become more developed characters, their transformation seemed rather rushed. I also thought it was totally unrealistic at how Madge was never home. Her parents cared about her so I didn't see how they could just let her go out and about, she had a lot of freedom and could go anywhere she wanted without questions being asked any questions. My parents ask me a ton of questions when I'm going out but maybe it's because she's a senior. In the beginning they were bad, in the end they see the error of their ways. That was too fast.

I really liked all the other characters in the novel. Madge is a breath of fresh air in this world, she could care less that she's fat, she embraces it and hams it up. She's carefree and loves to party but she's also really smart and does a good job of balancing her studies with her social life. Fat Hoochie Prom Queen is filled with positive self-esteem boosters, my weight gets me down (and I'm not even that big but I've starved myself before and looked at pro-anorexic sights) and Madge was inspiring because she's right, life is too short to become obsessed with your weight (I don't think I will completely change because of this book but it did get me to thinking). Lucas is hilarious and while he embodies some stereotypes of gay best friend, he has his original points. His romance woes are ones that anyone can relate to, should I take back someone who has wronged me? Lucas has some crazy scenes, especially with Jade/Trixie (I don't want to spoil so all I'm going to say is that this involves a 'redneck' and school bus driving). Absolutely hilarious! The relationship between Madge and Bridget is authentic and we get to know Bridget really well, her growth was wholly realistic. Madge's crush, Redneck Randy, sounds adorable and he also provides some funny scenes (if you don't like jokes about rednecks or white trailer trash you may not want to read this book)

I was pleased that while this book discussed self-esteem and friendship and lessons are learned, it's never in a condescending or preachy manner. I do think the ending was a bit predictable (it was one of those that tried not to be though so maybe it's just me) but there are some other twists in the book that you won't see coming. The author does a good job of describing Florida as well. I liked getting to know the party/club scene of Florida.

Disclosure: From the library.

The Kids at Latimar High

The Kids at Latimar High by Deborah Copeland 2006 ARC

Rating: 2/5

IQ " I mean you can't fix something that you didn't do. Stuff just happens and people expect you to be a certain way and act a certain way." Kevin pg. 39

Going to Lewis Latimar High used to be easy for Lauren O'Neil. As long as she stayed on the honor roll, got the juiciest stories for the school paper, and made sure her silky thick flip reigned amongst all the other girls at Latimar High, things stayed as smooth as a White Castle's vanilla shake until the day she got the assignment of a lifetime: to interview Kevin Johnson, Latimar's star quarterback, the finest boy in the Bronx, who was up for grabs by every girl in the school, including her best friend Rosalyn, who makes a move for Kevin. And in doing so, violates just about all of Lauren and her Girlfriends' do's and don't codes to live by. In fact, as the competition heats up, Lauren breaks a few friendship codes herself. With a sudden bitter twist, life at Latimar High isn't as easy as it used to be.

That quote is not too incredible, but I needed something. First of all, just as an FYI it's self-published and that's not an issue to me (I really need to do a post about why I read self-published books summed up in 7 words: A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott and I want to support up and coming authors of color). Like I said, I have no problem with self-published books as long as they are at their absolute best. I read somewhere (and I completely agree) don't publish a book until you're absolutely sure it's your best manuscript. And have other people read it! I found so many misspelled words, typos and grammatical errors in the Kids at Latimar High that annoyed me to no end (it's ok if it's an ARC, but this book is not). I don't want to be mean (feel free to let me know if you thought I was too harsh in this review), just offer constructive criticism.

The story has potential. The potential of the story lies in developing the minor characters a little more, telling their stories and offering more information about the main characters as well. How they turned out the way they did. Lauren's parents are fighting all the time, which worries Lauren. There's a loooong buildup to this crucial scene involving the subject of the arguments and then nothing. We read a second-hand account of what someone thought. I wanted to know how Lauren felt since it concerned her the most, I don't care how people not related to Lauren feel! The book promises a "bitter twist" (back cover), well there was no bitter twist. It was cliched and not particularly interesting. I saw the ending coming (except for one small part concerning a minor character, that was interesting but not developed). And Rosalyn's Uncle Nate sounds like a fascinating character (like the Godfather) but we learn so little about him.

I was also tired of the same old cliches and expressed used to describe characters in the novel. We constantly had to read about people raving over Lauren's "good hair" and it just got tiresome after awhile. It's described constantly as "silky", "thick", "long", etc. And it wasn't just Lauren. The main characters are constantly being described in appearance and always being mentioned but the secondary characters were hardly described or mentioned unless they appeared on the scene (there's one character, Melly Marv, who always pops up and I don't remember what he looks like or how he got his nickname "smelly" or why he's even important to the story). The characters are all flat, walking talking cliches and the pop culture references have this novel dated already. The characters were just annoying. Especially Rosalyn and Lauren. Lauren's girlfriend codes were a bit odd too. She makes rules to govern her and Rosalyn's friendship, to keep each other in check. They are cute and well meaning but she constantly refers to them and shouts out "girlfriend rule number two" or something which is irritating. Just say the rule out loud, that reminds people better. Especially, because I forgot the girlfriend codes right away. I love when an author writes flawed characters, they're human and lovable. Not so here. Caught up in materialism and it's all about them, they're flawed and not at all lovable. Did they have sad stories? Yes. But the stories would have impacted me more deeply had they been elaborated upon. Ugh and please authors don't use lines like these "her weathered Cherokee Indian features" pg. 92. In this case the character is a cafeteria worker whose ethnicity is not too important so why bother mentioning it? It didn't add to the story, I suppose it added diversity since she was the only Native American in the story but since the book is not about her and she's mentioned once, it really doesn't matter. Furthermore, what does a Cherokee Indian look like? Personally, I've never even met a Native American (how sad is that?) from any tribe so I wouldn't know the difference between a Cherokee and a Sioux. I don't mean that to be offensive, I simply mean that if you are going to identify the tribe of a Native American (which you should do, based on blogs/comments I've read saying that tribal origin is the preferred means of identification) then talk in more detail about them. Don't just mention it in passing and not elaborate because then it means nothing. Take this as an opportunity to educate readers like me.
In short, I didn't enjoy reading The Kids At Latimar High. It didn't waste much of my time because it's a quick read. I just didn't care how it ended or what happens to the characters and I won't be looking for the sequel. I believe this story could be good if it's edited again and developed more. It needs something to make it stand out because right now it's a generic story that involves no twists or particularly pleasing events (i.e. if a book is cliched but absolutely hilarious that makes it better and enjoyable).

Disclosure: Won in a giveaway from the author's website. Thank you Deborah!

ETA: I've been told that I received an ARC so that excuses some of the grammatical and spelling errors so I'm changing my rating to 2/5. However, my issues with the book remain the same. Also, I've been asked to pull this review down which I will not do as I have freedom of speech.

Thank You, We Did It! Magic of Glass cover is changing

Bloomsbury is changing the Magic Under Glass cover!
You can read the press release here

But I copied and pasted it here as well

Bloomsbury is ceasing to supply copies of the US edition of Magic Under Glass. The jacket design has caused offense and we apologize for our mistake. Copies of the book with a new jacket design will be available shortly.

Yes, Yes, Yes! Huge, huge THANK YOUs and hugs to everyone who commented, wrote letters/emails, Tweeted about this and wrote blog posts and signed the petition and joined challenges and just all around rocked my socks :) You guys are the greatest and I will be one of the first in line to buy this book with a person of color on the cover (I will be annoyed if they get rid of having a person on the cover all together). ETA: Read about the cover here, there will be a poc on the cover! Whoo hoo!!!!! It's going to be gorgeous I can feel it and very different. A historical fantasy book with a POC :D

And for the record, no I was not contacted by Bloomsbury but who cares as long as they are changing the cover! Although, I'm irritated that they haven't admitted as to why what they did is offense and WRONG.

Is this the end? No. This can never happen again, the whitewashing on covers. Not on my watch. I'm currently looking into the The Mysterious Benedict Society series whitewashed covers, as pointed out by Bookshelves of Doom. And we still need more books being published and reviewed about people of color, but one step at a time. And this is a BIG step, since it proves once again the power of thousands of voices uniting as one and being heard and the power of bloggers. Thank you all for refusing to be silenced and realizing why this is so important.

Please still sign this petition telling all publishing companies that you will buy a book with a poc, GLBT or overweight teen on the cover (currently at 304 signatures, keep 'em coming!). Also commit to reading and reviewing books about POC, write a blog post or better yet to help you get started, join the POC Reading Challenge.

Read Jaclyn Dolamore's thoughts on the cover issue (before she knew it was being redesigned I think) here

Oh and I'm thinking to celebrate the changed cover and the 200 followers I'm going to offer a copy of Magic Under Glass once it's redesigned. Amongst other things :)

PS Thanks for all the GLBT recommendations! I'll reply ASAP and I have read Ash and Down to the Bone.

Waiting on Wednesday & I Need Recommendations! And Bloomsbury + a winner!

Waiting on Wednesday is the meme started by Breaking the Spine.

This week I'm waiting on....

The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba by Margarita Engle

Release Date: March 16, 2010

The freedom to roam is something that women and girls in Cuba do not have. Yet when Fredrika explores the magical island, she brings along Cecilia, a young slave who longs for her home in Africa. Soon Elena, the daughter of the house, sneaks out to join them. As the three women explore the lush countryside, they form a bond that breaks the barriers of language and culture.

In this quietly powerful new book, Margarita Engle paints a portrait of early women's rights pioneer Fredrika Bremer and the journey to Cuba that transformed her life.

-This book sounds amazing. I love reading about Cuba and women's suffrage, so the two combined sounds like it will be really good! I got the summary from a comment by Wendy left here (Wendy got an ARC, I'm jealous!).

Bloomsbury News: Continuing the fight but I'm going to try and have reviews for the rest of the week as well and only post Bloomsbury updates. A recap of posts I've done here

My first, very angry response: Really Bloomsbury? I'm Done. The Publishing World Needs to Take Note. Read this post to read the comments and excerpts to other blog posts as well as links to the full posts. Thanks guys and I'm sorry it's not completely up to date!

My calmer, Open Letter to Bloomsbury (To clarify: Of course I emailed this to Bloomsbury)

Next Step: What Are We Going to Do? To Boycott or Not to Boycott-The problem has been identified now how are we going to keep it from happening again? Read the post that lists the pros and cons of boycotting, comments from other bloggers with suggestions and my own suggestions.

Giveaway news: I've hit 200 followers (currently 207) which is super cool. So be ready for another giveaway in celebration. I never thought I would hit 200. Thank YOU so much guys!

The winner of The Ring, Flight to Freedom AND The House on Mango Street is....

Mindy!

Congrats Mindy you have 48 hours to reply to my email. Thank you all for entering =)

Finally, I need GLBT recommendations! POC obviously. I went to the library and got Fat Hoochie Prom Queen by Nico Medina. Except the main character isn't GLBT (I thougth she was) her best friend is. This wouldn't be a problem except her best friend is white and I really want to read a book about a lesbian POC. I have a huge backload of Male Monday reviews to do, so I don't need any guy suggestions. Just girls. So leave me a comment or email me with recommendations. Thank you in advance :)

Next Step: What Are We Going to Do? To Boycott or Not to Boycott

Now I know that people have strong feelings about this topic, "Yes boycott it's the only way to get things done!" or "No boycotting is mean and hurtful!". But hear me out. I want to start a dialogue for solutions. I just got home from school so I'm trying to catch up on emails/comments/twitter (no response from Bloomsbury yet, I will let you guys know if I get one). I'm going to list the pros and cons of boycotting Bloomsbury to help people understand why it's good AND bad. I'll also post my own suggestions. Then I want you guys to leave comments telling me what YOU are going to do and leaving the rest of the blogging community suggestions. I'll go through them and update this post constantly.

