Saturday, January 2, 2010

The Lack of People Of Color in Historical Fiction

What, You Mean To Tell Me There Were No People of Color in U.S. History?

I’m sure based on that title you’re shaking your head and saying “Ari you are obviously wrong, hello slavery and civil rights involved people of color” Oh and if you really know your history you might throw in the Mexican American war and perhaps Cesar Chavez and the migrant workers movement. (Note this post is mostly addressing American history with some mention of international history). And should I even ask if people know anything about the history of other countries I will most likely be met with blank stares. Now at this point, you’re probably thinking “oh so you have a problem with historical fiction and the American educational system.” Well, yes and no but that’s for another post at another time (perhaps after I actually finish the American educational system). This post is about the lack of historical fiction about people of color, specifically concerning American history. I want to make this a series of posts (there will be no regularity to them since I don’t have the time), my addressing the lack of books about poc in YA genres and offering recommendations of books that are out there. I decided to start with historical fiction because it’s my favorite genre and I’m doing the Royal Reviews Historical Fiction Challenge 2010 and it took me FOREVER to compile a list of historical fiction that was YA about poc. I tried to leave off slavery and the civil rights movement (see my sidebar for my list). It was a frustrating process and it got me to thinking, where is all the historical fiction about people who look like me or at least not white? Granted, I didn't have to read historical fiction about poc or I could have read MG or adult fiction. I will be reading some MG but I wanted to focus mostly on YA about poc since that's what my blog is about and it's so underrepresented. I wanted to raise people's awareness in this challenge and help them discover new, good books about poc.

Slavery in my mind is played out. It’s tied with the civil rights movement with the most books written about in YA and MG (I have no actual statistics this is just based on research on my part that involved Google and Amazon). As an African American teenager, I’m tired of reading books about slavery. It’s upsetting and the books are all starting to seem the same to me (there are of course exceptions). My view is this: if you want to write about slavery, at least do it during a different time period but please leave the civil war alone! Slavery during the time of the Civil War or right before the start of the Civil War is what most books are about. If an author really likes the Civil War and wants to write about African Americans how about you write about the life of AA soldiers or spies? It’s new and it’s different! But ultimately, try and leave slavery alone. It doesn’t make me feel all that much better, most of the time it just makes me angry, even if the protagonist triumphs in the end. The same thing applies to the Civil Rights movement; find a different, unexplored perspective! Most stories featuring an AA protagonist are told from the side of the non violent civil rights movement. That’s fine, but I’d like to see more books about the Black Panthers and the Black is Beautiful movement and anything else that is relevant to that time period. But how about something more original and different? There are so many unexplored aspects of AA history. African Americans have been a part of American history since it’s conception so where are the books about our role in the Revolutionary war, the war of 1812, WWI, WWII, Vietnam (any war except the Civil War!). I could name countless YA titles for each of these wars with white main characters. Or how about the Back to Africa movement, the Harlem Renaissance (my personal favorite period in AA history but there are NO YA books about it), policy kings (shout out to Christine Fletcher’s Ten Cents a Dance for informing me about what a policy king is. They are from the ‘40s), spies (I’m sure some AAs were involved in spying for the U.S. during all the wars), the beginning of hip hop (‘80s) and so much more.

It’s even worse for Latinos, Asians and Native Americans. I don’t even know much about the history of Latinos in America. Possible topics; the Mexican American War (or the history of Latinos fighting in any war!), how Latinos felt as their homes became part of the U.S. (California, Texas, New Mexico, etc.), and the migrant workers labor movement. Or make it international, there are so few YA historical fiction about independence movements in Latin America, life under dictatorships and anything about their history. The same applies for Asians, books about the history of Japan, China, the Philippines, Taiwan, etc. Or the role of Asians in America (I have no suggestions for possible topics because I really don’t know all I can think of is Chinese workers working on the railroad and during WWII when Japanese Americans were imprisoned in internment camps). And the historical fiction that is about Native Americans for YAs is very few and a lot of the books twist the facts and are considered offensive unless written by Native Americans themselves.

The few historical fiction novels that are out there about poc are marketed to middle grade readers. I’ve compiled a list below of some good historical fiction novels covering diverse time periods of history and the majority of novels I found were MG. I’m not sure why that is, so I would for someone to explain it to me. I suppose it might be because middle school readers are more open eyed and willing to read things from all genres, whereas in high school it can be considered ‘uncool’ to read historical fiction (or sci fi or manga, etc.).

