CBC Diversity
Month
Take on the 2016 Read Harder Challenge, and open your mind a world of to diverse books! @bookriot
“While autism shouldn’t be minimized…we can be shown as real people in our own right.” @disabilityinkidlit
George by Alex Gino (Scholastic Press, August 2015).
Stretch your imagination with the diverse array of books featured at CBC Diversity’s Goodreads!
“In a society where race is intrinsic to the fabric of our society…where do people of color, but without color, fit? Do they need to fit? And how should everyone else change their own perceptions about albinism?” @nprcodeswitch
“Change will only stem from constant and persistent action, listening, learning, empathy, reaching across the lines to others.” @therumpus @weneeddiversebooks @minoritiesinpublishing
This year’s top book lists are more diverse than ever before! @flavorwire
My Pen by Christopher Myers (Disney-Hyperion, March 2015).
Spark your imagination with hundreds of diverse titles at CBC Diversity’s Goodreads!
“We owe it to queer girls to publish and write stories about them. We owe it to them to say ‘You are not a cautionary tale. You are complex and messy and confused and happy and your story is valid and you are important, your story is important.’ @nitatyndall @thegayya
Tell us about the most recent diverse book you represented.
My most recent sale, which has not yet been publicly announced, is a young adult novel that fearlessly confronts the national and cultural issues concerning the “Black Lives Matter” movement. I can report that this project sold in a highly aggressive auction, which would indicate that publishers are very interested in this kind of narrative. I’m looking forward to sharing more news about this fantastic book in early 2016!
How do you go about finding diverse authors and illustrators?
I have found social media, particularly Twitter, to be very useful as a platform for letting writers know the kinds of themes and stories I’m looking to represent. Several of my now-clients first approached me because they saw me talking about issues and concepts I was hoping to find in my submissions. Also, the sales of past books with diversity elements have helped position me as an agent with a strong interest in this area.
A roundup of new and upcoming releases by authors of color, featuring African American voices.
A look at recent YA books by Latino authors, providing “much-needed windows for all readers.” @schoollibraryjournal
Giving female characters a more authentic voice in audiobooks. @bookriot
“If you leave out the lies, stereotypes, and misrepresentations, you will have a better story and a better book.“ @weneeddiversebooks
Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say (HMH Books for Young Readers, 2008). All rights reserved. @hmhkids
Explore hundreds of diverse stories at CBC Diversity’s Goodreads!
Contributed by Mark von Bargen, Senior Director of Trade Sales of Children’s Books at Macmillan
With the year coming to a close, I am finishing up a two-year term on the CBC Diversity Committee. It has been a great honor to work with the committee. They are doing amazing work, putting together terrific programs that are bringing about real change in our industry. As a final blog post, I wanted to share some thoughts.
When first starting on the committee, it seemed like a swirl of ideas, opportunities, and issues, all combating preconceived notions. It was hard to get a sense of where to go. One issue that kept coming up was the ability to find diverse books — the problem of “discoverability.” With somewhere between six hundred thousand and one million books being published each year, accurate categorization is vital to ensuring that books can be found. Our industry subject codes, the Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISACs) are outdated, with some categories not represented. Some books that address diverse social issues do not have an aligned category code. As a result, they are given overly generic codes. When this happens, especially with novels, they are often lost in the tidal wave of “fiction.” Thanks to the work of the committee, there are new codes being added to help the categorization problem. There is more to be done. Categorization is not static. It evolves, like language. As a group we need to keep current.
A roundup of 2015 YA book covers spotlighting people of color. @diversityinya
“There’s an audience for #WeNeedDiverseBooks, just like there’s an audience for #BlackLivesMatter: and it isn’t us, white male minority, it’s you.” @poetryfoundation
“Representation of gender nonconformity in the media is getting better every day, and YA is definitely leading the way.” @guardian
Just in time for Hanukkah, a roundup of exceptional Jewish kid lit from the past year! @tabletmag
YA books featuring black girls front and center. Via Stacked.org
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers/Hachette, July 2009).
CBC Diversity’s Goodreads brings together stories from cultures near and far!
We Need Diverse Books invites you to #DrumItUp for ‘Drum Dream Girl’ by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Rafael López!
Contributed by Nikki Garcia, Assistant Editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
As someone who’s been lucky enough to be an editor for over two years, I’m interested in highlighting and advocating for all kinds of diversity. By now, we’re all familiar with the different types of diversity: race and ethnicity, sexuality and gender, ability, and religion—but one that doesn’t seem to be spoken about as much is socioeconomic diversity. This is the one I have felt deeply over the years. Money plays an important role in all of our lives—whether it’s the school we attended and the amount of financial aid we received, or access to job opportunities, our identities have all been shaped by finances from an early age. I often felt like I had to figure it out for myself—and figure it out for my family too. So when we talk about diversity of authors, their characters, and their stories—and the publishing professionals who turn these stories into books—economics are and always will be a factor.
Contributed by Yolanda Scott, Editorial Director at Charlesbridge
I’ve been following the controversy surrounding the text and illustrations of the picture book A Fine Dessert (NPR story here and NYT article here), and I want to comment from my perspective as an editor. I wasn’t the editor of A Fine Dessert, but I could have been. Well, not literally, as the manuscript wasn’t submitted to me, but I mean that I easily could have been the editor of a book that despite my best intentions was accused of propagating stereotypes about slavery. It could have happened because I’m white: the product of a white-dominant society and a white-dominant industry that influence me in ways that I am sometimes blind to.