I will NOT tolerate any name calling or singling out any blogger in a negative way. It defeats the purpose and hurts potential allies. There's no need for that. Express your opinion, respectfully and without using names (unless you want to give good attention to a blogger). However, don't comment asking "what's the big deal" or tell me to leave it alone. Well you can, but I'll ignore the comment because honestly, that's ignorant. If you want to know why it's a big deal, read my letter and other people's blog posts and comments.

The problem: The same publishing company, Bloomsbury is whitewashing covers. First Liar, now Magic Under Glass. Both about POC, both received covers with white models on them (Liar's cover was changed). The deeper issue here is why does Bloomsbury think this is ok? And how will we change their minds?

Pro Boycott Bloomsbury: A great post in favor of a Bloomsbury boycott is at Black Eyed Susan's: Starting MLK Day With a Protest.


Boycotting does work. Best example: MLK's bus boycott. Enough said. Money talks and if Bloomsbury sees their sales dropping, I think they will get the memo. They will know why because people will have been blogging/emailing/writing and complaining about their whitewashing ways. If they see that people are disappointed in them whitewashing book covers and sending the message that books about POC are not important, they will have to change their ways because they want to make money.

From Eva at A Striped Armchair: I don't read/buy YA books, so my opinion on the boycott is more theoretical than actual. But I think boycotting all Bloomsbury books will send a message across. And obviously, they didn't get the message after Liar. So more dramatic action is needed. It's sad that the authors are going to be hurt as well. But Bloomsbury needs a clearer message.

I've sent them an e-mail, and I'm also planning on my e-mailing my public library system. It has a lot of teen outreach programs, and I'm wondering if they'd be interested in coordinating a protest campaign. I live in a pretty white city, but I'm hoping for the best!


Cons: It hurts the author and all the authors after him or her. If we boycott Bloomsbury and they see that Magic Under Glass (or any other book about a poc that has been whitewashed) isn't selling well, they will most likely drop the author. I don't want that to happen (and you shouldn't either) because if the author has actually written about a POC we should support them and show that yes money talks and we will buy books about POC even if we are not POC ourselves because we want a GOOD story and it doesn't have to be about a white person to be a good story. Furthermore, if Bloomsbury sees that a book about a poc is not selling, they very well may decide that publishing books about poc is a waste of time (although they have few to begin with) and stop publishing them all together. And then we'll be even worse off.

Donna at Bites says: I absolutely refuse to boycott as it would have such an adverse affect on authors with back and front lists with Bloomsbury. There's no need to punish them when they're not at fault.

I think the best course of action are letter-writing campaigns, flooding inboxes and voicemail boxes, and just making sure voices are heard. Support authors but let the publisher know they need to change their tactics. It's a sticky situation and while boycotting does work, it'll hurt more than the publisher.

My Suggestions
1. Email or write a letter to Bloomsbury! (preferably email because it's faster)

2. Blog about it! To find excerpts and links to other blog posts about whitewashing and Bloomsbury failures go here

3. Go buy a book about a poc. And make a commitment to include more books about poc on your blog or if you don't have a blog, just diversify your reading pile. No excuses about not being able to find any books about poc. You guys have Google and a bunch of other resources (including me, Color Online, Tu Publishing, theHappyNappyBookseller, White Readers Meet Black Authors, Crazy Quilts, Gal Novelty and Fledgling). If you only blog about a specific genre and you need some suggestions for books about poc then feel free to leave me a comment or email me, I'd be happy to give suggestions, I know how hard it can be to find poc books in historical fiction or sci fi/fantasy (just two big examples). If you don't have the money to buy a book right now (believe me I understand with this economy every penny counts) then go to your library. If they have nothing, talk to the librarians, ask for books about POC. Usually if you express interest in a book they will try and get it.

5. Join the POC Reading Challenge Right now. Pam at bookalicio.us started this in response to whitewashed covers. That is so huge and beyond amazing! Thank you Pam (I wish I knew who you were =/ Anyone know?)

6. Reach out to potential allies like Ursula Le Guin who writes about POC and constantly got covers with white people on them. Read her awesome post here about her whitewashed covers and how her books were whitewashed on TV as well. Then write her letter asking her to speak out. She doesn't accept emails, I'll be writing a letter asap. I'm really sad that I've never read her books, must remedy that! Thank you to Cara at Ooh..Books! for this idea.

7. Sign a petition! I'll Buy the Book says Dear Publishing Houses,

We appreciate your work and the selection of great books you provide us with.
We do not pick books based on the color of skin on the cover. We love books for their story; so if the main character is Asian, Hispanic, African-American, gay or overweight, and is accurately represented on the cover, fear not. If we love the story, we’ll certainly buy the book!
-Covers everyone. It's short, sweet and to the point! Please, please sign :)

And for those of you who went to the Bloomsbury booth at ALA Midwinter and expressed your feelings, THANK YOU! To those of you who have blogged and emailed and wrote letters and left comments and screamed yourself hoarse, THANK YOU!

These are just quick thoughts and I really want to hear your own ideas. I'm trying to respond to emails and update posts as fast as I can, but bear with me :)

Male Monday: The Rock and the River

The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon 2009

Rating: 5/5

IQ "Look, as long as you think being a Panther just means carrying a gun, you won't be able to understand what's happening here. [...]It's the Panther's ideas that people fear most, not our guns. We're telling blacks that we can fix some of our problems ourselves, that we don't have to wait to be accepted into the white mainstream to have our day come. [....]It's the difference between demonstrating and organizing. Between waiting for handouts that aren't coming or taking care of each other the way we have to. It's the rock and the river, you know? They serve each other, but they're not the same thing." Stick pg. 231-231

I loved this book and it deserves all its honors. Today it was announced that The Rock and The River has won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award It has also been nominated for a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature for Youth/Teens

I decided to review this book in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It's very appropriate since the Rock and The River is about the civil rights movement. It tells the story of Sam Childs, son of a nonviolent civil rights protester, Roland Childs (a fictional character). Sam is thirteen years old and he really looks up to his seventeen year old brother, Steven (Sam calls him Stick). The boys are very close, they are best friends. Sam has never questioned his father's nonviolent methods until he finds Black Panthers literature under his brother's bed. Soon Stick joins the Black Panthers much to the dismay of his parents. Sam isn't sure whose right, his brother or his father. Especially as Sam witnesses more and more police brutality and the positive impact that the Black Panthers can have, compared to the seemingly more slow at creating change, non violent civil rights protest led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I don't want to make this review too long because I could just gush about this book all day. I'll start with the reading, it's beautiful. It's filled with lines like "Rough concrete pillars stood proud above the courthouse steps, looking weathered and bored, like they were tired of carrying the weight of the law on their shoulders." Great visualization and use of words. The meaning behind the title is very interesting and I liked seeing how it was hard to tell sometimes, who was the rock and who was the river. The question is more complex than Sam thought. Kekla Magoon does a great job of describing the dilemma Sam is in. Whose methods are right and more effective, the Black Panthers and Sam's brother or Dr. King, Sam's father and all their followers? This is such a hard decision for Sam because he and his brother are so close. I loved reading about their relationship, it was sweet and genuine. It had its fair share of rough patches and at times I feared that they wouldn't be able to patch up their relationship.