I know the thought running through people’s minds (it crossed mine too) is, you are making a lot of suggestions so why not write a book yourself about a topic I’ve suggested. I would, but not everyone can write and I’m someone who can’t write. So I appeal to all current and aspiring writers (especially writers of color) who want to write historical fiction, think about these topics and break outside the mold, do something fresh.

Recommended Reading (I haven’t read all of these)

MG

1. Dear America Series-this series helped start my love of historical fiction, some good titles are; Color Me Dark (1919 Chicago race riot, I used this book as a basis of a history fair project and went all the way to State!), Look to The Hills (prior to the French Indian War), Valley of the Moon (the fight over California entering the U.S.). Also check out the male Dear Americas called the My Name is America: Journal series and the Royal Diaries series

2. Washington City is Burning by Harriette Gillem Robinet (any books by her are good, all MG and about AAs in different time periods not well publicized)

3. Girls of Many Lands series (Saba-Africa, Leyla-Turkey, Neela-India, and Spring Pearl –China)

4. Dragonwings by Laurence Yep (anything by Laurence Yep, not everything is historical fiction but most of his work is, mostly all about the history of Chinese people in America)

5. Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis-Set in the 1930s in Michigan, African American (anything by Christopher Paul Curtis, he's absolutely hysterical, but his books are also very sweet)

6. Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan-1930s Hispanic immigrant

7. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor-1930s African American family. A series

8. The Birchbark House by Louise Eldrich-Life on the frontier (1840s) told through the eyes of an Ojiibwa girl (anything by Louise Eldrich)

9. All the Broken Pieces by Ann Burg-Vietnamese American boy (son of a Vietnames woman, American soldier), who is airlifted out of Vietnam after the war and taken to America.

10. Journey of Dreams by Marge Pellegrino-1980s Guatemala, a 13 year old Mayan girl is fleeing the military who are trying to destroy the homes of the indigenous people.

(I apologize for my slightly older MG selections, I don't read much MG anymore so I'm not up to date on the current books, feel free to leave recommendations in the comments)

YA

See also my Royal Reviews Historical Fiction Reading Challenge sidebar list

1.Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins (India, 1970s)

2.Bless Me Ultima (Hispanic child but it’s YA and adult reading level, ‘40s)

3. Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith (AA female passes as white to be a pilot, WWII)

4. Mare's War by Tanita Davis-WWII AA female soldier

5. CodeTalker by Joseph Bruchac- Navajo codetalkers, WWII (anything by Joseph Bruchac, especially March Toward the Thunder about NAs role in the Civil War)

6. A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott-1863 Draft War riots in Brooklyn

7. Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth-India during the time of Gandhi

8. Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman-India during WWII

9. Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez-1960s Dominican Republic under Trujillo

10. Gringolandia by Lyn Miller Lachmann-1980s during the terror regime of Pinochet in Chile

Upcoming Historical Fiction MG&YA

1. A Million Shades of Gray by Cynthia Kadohata MG (Life in Vietname during the Vietnam War) Release Date: Jan. 5, 2010

2. Escaping the Tiger by Laura Manivong MG (Communist Laos, refugees escaping to Thailand. Thanks for the correction Laura!) Release Date: March 9, 20120

3. Leaving Gee’s Bend by Irene Latham (1930s AA girl) MG Release Date: Jan. 7, 2010

4. Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai MG (post 9/11 Afghanistan and America) Release Date: Jun. 22, 2010

5. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams Garcia- MG (Black Panthers, ) Release Date: Jan. 26, 2010

6. The Red Umbrella by Cristina Gonzalez-YA (Pedro Pan, Cuba) Release Date: May 11, 2010

7. 90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis-MG (Pedro Pan, Cuba) Release date: Aug 23, 2010

8. The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba by Margarita Engle Release Date: March 16, 2010 (about women's suffrage in Cuba, Thanks so much Wendy for this suggestion! Read synopsis in the comments section from Wendy)

Obviously, I couldn't list all the titles I found and for the most part I tried to go for the more recently published books, but some books are such classics and rarities that they needed to be included (like Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry)

Many thanks to Lyn Miller-Lachmann, author of Gringolandia, for her historical fiction recommendations and wonderful advice :)

