9 young adult books about South Asian main characters:
(book descriptions are from WorldCat; links go to Barnes & Noble)
Sita’s Ramayana by Samhita Arni and Moyna Chitrakar (Groundwood Books, 2011)
This version of the The Ramayana is told from the perspective of Sita, the queen. It is an allegorical story that contains important Hindu teachings, and it has had great influence on Indian life and culture over the centuries.
Devil’s Kiss by Sarwat Chadda (Disney Hyperion, 2009)
Fifteen-year-old Billi SanGreal has grown up knowing that being a member of the Knights Templar puts her in danger, but if she is to save London from catastrophe she must make sacrifices greater than she imagined.
Skunk Girl by Sheba Karim (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2009)
Nina Khan is not just the only Asian or Muslim student in her small-town high school in upstate New York, she is also faces the legacy of her “Supernerd” older sister, body hair, and the pain of having a crush when her parents forbid her to date.
What I Meant by Marie Lamba (Random House Children’s Books, 2007)
Having to share her home with her demanding and devious aunt from India makes it all the more difficult for fifteen-year-old Sang to deal with such things as her parents thinking she is too young to date, getting less than perfect grades, and being shut out by her long-time best friend.
Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2009)
In the days and weeks following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Samar, who is of Punjabi heritage but has been raised with no knowledge of her past by her single mother, wants to learn about her family’s history and to get in touch with the grandparents her mother shuns.
Karma by Cathy Ostlere (Razorbill, 2011)
In 1984, following her mother’s suicide, 15-year-old Maya and her Sikh father travel to New Delhi from Canada to place her mother’s ashes in their final resting place. On the night of their arrival, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated, Maya and her father are separated when the city erupts in chaos, and Maya must rely on Sandeep, a boy she has just met, for survival.
Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera (Albert Whitman, 2011)
Six months after the events of September 11, 2001, Khalid, a Muslim fifteen-year-old boy from England is kidnapped during a family trip to Pakistan and imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he is held for two years suffering interrogations, water-boarding, isolation, and more for reasons unknown to him.
First Daughter: White House Rules by Mitali Perkins (Dutton Children’s Books, 2008)
Once sixteen-year-old Sameera Righton’s father is elected president of the United States, the adopted Pakistani-American girl moves into the White House and makes some decisions about how she is going to live her life in the spotlight.
Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet by Kashmira Sheth (Hyperion, 2006)
Growing up with her family in Mumbai, India, sixteen-year-old Jeeta disagrees with much of her mother’s traditional advice about how to live her life and tries to be more modern and independent.
The House of Djinn by Suzanne Fisher Staples (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008)
An unexpected death brings Shabanu’s daughter, Mumtaz, and nephew, Jameel, both aged fifteen, to the forefront of an attempt to modernize Pakistan, but the teens must both sacrifice their own dreams if they are to meet family and tribal expectations.
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Why Did It Happen? Books to Help Kids Cope with Tragedy | School Library Journal →
A select list by SLJ’s book review team created after the Newtown tragedy - sadly, an appropriate resource once again.
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The panelists agreed that above all, education—at all levels—was key. Elliott, who currently teaches at the Center for Ethnic Studies at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, emphasized the need to offer training and workshops to writers and editors in order to establish cultural competence. For her, it’s vital that “people can look at a piece of literature and learn how to identify bias, how to identify distortions.” Quintero also related an experience with the publishing industry that she said displays the pressing need not just for diversity but for awareness and cultural sensitivity. Quintero, who identifies as African American and Latina, described having a Latina editor turn down one of her manuscripts. The rationale? Because the book’s protagonist was living in foster care instead of in a large extended family, her editor didn’t find her “Latina enough.” Ultimately, literature is important to helping young people to be culturally sensitive and aware, Elliott stressed. “The way that the world is changing, they need to be able to demonstrate cultural competence,” she advised. “They need to understand their own cultural location but be able to communicate cross culturally with others, and books are an excellent way to do that.
— Kid Lit Authors Discuss Diversity at NYPL | School Library Journal (via sdiaz101)
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9 YA Books About Multiracial Characters — Expanded from a list created by Sarah Hannah Gómez at YALSA’s The Hub
Mexican White Boy by Matt De La Pena
Dreams of Significant Girls by Cristina Garcia
If I Tell by Janet Gurtler
Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Black, White, Other: In Search of Nina Armstrong by Joan Steinau Lester
Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa
Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves
The Latte Rebellion by Sarah Jamila Stevenson
Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki -
I’m sure you hear about the impact True Diary has on kids all the time. What story has left the most lasting impression on you? The big moment for me was when I gave a reading in Spokane in 2009, and eight or nine Chicano boys drove up with their teacher from Ephrata, WA, which has a heavily migrant worker population. These Chicano boys were so into the book—and they were all wearing ties—and they told me that they had decided to put on ties to show respect to me and the book. Their excitement was amazing, and all of them said it was the first book they’d ever finished. What made the book so special? It was the first book they ever read that felt real.
— Sherman Alexie Talks to NCAC’s the Write Stuff About Being Banned | Blogging Censorship (via sdiaz101)
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It seems to me that “New Adult” has characters from 18 to 29. It’s people in a time period that is after the perceived safety and narrowness and intimacy of high school, and by intimacy I mean, having a physical place where everyone goes and shares lunch times and has common experiences of classrooms and lunch times. I say perceived, because that’s not always true
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YA librarian supreme Liz Burns in an illuminating School Library Journal blog post about the “new adult” genre, which really isn’t new, as in just-been-created. It just hasn’t been split off from YA lit and slapped with a name before, so it’s kinda like Soho (which used to be just “downtown” here in Manhattan).
