In Search of Diversity in YA: What I Found and What I Learned

Recently, I revised my YA Literature syllabus to include mostly writers of color. (The required reading list appears at the end of this post).  The term "of color" is not without its problems, but it is the easiest and clearest shorthand to express how I tried to address the lack of diversity in my previous syllabi. Being white did not disqualify an author from inclusion, but when in doubt I favored white authors who either featured protagonists of color or GLBTQ characters (Francesca Lia Block, Emily Danforth, Marissa Meyer, Nick Lake).  In several instances, I included white authors writing about white people when they covered other areas in need of coverage in the syllabus, such as genre or format or international YA literature (Daniel Kraus, Janne Teller).

Let me be clear: this was not the first time I'd attempted to inject more diversity into my syllabi. For instance, I was always careful to include award-winning and popular writers of color such as Walter Dean Myers, Sherman Alexie, Gene Luen Yang, and An Na. However, these selections were definitely in the minority. I usually chose instead to emphasize the YA canon in my text selection, which was (and is) dominated by white-authored contemporary realism.  I thought that I had to cover those white authors in order to make certain that my students knew the YA canon. I figured they should be familiar with the "likely suspects" so that they could then hit the ground running and go on to advocate and build diverse collections.  I did not teach the canon uncritically, and continually emphasized the lack of diversity in YA literature.

Eventually, however, I found it too uncomfortable to recommend that future librarians build diverse collections while ignoring the problem in my own house. Did my students absolutely positively need to read John Green, Laurie Halse Anderson, Gayle Forman, and Marcus Zusak (much as I like and respect all these authors)?

No, they did not. So I set about aggressively populating my YA syllabus with authors of color. White authors were allowed, but they either had to feature characters of color or GLBTQ characters. Or they had to be Robert Cormier, but I even toyed with removing The Chocolate War from my syllabus in order to make room for more authors of color.

I should note that I added authors of color without screening them for protagonists of color, positive role models, authentic or accurate representation of people or cultures, or any other content-related criteria. My goal was simply to populate my syllabus mostly with authors of color. I didn't care what or who they wrote about, as long as it was an engaging book for discussion.

My journey was both exhilarating and horrifying. The field of YA literature is indeed dominated by white people--and I mean, REALLY dominated. There are so many white authors writing about white people with white models on the color that it's kind of funny. Or, it would be funny if it weren't so egregious. Review journals (other than Multicultural Review), review blogs, "best of" lists, and awards have an appalling lack of diversity--unless, of course, they are featuring "diverse" or "multicultural" lists, and even then many of the writers are STILL white, though they are at least writing about diverse characters.

Once I began to regularly peruse blogs like Diversity in YA, I was delighted to discover that authors I thought were white were actually not white, authors of popular and critically acclaimed books like Legend, Ash, and This One Summer. I also found some hella great literature (particularly speculative fiction)  that I hadn't known about, such as Alaya Dawn Johnson's The Summer Prince (the best YA Science Fiction book since Feed). Even in contemporary realism, there were some surprises among the less-often-taught writers of color, such as Coe Booth's excellent Tyrell and newcomer Sonia Manzano's the Revolution of Evelyn Serrano.

In other words, the books are out there. Yes, we need to publish more authors of color, but there are also many excellent diverse YA books out there that fly under the critical and pop culture radar.  Here are some of my theories about why:

1. Some of the best YA is actually not published as YA, but as genre fiction. If we don't stop at the YA publishing gate, there are lots of hidden gems teens will love, such as Nnedi Okafor's Who Fears Death and Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower. Review journals should consider going beyond publishing demographics in selecting books to review.

2. Some diverse YA is only available in hardback, such as Guadalupe Garcia McCall's Under the Mesquite and Joseph Bruchac's Killer of Enemies, making is less likely that teen readers (and students of YA literature) will be able to afford them. Unless they have won an award, YA books by authors of color, such as Kara Dalkey's Little Sister (1996), are at risk for going out of print. This fact alone is a good argument for having more awards designated for writers of color, with the caveat that we keep asking why diverse authors do not show up on "best of" lists or do not receive prestigious awards such as the Newbery or the Printz more often.

3. Diverse YA tends to show up on blogs, journals, and lists that are dedicated to promoting diversity. While blogs like Diversity in YA are great resources, I was disappointed to discover that some of my favorite blogs, including the otherwise excellent Reading Rants, did not review many of the titles I was considering for my class. Award committees, reviewers, bloggers, and other promoters of YA literature need to consider diversity even (and especially) when "Diversity" is not the theme of the week.

As librarians, we stand by the principles of access, diversity and intellectual freedom--or at least, we hope so. I've noticed, however, that the professional literature emphasizes "defending" such principles rather than proactively putting them into action. Intellectual freedom goes beyond defending access to the collection, and even beyond building the collection: librarians need to be advocates for diverse literature in libraries, bookstores, classrooms, and popular culture. As I discovered while putting together my syllabus, I had overlooked many fine books by writers of color because I had not sought them out assiduously enough. In addition, while I am not proud of this, I had also unconsciously filled "spots" in my syllabus, treating one writer of color as a "representative" without seeking other writers of color. For instance, I spent five minutes debating whether to assign Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian OR Eric Gansworth's If I Ever Get Out of Here, before I realized I could assign BOTH. (Since Gansworth's novel is not available in paperback, I did not assign it this time, but I definitely will assign both Alexie and Gansworth next time). I share this shameful moment in my professional behavior to illustrate how even well-meaning progressive types can harbor unexamined racism in their professional practices.  I'll keep examining my prejudices if you will.

Meanwhile, despite continued racism in publishing, education and librarianship, there is some truly amazing literature for teenagers by writers of color that should be featured in YA literature classes and YA literature collections. Even in a diverse city such as Los Angeles, I found that not a few titles I wanted to vet for my course were only available at one or two public library branches (out of 74) and often in neighborhoods dominated by the race or ethnic group of the author. Perhaps it needs saying again, more often, and louder: Diverse YA literature is for everyone.

Including adults!

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Young Adult Literature Texts
Fall 2014

 Abdel-Fattah, Randa. Does My Head Look Big in This? Reprint edition. Scholastic Paperbacks, 2008.

ISBN 0060736259

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. Reprint. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009.

ISBN 0316013692

Allende, Isabel. City of the Beasts. Reprint ed. HarperTrophy, 2004.

ISBN 0060535032

Block, Francesca Lia. Weetzie Bat. 10^th Anniversary ed. HarperTeen, 2004.

ISBN 0060736259

Booth, Coe. Tyrell. Reprint Edition. Push, 2007.

ISBN 0439838800

Cormier, Robert. The Chocolate War. 30^th Anniversary Reprint edition. Ember, 2004.

ISBN 0375829873

Danforth, Emily. The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Reprint edition. Balzer + Bray, 2013.

ISBN 0062020579

de la Pena, Matt. Mexican WhiteBoy.  Ember, 2011.

ISBN 0440239389

Fukui, Isamu. Truancy. 1^st ed. TorTeen, 2010.

ISBN 0765322587

 Johnson, Alaya Dawn. The Summer Prince. Reprint ed. Arthur A. Levine Books, 2014. ISBN 0545417805

Kraus, Daniel. Rotters. Reprint ed. Ember, 2012.

ISBN 0385738587

Lake, Nick. In Darkness. 1^st ed. Holt McDougall, 2014.

ISBN 1619631229

Lo, Malinda. Ash. Reprint edition. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2010.

ISBN 9780316040105

Lu, Marie. Legend. Reprint ed. Speak, 2013.

ISBN 014242207X

Magoon, Kekla. The Rock and the River. Reprint edition. Aladdin, 2010.

ISBN 9781416978039

Manzano, Sonia. The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano. Reprint edition. Scholastic Press, 2014.

ISBN 0545325064

Merey, Ilike. A + E 4ever. Lethe Press, 2011.

ISBN 1590213904

Meyer, Marissa. Cinder. 2^nd ed. Square Fish, 2013.

ISBN 1250007208

Mosley, Walter. 47. Reprint ed. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006.

ISBN 0316016357

Na, An. A Step from Heaven. Reprint edition. Speak, 2003.

ISBN 0142500275

Ostlere, Cathy. Karma: A Novel in Verse. Reprint edition. Razorbill, 2012.

ISBN 159514384X

Ostlow, David and Micol. So Punk Rock: And Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother.

1^st edition. Flux, 2009.

ISBN 0738714712

Pratchett, Terry. Nation. Reprint ed. HarperCollins, 2009.

ISBN 0061433039

Rapp, Adam. Punkzilla. Reprint edition. Candlewick, 2010.

ISBN 0763652970

Saenz, Benjamin Alire. Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Reprint edition. Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2014.

ISBN 1442408936

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. 1^st edition. Pantheon, 2004.

ISBN 037571457X

Smith, Sherri L. Orleans. Reprint edition. Speak, 2014.

ISBN 0147509963

Stiefvater, Maggie. The Raven Boys. Reprint ed. Scholastic Paperbacks, 2013.

ISBN 0545424933

Tamaki, Mariko and Jillian. This One Summer. First Second, 2014.

ISBN 159643774X

Taylor, Drew Hayden. The Night Wanderer: A Native Gothic Novel. Annick Press, 2007.

ISBN 1554510996

Teller, Janne. Nothing. Reprint edition. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2012.

ISBN 144244116X

Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. Reprint edition. Square Fish, 2008.

ISBN 0312384483