ETA: Ah Yuan has a good theory as to the gap between how much MG and YA historical fiction there is

I think that may possibly be influenced by the fact that YA is a fairly recent category in the US publishing industry whereas MG, which were all considered children's books back in the day, were around for longer. I think if we look at the ratio of POC books in both YA and MG, they'd be about the same, and that the reason why POC MG novels are numerically more than POC YA novels simply because there are more MG novels in general. But um, I don't really have statistics to back this up, so just think of this as a hunch, a theory I thought up of on the sly

ETA 1/5/10: Another great comment that offered a different perspective is Jill's

I don't want to gainsay the problem, but I have another point of view to offer. This may seem like anathema to all you fiction fans out there, but there are some great, and really really readable nonfiction books out there, and I mean books that read like they're fiction, they're so good. Maybe there is also a deleterious stereotype about nonfiction that scares people away. Just a couple of examples of good nonfiction (not necessary re poc but just good reading): I was on the edge of my seat for Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fischer, and Fischer is more of an academic historian than most. Or, and this does deal with slavery, and is by a POC: I loved loved loved Jefferson's Pillow by Roger Wilkins, because it dealt with slavery from the point of view of a black man (and civil rights leader) trying to reconcile Jefferson's behavior with his rhetoric. And it was just outstanding. There are great nonfiction books out there about the role of blacks in history, whether about the Harlem Renaissance, or building schools in the South, or colonizing Nova Scotia, or working in science (e.g., Granville Woods, "the black Thomas Edison) and these all make really good reading! Okay, now, the negative: many of these are not written by people of color. Some are, but many aren't. But maybe jumping into the history no matter who the author will inspire a POC to take up the topic for historical fiction. OR, maybe people will discover nonfiction as a great genre!!!

Please everyone take note that I'm reading ALL your comments, but it's hard to respond to all of them. But I am reading and I'll try to respond asap, but don't take it personally if I don't respond to your personal comment. Thanks for stopping by and contributing :D Also, I'm going to try and do a part-two of this discussion showcasing some comments, so if you DO NOT want your comment shared, let me know.

39 comments:

  1. Thanks for the mention! But six out of seven forthcoming historical novels with poc are for middle grades? Ouch!

    But the problem is real, and it's with historical fiction in general, not just for books with poc. Several writers I know who used to write YA historical fiction have now switched to fantasy. And there are a lot of similarities between historical fiction and fantasy in terms of building unfamiliar worlds and depicting different ways of life.

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  2. Margarita Engle's The Firefly Letters is coming out this year--it's about women's suffrage in Cuba. I'm marking all of these books for me to-read list...

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  3. Awesome post. Ive read some of those books but not many. We do need more POC color writing books not just that relate to us as chicanas/chicanos,African-americans, and other races but that talk about our cultures. I am looking foward to your Public school post.

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  4. Ugh. What a sad and true problem. I'm trying to remember why I don't read much historical fiction, or much YA books featuring POCs either. It's because, as you said, there's such a narrow scope for the "roles" that POC teens can "play" in literature. I'm turned off to reading historical fiction books about Asians because of the very fact that they are either about, y'know, the railroad, or the Japanese internment camps, or the difficulties of immigration and culture clashes a la The Joy Luck Club (which I enjoyed, by the way, but I wouldn't want to read that kind of stuff constantly). I'm doing a 10-Category challenge for 2010, and one of my categories is POC, while another might be historical fiction. Both are categories I don't read enough in. I'm beginning to see a greater shift towards awareness of the lack of good and diverse literature in these categories, though, so here's to the future and hoping that maybe we'll be able to make a difference in it!

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  5. I don't want to gainsay the problem, but I have another point of view to offer. This may seem like anathema to all you fiction fans out there, but there are some great, and really really readable nonfiction books out there, and I mean books that read like they're fiction, they're so good. Maybe there is also a deleterious stereotype about nonfiction that scares people away. Just a couple of examples of good nonfiction (not necessary re poc but just good reading): I was on the edge of my seat for Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fischer, and Fischer is more of an academic historian than most. Or, and this does deal with slavery, and is by a POC: I loved loved loved Jefferson's Pillow by Roger Wilkins, because it dealt with slavery from the point of view of a black man (and civil rights leader) trying to reconcile Jefferson's behavior with his rhetoric. And it was just outstanding. There are great nonfiction books out there about the role of blacks in history, whether about the Harlem Renaissance, or building schools in the South, or colonizing Nova Scotia, or working in science (e.g., Granville Woods, "the black Thomas Edison) and these all make really good reading! Okay, now, the negative: many of these are not written by people of color. Some are, but many aren't. But maybe jumping into the history no matter who the author will inspire a POC to take up the topic for historical fiction. OR, maybe people will discover nonfiction as a great genre!!!