The author does a great job of remaining non judgemental and neutral in The Rock and The River. She provides an unbiased look at the Black Panthers and the nonviolent civil rights movement. She addresses the positives and negatives, the frustrations and hopes of both groups. She even gives a glimpse of underlying issues, such as how the Black Panthers treated women (it's very brief, but you can gather a bit of information from it). It also addresses the issue of classism. Based on what I've read, it seems that more middle too upper class African Americans supported the nonviolent methods and the lower/working class supported the Black Panthers. It makes for an engrossing read, learning about the goals of the Black Panthers (land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace). The Black Panthers all too often are villainized as "scary, radical, angry Black men" or ignored in books and in schools, this book shows their violent side but it also shows how they served free breakfasts, worked to open a free health clinic, paid for lawyers for African Americans who were falsely accused and protected African Americans from police brutality. They looked out for the underdog in more direct ways often with faster results. I also like how the novel really picks up after Martin Luther King Jr is assassinated. It describes the confusion of the time, is the movement dead? Whose the new leader? Should we retaliate?

The characters are wonderful. Sam and Stick were my favorites, although I really liked Maxie too. I liked them all really! The developing romance between Sam and Maxie is cute and realistic to children their age. I would have liked to read and learn a little more about Maxie and her role with the Black Panthers as well as her personal story. I did sort of expect the ending, although it was still mostly a surprise. The characters are authentic, flawed and complex. The plot is well developed and rarely predictable. It's never too preachy, you don't feel like you are being beat over the head with facts or life lessons. The Rock and the River is an important new addition to YA literature, especially YA historical fiction. It's about time we are presented with an original and new topic, the Black Panthers. 6th grade and up.

PS This book helped inspire me in writing my Open Letter to Bloomsbury. People put their life on the line for civil rights. My letter and the posts that others are writing, is a continuation of that fight. We are working to realize Dr. King's dream, by demanding diversity in publishing, by refuting the notion that books with people of color on the cover won't sell as well as books with white people on the cover.

And I've been interviewed! Check it out at Multiculturalism Rocks!

An Open Letter to Bloomsbury Kids USA. Other Publishing Houses Take Note

To Whom it May Concern,

Hello. My name is Ari and here at my blog I review YA books about people of color. Right when I was starting up my blog, controversy over your US Liar cover broke out. Allow me to jog your memory, since you've made the exact same mistake. Liar is about Micah a "nappy-headed", tomboy, African American girl. Your original cover had a white girl on it. After many bloggers protested, including the author herself you changed the US cover to the image of an African American girl, she even looks bi-racial, like Micah. Now I don't want this to be a history lesson, but I ask you, why have you made the exact same mistake? I'm talking about Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore. The main character, Nimira is described as "dark-skinned." The model on the book is definitely not dark-skinned. Do publishers even read the book when they make the cover? Here are some quotes to help you out. I'll help you out, on page 96, Nimira says "exposing my brown skin." (thanks Charlotte!) Hmmm, the model pn the cover does not have brown skin. And if you used a particularly light skinned model, well that still doesn't help since she doesn't look like a person of color and if the book describes her as dark skinned than use a dark skinned model (and I know they exist!)

Please note that I do not in any way blame the author. I've read her comments on the subject and I've seen her book trailer (perhaps you should watch it), she clearly states and shows that Nimira is dark-skinned (also look at her pictures of her characters). This is your fault, not Ms. Dolamore's. Through blogging, especially after the Liar issue, I've learned that the author has no say in his or her cover. I think that is so wrong and should be corrected. Perhaps then you (and other publishing houses) wouldn't continuously anger people and create covers that look nothing like how the authors envisioned. I also know that the the cover for Magic Under Glass was created before the Liar controversy. But that's no excuse. What would posses you to think you could get away with this? Do you really think your teen readers are that stupid and shallow that we will not read books with people of color on the cover? Newsflash: It's the 21st century, we have an African American president and as long as the book is good, no one cares about what the main character looks like! Furthermore, I think the cover of Magic Under Glass is gorgeous. I love the glass, the dress/corset and how the cover screams "historical fantasy." It would have been even better with a dark-skinned model. If you're not going to consult the author about the cover, at least read the book yourself so you don't look like fools when you make a cover that doesn't fit the book! Did you really think that since the cover of Magic Under Glass was finished before Liar, that you could get away with saying nothing? You should have AT LEAST recognized your mistake, apologized and promised to make the paperback version have a person of color on the cover (since it is very expensive to publish books and changing the cover even more so). Obviously, you thought we teen bloggers would simply not notice or even care. Well guess what, we do. Check out the comments of this post, I'm compiling a list of all the reactions out there on the blogopshere. This is not a one time issue and you will not be let off the hook.
ETA (really I just want to clarify): I do not think a boycott of Magic Under Glass is the best way to go as the author has worked really hard on her book and she wrote about a person of color and we should be grateful for that especially since the book has gotten good reviews. In fact, I'll probably review it (so at least this issue promoted some good discussion and hopefully change as well as introducing me to a new book I may have otherwise missed). We should keep blogging, emailing, writing about this issue.

I'm sure you can't imagine what it's like to wander through the teen section of a bookstore and only see one or two books with people of color on them. Do you know how much that hurts? Are we so worthless that the few books that do feature people of color don't have covers with people of color? It's upsetting, it makes me angry and it makes me sad. Can you imagine growing up as a little girl and wanting to be white because not only do you not see people who look like you on TV, you don't see them in your favorite books either. You get discouraged and you want to be beautiful and be like the characters in the books you read and you start to believe that you can't be that certain character because you don't look like them. I love the books I grew up with, but none of them featured people of color. I found those later, when I was older and I started looking for them. Do you know how sad I feel when my middle school age sister tells me she would rather read a book about a white teen than a person of color because "we aren't as pretty or interesting." She doesn't know the few books that do exist out there about people of color because publishing houses like yourself, don't put people of color on the covers. And my little brother doesn't even like to read, he wants to read about cool people who look like him, but he doesn't see those books in bookstores and now he rarely reads. He reads books where skin color isn't really mentioned at all (like Diary of a Wimpy Kid which is a funny book). I want my siblings and all other children of color to want to read books about people of color without feeling like they don't exist, that we aren't cool or interesting. If I can read a book about a white teen than why can't a white teenager read a book about a Black/Latino/Asian/Native American teen? We all go through the same experiences, we all face discrimination of some sort whether it be based on gender, race or sexual orientation. Sure, in realistic fiction teens of color are going to face racism, but that's realistic and it's something white teens should know. They need to recognize that racism isn't dead, but that skin color should not matter. We are all the same underneath. We also need more historical fiction that tells the full story of America, not just the white history of America and a little slavery and civil rights (for some suggestions read my post about the lack of people of color in historical fiction)And in sci fi/fantasy books, what does race matter? A Cherokee witch is just as cool as a white witch, a Latina vampire hunter can kick just as much butt as a white vampire hunter, etc. Their experiences are the same, there's no racial prejudice in fantasy worlds (there are some exceptions).

Bloomsbury, you've brought this upon yourself. As they say "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Well the joke's on me for believing that publishing houses actually cared about putting people of color on covers, that publishing houses would actually want diverse stories. And to think, before I started blogging, I assumed it was the author's fault. That they weren't writing the stories about people of color, that they could control their covers. now I know, the stories are being written, just not published and the author has no control over the cover. I'm considering becoming a CEO of a publishing house and being committed to having books about people of color as well as letting my authors help pick their covers.

I hope the other publishing houses take note, because they will be called out. I'm not just picking on you, Bloomsbury. Your problem is, you've done the same thing twice. I don't want to hurt the author, I really respect her and the book sounds good, but I can not (will not) buy a book that is supposed to be about a dark-skinned girl, when the cover features a White model. I hope you rectify this as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Ari Reading in Color

PS I'm including the images that have caused so much controversy and discussion since you seem to suffer from short term memory loss. I thank you for changing Liar, let's do the same for Magic Under Glass.