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| Cover by Amanda Rainey |
I love reading because fiction offers experiences that would never be possible for me: visiting other worlds with a spaceship or through a magical wardrobe,
solving mysteries alongside Sherlock Holmes and the Hardy Boys, saving the world with a group of wisecracking friends.
Although middle
grade and young adult (YA) books are enjoyed by readers of all ages, they are
especially important and meaningful to their target audiences — typically
young people figuring out the world and their place in it. Books offer some of the answers they're looking for, open up new possibilities, and make them feel less alone. Reading also helps us develop empathy for others, by expanding our knowledge beyond our own limited life experiences.
However, lately writers and readers alike have pointed out
that there isn't enough diversity in YA fiction (and admittedly in all forms of
mainstream and popular media). What does that mean? Simply put, there are few writers
of diverse backgrounds (e.g., people of color, QUILTBAG, differently abled),
and few stories about diverse characters being published today. Compared to
what? Well, as Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward point out in their book Writing the Other, the dominant paradigm
in today’s society is a person of “unmarked state,” i.e., white, straight, and
able-bodied (and in many cases, male). Regardless of the realities of who is consuming media, the bulk of it seems to be created for and marketed to this assumed majority.
Addressing this lack of diversity was the driving force behind
campaigns like Diversity in YA
and #WeNeedDiverseBooks,
which highlight the disparity in representation, promote the diverse authors and
books that are out there, and encourage publishers to address the need. This
was also the idea behind the crowdfunded anthology Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories, out today from Twelfth
Planet Press. Editors Alisa Krasnostein and Julia Rios wrote:
“We’ve always been interested in promoting diversity. Julia is a bisexual woman of color, and Alisa is a Jewish Australian feminist, so in some ways this is a purely selfish drive; we want to see ourselves reflected in the stories we read. But it’s not limited to that; we also want everyone else to have the chance to see themselves, and we want to see stories about people who aren’t like us.”
In Kaleidoscope,
they have given voices to twenty authors of very different backgrounds, who
present twenty unique experiences for young readers. This remarkable anthology
collects fiction from authors like Garth Nix, Karen Healey, Sean Williams,
Sofia Samatar, Ken Liu, and more. (Full disclosure: I’m honored to be a part of
this anthology with my story “Kiss and Kiss and Kiss and Tell.”)
More than most books, there is something here for
everyone. And while diverse characters were a necessity in each story,
emphasizing that diversity is not the focus of the stories. The diversity also extends to a
whole range of types of stories, all
under the speculative fiction umbrella. (Remember, YA is not a genre; it
encompasses other genres like fantasy, horror, mystery, contemporary, etc.) I
have only read a handful of these so far, as I work my way through the collection,
but each one becomes my favorite in the moment that I read it: I loved Tansy
Rayner Roberts’ “Cookie Cutter Superhero,” which presents a fresh take on the
superhero subgenre while also critiquing its attitude toward women. “The Legend Trap” by Sean Williams
is a clever and disturbing exploration of parallel universes and memes, set in
his Twinmaker universe(s). "Chupacapra's Song" by Jim C. Hines tugged at the heartstrings of this dog owner. Shveta
Thakrar’s “Krishna Blue” is a lovely, dark tale about a “color vampire” — a feast for those who hunger for stories that draw on non-Western influences.
Kaleidoscope provides a smorgasbord of diverse stories, but it's also an appetizer for more to
come. Buy it, read it, tell your friends — there’s a lot more where that came from, if we keep asking for it.
Kaleidoscope is available in ebook and print on Aug. 5, 2014 (Oct. 1 in Australia). You can get it from any major online retailer, order the print version from your favorite book store, or order it directly from Twelfth Planet Press.
I'm a white, female, middle class writer, but currently I'm actually writing a NA science fiction/thriller based on three black female triplets who struggle with a power that makes them appear perfect to society (its not so grand when you get stalkers on your way home from class). The story also centers around the mystery of someone who is killing the superheroes and the protagonist ends up having to figure out and stop the killer before she, her best friends or her sisters end up as the next victim.
ReplyDeleteAnother story I'm working on is a NA alternative universe/steampunk (decopunk?) that draws heavily on the 1920s. This story of mine probably has the most diversity characters/issues in it, I'd say. The protagonist meets a whole bunch of different people and runs into lots of problems. All while trying to find her missing brother and not die while she figures out what role his inventions played in his disappearance.
I'm usually guilty of not including enough diversity characters in my stories, but at the same time, I write my stories on how I feel they should be written. If there's diversity characters in it, great, if not, well I try not to dwell on it too much. I think diversity IS important in our stories but I also feel we shouldn't worry about it so much that it takes over our stories. Unless, diversity is the point of the story. But overall, I agree with this post.
Thanks for your comment, Sareh! Your projects sound exciting! And I do agree: we should tell stories the way they need to be told (and I don't think diversity ever should be the point of a story, and I don't think they really were in this collection). Mostly what I encourage authors to do is look for opportunities to introduce diversity and question their instincts to write about a narrow set of characters by default. Too often we're afraid to try to write from other perspectives in case we get it wrong, but as long as we do it respectfully and do your due diligence to make characters accurate and realistic, we shouldn't let those fears stop us.
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