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  6. I was just thinking about this the other day! In the book Jonathan Norrell and Mr. Strange, (an adult book) there's a black character, a butler, who's living in England during the 1800s, the ultimate fish out of water. So I was thinking, surely he wasn't the only black person living abroad back in the day.

    What about all those black performers--dancers and jazz musicians--who went to Paris in the 20s and 30s and thrived in a way they never could have in America? Or the free people of color who lived and worked and owned property in New Orleans when other black people had to work in the fields? Or how about a story about black Native Americans? There's a whole history of blacks being captured or assimilated into different tribes.

    There are SO MANY stories out there that people are just ignoring. It's tragic.

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  7. Hi Dia,
    I've been trying to get in contact with you.

    Jill,
    I like non-fiction. I need to step up, read more of it and review it.

    Ari,
    You are beyond hopes and expectations. Great post. I have added a lot of titles from your blog to my reading pile.

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  8. @Lyn-It's true that historical fiction is getting less and less popular, but it would still be way easier for me to find a book set in any time period, even an obscure historical event with a white protagonist. My energy is totally focused on getting/discovering more books about poc and I thank you for helping add to this genre :)

    @Wendy-YES! Thank you, I'm definitely adding this to my list, a not very well known story and I love reading about Cuba :D

    @bookweirdo-Exactly, we need more books about our cultures to help us better understand one another and realize we are all the same and that America has a rich diverse history

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  9. All the books I thought of while reading your post are on your lists! Except, have you tried the books by Anjali Banerjee? I really enjoy them

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  10. Dia, I would LOVE to see a book about a black performer in 20s/30s Paris. That would be awesome! Someone get on that!

    I've always read a lot of non-fiction and memoir because the whole world, and all kinds of different people, has always fascinated me...and historical fiction, as you say, can be narrow. Very narrow. It's gotten BETTER, at least. When I was a teen, it seemed like ALL historical fiction for teens was all Civil War, Holocaust, the founding of America, or Medieval/Renaissance England. maybe ancient Greece or Cleopatra once in a while. I really really want to see many more stories of people of different cultures and time periods besides the usual...

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  11. Interestingly, there is no shortage of poc historical fiction for adult readers. And among those titles are notable bestsellers that were also critically acclaimed, from Edwidge Danticat's The Farming of Bones and Julia Alvarez's In the Time of Butterflies (two of my all-time favorites) to Edward P. Jones's The Known World and Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner. I don't know if this is a generational difference, or if there's something about the years between 18 and 22 that makes historical fiction go from being uncool to being cool, or if young fans of historical fiction tend to jump from middle grade to adult without passing through YA. And I suppose to reaffirm the last of these reasons, a lot of the notable adult historical fiction titles depict childhood and coming of age.

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  12. Thank you Dia - I was thinking the same thing about all those Black artist who moved to Europe.

    I think that would make a great story the protagonist could be the daughter/son or niece/nephew

    And mentioning New Orleans makes me think of Ruined by Paula Morris - One of the MC is a Haitian ghost. It give a lot of history of the city and Haitian's. One of my favorite books of the year.

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  13. @Ari,

    Historical fiction isn't a top genre of mine (I'm mostly a fantasy gal. =D) but I love the book list you got here. *squee* Yayyyyy~ Laurence Yep mention!! He was one of my favourite writers growing up. His historicals weren't my favourite since he mostly did the railroad and/or gold rush stuff (...) but I did like Dragon Road, which was set during the 30s Depression mixed in with Basketball. If you haven't read it I highly recommend it. Or Cynthia Kadohata's Weedflower. Favourite Internment Camp novel evar~ And there was this Historical Mongolian MG novel I remember reading when I was young, something about this girl and a horse race, but I don't remember the title or the author at all anymore, and I don't know how well it'll hold up upon a reread.

