Book Covers and All That is Between Them
July 26th, 2009
Two weeks ago I read a COLOR ONLINE posting that has stayed with me; in that posting “Can I Get a Review?: Color Me Brown” Susan said: I realize Color Online is one small fish in a huge ocean. It’s not the popularity that’s bugging me. It’s a long history of feeling marginalized, ignored and powerless. I want more people of color readers reading and reviewing books by writers of color. I’ll give up the funk. Anyone willing to help me to inject some color into the book blogosphere?
This past week the YA blogging world has seen the escalation of a discussion about book covers which is actually a much broader issue – diversity of the authors and characters in the books we not only have available to us as readers but the books we choose to actually read and purchase….and for bloggers, the books we choose to discuss in our posts.
Justine Larbalestier went public in a posting “Ain’t That a Shame” sharing her deeply felt disappointment over the cover chosen by her US publisher Bloomsbury for her novel LIAR to be released September 29, 2009. To be specific, Justine is deservedly upset that the cover is the picture of a white girl, the book is about a black girl.
Liz B in a posting yesterday “Getting the Books” notes: I think it is important for bloggers to be aware, to ask questions, including questioning themselves. Which is why for the Liar issue, I think it is just as important to ask “what am I doing?” as to react to the specific book and publisher.
While the current discussion is focused more on YA literature, this is an issue with books for children and youth of all ages. As an organization serving children most at risk of reading difficulties, RIF recognizes we must be involved in the discussion and more importantly, the solutions.
At Reading Is Fundamental, we are concerned about the ongoing reading gap between African American, Hispanic and American Indian children and their white and Asian peers as shown by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
We examined carefully what we might do as an organization as we are not teachers of reading but instead have a mission to motivate children and youth to find the joy and purpose in reading through book accessibility/ownership and other literacy resources. RIF launched our Multicultural Literacy Campaign and part of that effort is to do what we can to provide for children books that are “mirrors and windows ” as described by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop of The Ohio State University. We recognize there are many more children’s books than YA books featuring persons of color on covers and between the covers; but affordability is still a significant issue. With other children’s literacy partners we seek to begin to more actively address this issue. One initial step is the distribution of multicultural book collections through the sponsorship of our partner Macy’s; these are books that many schools and other child serving organizations cannot afford.
We are proud to work with our Multicultural Advisory Committee led by RIF Board member Dr. Claude A. Mayberry , Jr. who was also announced last week as the President of the National Council on Educating Black Children.
After reading Susan’s post on Color Online I realized I personally must commit to do more on this blog regarding books featuring people who are not mirrors of me and that I must do so in a conscious, planned manner. I am reviewing my schedule of Monday Cover Stories, consciously thinking about the issue as I read for Friday WEEK’S END selections, and continuing a WEDNESDAY WINDOW feature recently added where the books I discuss will be a “window” for me, a white person born and raised in the southern part of the United States. I look forward to a continued dialogue with all concerned and hope your suggestions/questions for RIF will be shared with me.
Carol Hampton Rasco
Filed under: Achievement Gap, Children's Books, Other Blogs, RIF Multicultural Literacy Campaign, RIF Partnerships, Wednesday Window, Week's End, Young Adult (YA) book, cover story
Tags: Color Online, Justine Larbalestier, LIAR, Liz B, Mirrors and Windows, Multicultural Advisory Committee, Multicultural Lending Library, RIF Multicultural Literacy Campaign
12 Comments Add your own
1. Ali | July 26th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
I love that you’ve committed to specific, ongoing actions here to complement what your organization is doing for kids. I look forward to seeing that commitment in action and hope the Diversity Roll Call will find its way in there regularly, too. Thanks for participating!
2. Doret | July 27th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
here are many blogs talking about the Liar cover controversy but there are still too many silent bloggers especially among teen run blogs. The silence hurts, if too many people ignore this nothing will change. So thank you so much for this post .
I am so happy for Susan. She’s been working so long trying to be heard and counted, she deserves all the goodness that is now coming her way. Congrats Susan.
3. CB | July 28th, 2009 at 6:23 am
Thank you for the thoughtful post. Mainstream publishers have been struggling to gain new readers for several years now (even before the current economical woes). One wonders if they’ve considered the possiblity that their continued decision to publish (and almost as importantly market) books that reflect a mostly caucasion point of view might play a role in that struggle.
4. Terry Doherty | July 28th, 2009 at 9:58 am
This is a wonderful post, Carol. Very thoughtful, with links for even more exploration. I have always loved the imagery (essence?) of “mirrors and windows.” Anything we can do to celebrate culture, diversity, and acceptance in literature makes such a difference in the actions a child may take!
5. Mitali Perkins | July 28th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Appreciate your decision to move beyond talk to action. Wonderful!
6. Carol Rasco | July 28th, 2009 at 10:14 am
My sincere thanks to each of you for your responses. I personally feel very strongly about this issue and RIF as an organization is committed as well as outlined in my post. I hope you will each help me, help RIF as we move forward. We value your input, your counsel!
Again, thank you.
7. Caroline Lennox | July 29th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Such a positive commitment.
I find that using a suitable picture book with young children in my class is an excellent way of introducing new cultures and diversity. It’s a safe way of addressing something very important because although stories can be related to our own experiences, there is that “safety net” of shifting opinions onto book characters and not getting too personal.
8. Carol Rasco | July 29th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
What an excellent suggestion, Caroline. This is exactly why RIF is promoting our multicultural book collections as one way of helping to address some of these issues. You have put it into beautiful words, and I particulary like the “safety net” description. Thank you for dropping by Rasco from RIF, visit often!
9. Zetta Elliott | August 2nd, 2009 at 6:33 am
Thanks for being an ally, and encouraging others to do so as well.
10. Carol Rasco | August 2nd, 2009 at 8:45 am
Thank you, Zetta, for visiting Rasco from RIF. RIF as an organization and I personally are deeply committed to serving ALL children and families and look forward to continued input from individuals like you….visit and share with us often!
11. karen L. Simpson | August 3rd, 2009 at 5:15 pm
As a soon to be published African American author I want to say thank you. You will make a difference.
12. Carol Rasco | August 4th, 2009 at 6:07 am
Karen, thank you for visiting Rasco from RIF. I look foward to future visits and hope they will be often as you can I am sure provide valuable input to us. Do keep me posted on your publishing debut!
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed