How Children's Literature can support Black Lives Matter

The protests that started in the United States three weeks ago after yet another senseless murder of a black person has ballooned into a  worldwide movement to end racism. There have been tons of protests here in Canada, and I so hope that maybe this time, real change will occur.

As a white ally, I know that the most important things for me to do right now are listen, call out racism wherever I see it and at the systemic level, and learn.

And one of the best ways I know to learn is by reading books by black authors (and those written by other people of color), especially children's books.

Books are a powerful tool that allow us to share lived experiences with other people by stepping into their shoes for awhile.

There are excellent resources all over the web with lists of books for kids about racism, including this list compiled by the amazing treasure that is Jacqueline Woodson.

Books that I've read in the past few years that have had a huge impact on my understanding include Jacqueline's award winning Brown Girl Dreaming as well as the others listed below.

Everything ever written by Jason Reynolds, including

Nic Stone

Angie Thomas

Leah Henderson

David Barclay Moore

Elizabeth Acevedo

This is NOT intended to be an exhaustive list, just a list of books that I love and that have made me a better ally. Most importantly, they are all WONDERFUL!

What can you do to help?

Start following black authors on Instagram and twitter. Buy their books. Demand that publishers increase the number of books written by people of color so that the industry is representative of our population. Demand that schools use books written by people of color in the classroom.

One great thing happening this week is #BlackOutBestsellersLists #blackpublishingpower.

I'm ordering my two books. And to spread the word further, I'm ordering some extras and taking some of my books by black authors and placing them in LittleFreeLibraries all over my city!

Also, authors Nic Stone and Kim Johnson recently gave an excellent interview in Entertainment Weekly magazine about being a black author in the publishing world. One issue Nic raised in the interview was the importance of publishing stories that allow black children to see themselves and reflect their lived experiences. It is an excellent and thought-provoking read!

Fighting racism in all its forms ought to be ALL of our life's work. Children's literature is a wonderful place to start to educate ourselves.

Let's do this!

A Year in Middle Grade

It's my last Middle Grade Minded Post for the year and I can't help but look back.

This has been a wonderful year for middle grade books.

You can't help but feel that a year that gave us Orphan Island, Refugee, Wishtree, The Stars Beneath our Feet, The War I Finally Won, The Dollmaker of Krakow, and Patina to name but a few, is a good year.

 

#ownvoices and #weneeddiversebooks became a rallying cry within the industry and brought us new and wonderful stories:

 

 

And then there were the delights of just wonderfully funny and thrilling and epic MG, always the best antidote for everything negative in this world:

 

 

And heartwarming and inspiring tales:

 

 

 

In no way is this an exhaustive list, but these books helped me get through 2017, and made the world shine a little brighter for me.

Now, more than ever, we need middle grade novels that inspire, transport and delight readers. 

We live in a complicated world.

Sometimes we want to escape from it in a book.

Sometimes we want to understand it by reading a book.

Sometimes we want heroines and heroes who vanquish foes, kids who figure things out, animals and trees that have a different kind of wisdom, families that aren't perfect but keep trying, friendships that are messy but fulfilling.

Sometimes, we need hope.

I found all of that in the middle grade novels I read this year.

And if 2017 is any indication of the quality of middle grade literature, I look forward to 2018 with open arms, with my library card and wallet in one hand, my TBR list in the other, and a heart full of gladness for the creativity and respect for children shown by our middle grade authors.

I hope you have a wonderful and peaceful holiday season and look forward to more blog posts in 2018!

2017 Diverse Middle Grade

Diversity, diversity, diversity! We are living in a time when there are more books about minority people than every before and it's glorious! I love reading about new cultures and perspectives, that's one of the greatest things about books. For a long time books with those perspectives were stifled. But things are changing for the better. These books are becoming more common, they're being marketed more, they're being read by a wider fan base. I want these books to be read, and read a lot.

So I'm putting my money where my mouth is and using my posts here at Middle Grade Minded to post about diverse books (something I've realized we haven't done enough of). This is a list of a bunch of the diverse MG books out or coming out this year. I'm sure I missed bunches, but this should be a pretty good starting point! And next month, I'm planning to start reviewing some of these books. Let's support diversity in a real way. Read them, talk about them!

Have you read any of these? Or plan to? Let me know in the comments!

This seems to have been the most anticipated diverse MG book this year. Lots of chatter all over the place and I can totally see why.  1) the pitch of this book sounds fantastic! It's compared to Jumungi! 2) Putting diversity into fantasy/sci-fi adventures is amazing. Diversity doesn't always have to be an issue or educational book. A cool book with a cool plot that also deals with lots of diversity? Amazing. I'm super pumped to read this book!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29346880-the-gauntlet

Then we have the other side of the coin, a book whose plot is built on issues of race and social class. " A timely and powerful story about a teen girl from a poor neighborhood striving for success, from acclaimed author Renée Watson."

This looks amazing too! 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25566675-piecing-me-together

I've heard a lot of great things about this book too!  This one is #OwnVoices as well. "A girl with Tourette syndrome starts a new school and tries to hide her quirks in this debut middle-grade novel in verse."

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29102841-forget-me-not

Another diverse book with fantasy elements, rooted in Caribbean folklore (how cool!) This book is a sequel to "Jumbies" which came out last year. If you want to check this one out you might want to start there! "Action-packed storytelling, diverse characters, and inventive twists on Caribbean and West African mythology and fairy tales"

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22859559-the-jumbies (first book)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33590220-rise-of-the-jumbies (most recent)

"A Pakistani-American Muslim girl struggles to stay true to her family’s vibrant culture while simultaneously blending in at school after tragedy strikes her community in this sweet and moving middle grade novel"

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30312547-amina-s-voice

"Harlem is home to all kinds of kids. Jin sees life passing her by from the window of her family's bodega. Alex wants to help the needy one shelter at a time, but can't tell anyone who she really is. Elvin's living on Harlem's cold, lonely streets, surviving on his own after his grandfather was mysteriously attacked...."

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30652385-the-harlem-charade

Another sequel. This looks to-die-for cute! "The most fabulous nine-year-old cowgirl in Texas is back in this heartwarming and hilarious sequel to The Magnificent Mya Tibbs: Spirit Week Showdown! Perfect for fans of Clementine and Ivy and Bean."

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25081701-spirit-week-showdown (book one)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30037862-the-wall-of-fame-game

 "A middle grade novel in verse that tells the story of a Cuban-American boy who visits his family’s village in Cuba for the first time—and meets a sister he didn’t know he had."

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34228239-forest-world

"The next person who compares Chloe Cho with famous violinist Abigail Yang is going to HEAR it. Chloe has just about had it with people not knowing the difference between someone who's Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. She's had it with people thinking that everything she does well -- getting good grades, winning first chair in the orchestra, etCETera -- are because she's ASIAN...."

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24921999-unidentified-suburban-object

Pssst, this one might be by one of our own MGM bloggers! It looks super cool about a deaf girl who befriends her 86-year-old hearing neighbor  "Macy's mother... sends her next door to help eighty-six-year-old Iris Gillan, who is also getting ready to move―in her case, into an assisted living facility. Iris can't move a single box on her own and, worse, she doesn't know sign language. How is Macy supposed to understand her? But Iris has stories to tell, and she isn't going to let Macy's deafness stop her."

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31921678-macy-mcmillan-and-the-rainbow-goddess

"An orphaned boy in contemporary Senegal must decide between doing what is right and what is easy as he struggles to keep a promise he made to his dying father."

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30313338-one-shadow-on-the-wall

"For ten-year-old Cadence Jolly, birthdays are a constant reminder of all that has changed since her mother skipped town with dreams of becoming a star. Cadence inherited that musical soul, she can't deny it, but otherwise she couldn't be more different - she's as shy as can be."

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29280882-the-sweetest-sound

"The first contemporary novel about a disorder that bends the lives of ten percent of all teenagers: scoliosis."

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29283087-braced

"Equal parts madcap road trip, coming-of-age story for an unusual boy, and portrait of a family overcoming a crisis." This one has a main character with autism which would be a really cool perspective to hop into! 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26800718-the-someday-birds

"Welcome to Oddity, New Mexico, where normal is odd and odd is normal."

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29601510-oddity

"When two brothers decide to prove how brave they are, everything backfires—literally"

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26875552-as-brave-as-you

"From debut author and longtime zine-maker Celia C. Perez, The First Rule of Punk is a wry and heartfelt exploration of friendship, finding your place, and learning to rock out like no one's watching. "

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32050089-the-first-rule-of-punk