    It's interesting that you mention how there's more MG with POC protagonists compare to YA. I think that may possibly be influenced by the fact that YA is a fairly recent category in the US publishing industry whereas MG, which were all considered children's books back in the day, were around for longer. I think if we look at the ratio of POC books in both YA and MG, they'd be about the same, and that the reason why POC MG novels are numerically more than POC YA novels simply because there are more MG novels in general. But um, I don't really have statistics to back this up, so just think of this as a hunch, a theory I thought up of on the sly. =D

    @rhapsodyinbooks,

    Now that you bring up nonfiction, has anyone tried out Eduardo Galeano? I love his Memory of Fire trilogy, very readable. (and that's rare in history non-fiction books, from my experience.)

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  14. I just found your blog by accident and am wondering if you've read Richard Zimmler's Hunting Midnight?

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  15. Thanks so much for mentioning Escaping The Tiger. While it certainly deals with the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the characters are from Laos. It's loosely based on the turmoil my husband's family went through after the war in Indochina ended. It's wonderful that you highlight these titles. Sincerest thanks!

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  16. @Steph Su - I actually love historical fiction in general, but I'm with you about having big problems with "fact that they are either about, y'know, the railroad, or the Japanese internment camps, or the difficulties of immigration and culture clashes a la The Joy Luck Club (which I enjoyed, by the way, but I wouldn't want to read that kind of stuff constantly)."

    @Ah Yuan // wingstodust - I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade by Diane Lee Wilson? I really like that book, although I'm a sucker for books set in Mongolia in general.

    @Ari - I have to mention Graham Salisbury's Eyes of the Emperor. It's about a Japanese-American teen at the start of World War II (which, I'll admit, is pretty much the only time you'll see a Japanese-American male protagonist in historical fiction). But it's based on a real experiment, in which the military thought Japanese had a different scent than Americans, so they tried to train attack dogs to recognize the "Japanese scent."

    I do think historical fiction needs more diversity in setting, time period, and plot in general, but, yes, this is even more true where historical novels featuring people of color is concerned.

    One more comment about your list of upcoming books (thanks for compiling, btw). Someone already noted how many middle graders there were, but the books are also predominantly set in other countries. I won't argue with the importance of this, but I also wouldn't mind seeing more historical fiction with people of color set in the US.

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  17. I'm so glad everyone is contributing :)

    @lauramanivong-Thanks for stopping by and I'm always happy to spotlight poc titles. I'll edit my explanation of the book (I couldn't find a summary of the book on Amazon, I don't know why I didn't think to check your website).

    @Ana T-Glad you found me/us :) I haven't read Hunting Midnight. I'll check it out.

    @Ah Yuan-Laurence Yep was one of my fav writers growing up to because he wrote about non-white dancers (I danced for about 12 years). I really want to read Dragon Road and Weedflower (I really liked Kira Kira, need to review that!). Not sure of the Mongolian novel you're talking about. That's a really awesome theroy. mind if I post that in the post? you can always tell me to take it down if you don't want it up there. You're awesome!

    @susan-You got me started with some great titles. Glad to return the favor although I have a long way to go, your help is indispensable.

    @steph Su-Exactly. I'm tired of slavery/civil rights in historical fiction for AAs, immigration for Latinos, and railroad/internment camps for Asians (although post 9/11 I think people need to read more books about the internment camps and learn from our mistakes. Shine, Coconut Moon makes great connections of our post 9/11 world of 'muslim=terrorist' to the WWII Japanese Americans being impriosoned in internment camps. And if we could just get historically accurate books about Native Americans! So glad you're working to help change the future, we most certainely can!

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  18. Ari, here's the flap copy on my ARC of The Firefly Letters you were asking about on my blog--

    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.

    (Henry Holt, March 2010, ages 10 and up)

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  19. @rhapsodyinbooks-I think I will have to read more adult fiction and nonfiction to satisfy my love of history. You're right, there are some great nonfiction books out there that read like fiction in that they are interesting and fast paced and entertaining. See, I'd never heard of Granville Woods, now my interest is piqued! I'll definitely check out Jefferson's Pillow. I follow all your recommendations :)

    @Dia-It is tragic out how many events have/are ignored and that's what this post is about, specifically events that affect poc. I would love to read a book about the black artists and writers who moved to Paris in the '20s (I'll check out Black Girl in Paris and the Feast of All Saints which sounds amazing and see what else I can dig up) nonfiction seems to be the main way to go right now.

    @hc-no I haven't read anything by Anjali Banerjee. Any recommendations of what book to start with?

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  21. I loved the Dear America series. I wish they still published them, I would still read them! I do think there is more historical fiction in general for middle grade but I have seen more YA historical fiction in the past year so hopefully the genre becomes popular.

    If you liked the Dear America: Valley of the Moon book, the author Sherry Garland wrote several YA historicals. They are older so may or may not be still in print but the titles are In the Shadow of the Alamo (about a young Mexican soldier), Indio (about the Spanish Conquest of the Americas as seen through the point of view of a young Native woman), and The Last Rainmaker (about a girl in a Wild West Show who has a white father and a Native American mother)

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  22. @ Trisha,

    OMG YES That's the one!! Yayyyyy now I know the title in case I ever wanna reread it. =D

    @Ari,

    lol no prob. I'm flattered you think my words are worth ETA-ing. 8D

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  23. Graham Salisbury has a whole series set in Hawaii during WWII with a Japanese American teen protag. "House of the Red Fish" was really outstanding. (I have no idea why this is MG - I think it actually works better for YA.)

    I just finished "The Firefly Letters" and thought it was outstanding. I'm slowly putting together a column on Cuban and Cuban/American titles for later this year. I'm so glad to see them starting to appear for teens.

    One other thing - could they please take a break from Holocaust novels? Is this really the only historical Jewish experience that anyone can write about? Really?

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  24. I was just going to mention Graham Salisbury, too. I haven't read "House of the Red Fish" yet, but I did read "Eyes of the Emperor," and it was extraordinary. He based the novel on interviews he did with Japanese-American WWII veterans and their experiences, some of which had never been told before. These were boys fighting for America at the same time their own families were in American internment camps. Their stories are powerful and unforgettable.

    This is a great, great post, Ari.

    (P.S. thanks for the shoutout!) :)

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  25. You've got a pretty good list. The lack of color doesn't get better in adult fiction, one of the reasons I rarely read historical fiction.

    You could add Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule Marshall to your list. This was one of my favorites. It was a contemporary at the time it was published, but would be considered historical now.

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  26. @Trisha-Good point, I would like to see some more YA historical fiction about the U.s. but at the same time I think it helps make us better global citizens by reading about other countries besides the U.S. I'm starting to realize that historical fiction in general needs an overhaul. I hope the list is helpful :)

    @Rebecca-Dear America forever, haha! I'm going to try and reread/review some this month. I did rellyl ike in the Valley of the Moon so thank you for the other Sherry Garland titles, they're out my library so I'll check them out =)

    @Colleen-I'm so relived to hear that the firefly Letters is good (although with a great plot like that, it must be!). I'm looking forward to your post on books about Cuba for YA since Cuba is my 2nd fav Spanish-speaking country (next to my home country of Panama). I agree, I'm tired of the same old novels about the Holocaust. Obviously the Jewish people have had other signifcant historical events, but sadly I can't think of any. It's the same as the AA slavery/civil rights.

    @Christine-Another Graham Salisbury recommendation, my resolve to read all his books is further strengthened. You deserve the shoutout :D

    @PatriciaW- So glad the list is helpful and there are some really good historical fiction books out there that will make you a fan (like all the ones in my list). Brown Girl, Brownstones sounds good, I'll be adding it to my tbr pile. Thanks!

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  27. Women's sufferage in Cuba? See this is why I read here, you always have such great book suggestions.

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  28. Here is an excellent book about the Filipino-American Experience-it is told from the point of view of a nearly totally Americanized teenage female-it is about her relationship with her very traditional grandparents-the scene where she is getting reading for her first High School Dance and the grandmothers want her to dress like it was 1950 and she was in Manila and not California is a classic


    The Oracles: My Filipino Grandparents in America by Pati Navalta Poblete

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  29. @Jodie-So happy to help, it sounds like a must read and I've heard from Colleen (at Chasing Ray) that it's good.

    @mel u-Oh thank you for this recommendation! There are so few books about Filipinos in the U.S. for teens, I'm adding this to my list (I only know off on other book, Off the Boat by Melissa De La Cruz).

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  30. Clarifcation
    *adding to tbr list
    *know of one book

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  31. I am so glad you posted this! I don't read a lot of historical fiction, but I will never forget Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry--it was one of those books that made me rethink the way that I saw myself...We definitely need good, diverse historical YA fiction in our lives.