It will interest some of you to know that Cloud partner Harlequin has a big stake in growing its new adult acquisitions. See Chelsea Cameron’s My Favorite Mistake (in Cloud, ISBN 9781459231283), originally self-published.
(via cloudunbound)
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Fortunately for me, I have a friend who was outraged enough to ask what I thought about Anne posing as if she’s on the cover of Objects R Us. At first, I said, “Meh, I wasn’t surprised.” And then I thought: What if this was Jo March? And all my girl turned mama indignation just bubbled up. Don’t be messin with Jo March. Just. Don’t. Even. OK then. Don’t be messin with Anne either. Step off, and step off now. Because do you know what you are telling our little girls, oh sexist artist of the updated classics? You are telling them to ring their bells for you, not for themselves. And they hear that enough. They hear it so much, in fact, that it’s a wonder they can still hear the ringing of the bells at all. The reason the fictional girl on the verge of fictional womanhood resonates for us all is because she exists in the time before, as we cannot. She exists before we really understood what sex or gender are, and how they can free you and limit you at once. She exists in a time when anything is—really and truly—possible, because your imagination is your only limit, and your body has not yet been measured and tested. She exists when you belong, fully and only, to yourself.
— More on Blonde Anne: Girl, Objectified: Anne of Green Gables « Yo Mama (via sdiaz101)
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And that’s the part that disturbs me. The heart of the question implies that if a male character is “strong” that’s to be expected, because boys and men are strong. Normal. Default. Go about your business. But if a female character leads a story, does stuff, has a voice and a purpose and changes her life or others’ lives or starts or stops a war or makes a stand or has power then it’s newsworthy, because that’s not expected, not true to life. Not normal. Not our default assumption about girls. So stop and take note. I know I shouldn’t still be surprised by that question, but I am, every time. When I began writing novels, I assumed I wouldn’t have to prove my right as a woman writer or have to dig out a place for female characters. I thought people who had come before me had already done that, writers like Tamora Pierce, Robin McKinley, Anne McCaffrey, Ursula LeGuin. I felt like I didn’t have the burden of screaming back at the world, “a girl can carry an action story, look, look!” While writing I’d decided that sexism didn’t even exist in my fantasy worlds and I never had to wrestle with it. In my worlds, girls do stuff and nobody thinks two things about it. But it turns out that my books aren’t published in my fantasy worlds. They’re published in this world.
— From Shannon Hale: squeetus: “Why do you write strong female characters?” (via sdiaz101)
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School Library Journal: SLJ Friday Links “Oops I Did It Again” Edition →
Britney Spears is negotiating a book deal for a novel.
The Horn Book “KidLit Election 2012: Election results are in!”
Author Barbara Kerley blogs about the Common Core and taking part in the SLJSummit.
You know what origami is, but can you guess what “starwarigami” includes. Hint: R2-D2 requires some intricate folding.
After Hurricane Sandy forced the New York Public Library to cancel its annual black-tie fundraising gala, volunteers gave out the food that would have been served at the event.
Jen Doll writes in the Atlantic Wire about “Y.A. and middle-grade books we’ve relied on in the past for guidance and clarity when our environment appears to go off the rails.” -
School Library Journal's Friday Links Spectacular →
We’ve got a doozy of a list for you this week.
Prep for your next social gathering with these “20 Spectacularly Nerdy Dinosaur Jokes.” You’ll be the hit of the party…or get the chip bowl all to yourself. Either way, it’s a win.
That ancient philosophical question is tackled by Slate: “Is Big Bird an Order Muppet or a Chaos Muppet?” Talk amongst yourselves.
Though I’m partial to Sully and Mike from Monsters, Inc., check out these other“lovable” movie monsters compiled by the folks at Flavorwire.
What does a librarian look like? There’s a Tumblr for that.
The Horn Book KidLit Election 2012 continues with the Lorax, Brian Robeson, and Ole Golly joining as third-party tickets.
Tolkien tourism is still going strong. And the New York Times has an awesome slideshow to prove it.
Speaking of J.R.R., HarperCollins plans to publish a never-before-seen epic poem by the man who brought us Middle-earth.
The National Book Award Finalists in Young People’s Lit have been announced.
Think you know your “Goosebumps” books? Test your knowledge with a quiz. -
The gang in the throes of deciding Best Books. This year, we’ll be announcing them via Twitter.
CUE DRAMATIC MUSIC
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School Library Journal: School Library Journal's Friday Links →
During dark, dark, dark periods of history, there have been attempts to ban coffee. I know. I, too, was shocked.
Support your library…with your car. Kentucky residents can now buy license plates to help libraries.
Happy Banned Books Week! Enjoy this interactive graph from the Huffington Post of the most challenged books of the year.
Little House on the Prairie is bound for the big screen. David Gordon Green, the same man who brought us Pineapple Express, might direct.
Did you miss the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards? Yeah, I did, too. Bummer. But you can read all about the event on the ceremony time line.Happy Friday!
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Ever imagine hits like ”Downton Abbey,” ”Breaking Bad,” and ”Fringe” getting the young adult/children’s book treatment? We’ve got you covered…
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Here is a list of YA books (and counting) with d/Deaf characters in them →
Might be useful. Definitely wish I had this while growing up.
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Maybe it had something to do with the fact that finding a young black man on a middle grade novel this year is a rarity. I’ve seen a large swath of titles from every American publisher there is (as well as a few Canadians) and this report is the sum total of all the middle grade (not early chapter book, not YA) fiction fare I have found that shows the hero front and center. Note that the low numbers have a lot to do with the fact that even finding any stories starring black guys is difficult.
— From SLJ, Book Jacket Nattering: Invisible Boys.