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  32. This post is a bit old, but I was recently working on my LibraryThing library and thought I'd add in some of the older historical fiction books I've read with POC main characters I found.
    I *think* none of these are duplicates from your list or from any of my earlier posts, if any are I apologize. Some of the AA books do deal with slavery, but are NOT set anytime near the Civil War.

    MG:
    Mystery of the Dark Tower by Evelyn Coleman (AA, Harlem Renaissance)
    Circle of Fire by Evelyn Coleman (AA, 1950s)
    Trouble at Fort LaPointe by Kathleen Ernst (Native American, 18th century)
    Zellie Blake by Kathleen Duey (AA, Lowell Mills)
    Run Away Home by Patricia McKissack (AA and Native American main characters, 1880s south)
    Dust from Old Bones by Sandra Forrester (Biracial Creole girl in 1830s New Orleans)
    Seaword Born by Lea Wait (AA, Early 1800s New England)
    Children of the Longhouse by Joseph Bruchac (Native American, before arrival of Europeans)
    The Well of Sacrifice by Chris Eboch (9th century Mayans)
    When My Name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park (Korean children in WW2 during Japanese occupation)
    Elk Girl by Thelma Hatch Wyss (Native Amerian)
    Soft Rain by Cornelia Cornellisen (Cherokee Trail of Tears)
    On the Long Trail Home by Elizabeth Stewart (Cherokee Trail of Tears)
    Rosa Moreno by Kathleen Duey (Hispanic girl in early days of movies in Hollywood)
    Dear Canada - Canadian version of Dear America series. Only really sold in Canada but copies usually turn up on Amazon.com. POC books were I think An Ocean Apart by Gillian Chan, The Death of My Country by Maxine Trottier, Blood Upon Our Land by Maxine Trottier. (I use this series to fill the void left by Dear America… I’m way past the age group and still really miss that series, wish more had been published)
    Melitte by Fatima Shaik (AA, Colonial Louisiana)

    YA:
    Second Daughter by Mildred Pitts Walter (AA, Colonial America)
    The Color of Fire by Ann Rinaldi (AA, Colonial America)
    The Education of Mary by Ann Rinaldi (AA, 1830s New England,
    Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson (AA, Revolutionary War)
    The Winter People by Joseph Bruchac (Native American, 1750s)
    The Tribe by Valerie Bloom (Spanish Conquest of Caribbean through eyes of a Native girl)

    Once again lots more MG than YA, sadly… but I think that would likely be the case for any time period/subject mature that I searched for. Luckily the YA genre does seem to be growing.

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  33. Ari, I just read this article. http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=83614&catid=63 I wish someone who wrote memoir would get together with this lady and get her perspective. She's seen so much, and she must have such stories to tell. She is living history.

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  34. @Rebecca- Thank you! I'll be sure to check these out. Although I've heard there was/is a lot of controversary over ann Rinaldi's books and their historical accuracy. I'll have to research that.

    @Anonymous-Thanks for sharing the link. I agree seh is living history, I hope all young people take the time to listen to the stories of the older generations.

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  35. The Sons of Liberty is a graphic novel set in the Revolutionary War period. It will be released May 25, 2010. Check it out! http://www.amazon.com/Sons-Liberty-1-Alexander-Lagos/dp/0375856706

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  36. @BC-Hmm this series sounds intriguing! Thanks for sharing it with me. I'll keep my eyes out for it/

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  37. I think the joy luck luck was a film that meant the most the most in the notion of the many forms the use others in a verity of ways.

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  38. i'm currently having a problem with the YA paranormal romance genre...i've been searching for YA paranormal romance books with heroes/heroines of colour..please i need some recommendations..would really aprreciate..thanks!!!

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  39. @Anonymous-I liked the Joy Luck Club but I think most of us want more than that.

    @Joan-I don't read much in the paranormal genre so I'm at a bit of a loss. I recommend: Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda, Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves, Moonshine by Alaya Johnson (not YA but the main character is in her '20s and the book is excellent), Manifest by Artist Arthur. Sadly that's all I can think of at the moment. I hope that helps give you a starting point!

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I love to hear from you!! Thank you for sharing :) And don't be Anon, I try to always reply back and I like to know who I'm replying to ;)