Latinos Don't Fall in Love, Asians Don't Tell Jokes

Catchy title eh? We also don't have friendship or sibling drama. No instead people of color live intense lives of prejudice, drugs, alcoholism, abuse (but not mental illness because for some reason no one wants to talk about that particular topic. humph). We never have any fun. There are no wealthy people of color, and there are no people of color who happen to be middle class.

I'm so freakin tired of that message that is constantly echoed over and over again in YA contemporary. I can understand the appeal of fantasy, especially the lighter aspects of paranormals. Sometimes it's nice to just curl up with a good book that's FUN. What a novel concept. I've been blogging for about a year and a half and I'm never able to post about my favorite love stories that feature people of color because at most I can think of about ten (well ten that I think are of good quality). I want to post my top ten favorite YA romances but there aren't enough to choose from. Although I would be happy to be proven wrong.

Don't even get me started on the large number of YA contemporary romances that are published (probably ten a week!). I've said it before but I'll say it again, I don't like comparing books written about Native Americans/Latinos/Asians/Black people to books written about white people but where are our Gossip Girls? Who is our Sarah Dessen (no offense to Sarah Dessen but I've read three of her books and I don't recall any of the characters being from different cultural backgrounds)?

Honestly though, about half of this post isn't really about me. Yes I've always mourned the lack of funny YA books about poc, but I never would have noticed how few YA romances there were about poc if my younger sister hadn't pointed this fact out to me a little while ago. She loves to read and I'm always giving her books I receive that I don't have time to read right away. but she ALWAYS asks me if I have any romance YA books for her and the answer 99% of the time is no. Which is really upsetting to me. My sister loves to read, but in the genre she loves most, she can never read about a Blatina like her finding love. I don't normally curse but that infuriates me, WTF. She loves the Perfect Chemistry series. A biracial romance between a Latino and a white girl. I loved it too. The first romance book we've ever talked about. I gave her If You Come Softly, another biracial romance, she really liked it but wanted less of a sad ending. I gave her A Wish After Midnight, she needed more romance (and here I was just hoping she'd learn something ;) Other was pretty good, paranormal with some romance, but again, romance wasn't the main factor same with Silver Phoenix. Perfect Shot also hit the nail on the head, quick read and very cute. She adored the book. But she's still waiting for her Black/Latina Sarah Dessen. Obviously each writer has their own style and so she will (thank goodness) never find a carbon copy of Sarah Dessen. But there has to be an unpublished (or even published) writer out there whose writing smart, funny romances for girls like my sister. Sarah Dessen writes more than romances, her characters are nuanced and they go through some hard times but the hard times are a little easier for her, a middle class girl to relate to, than say the hard times a working class guy faces over whether or not to deal drugs because of the need for money. She swoons over plenty of guy characters in books (too much so for my liking) but is it selfish of me to hope that one day she will excitedly tell me about this really cute Black guy she fell in love with through a book and hey he didn't fall in love with a white girl (because while I'm all for interracial relationships it can be a blow to continuously see in real life and in books, guys only going for girls of the same race and/or body type)? Speaking of interracial relationships, can anyone think of a YA book where the guy is white and the girl is Black? Hmm.

By that same token, why are interracial (interracial meaning Black-white or Asian-white) relationships the main focus in YA books? I NEED more intercultural relationships a la Girl Overboard (Asian-Latino, well a sort-of relationship) or even Wait For Me (Asian-Latino) or even same cultural relationships. It's as if writers are afraid to now only write Asian-Asian relationships for fear of backlash saying that Asians don't only have to love Asians. Obviously that's true, but it's also realistic, that many Asians still fall in love with other Asians (and please realize you could replace Asian with any other ethnic group). Personally I'm still waiting for my Black-Latino/a relationship (Bleeding Violet satisfies me on that end because it's completely awesome but it didn't satisfy my sister on the romance. However it's the probably the only book besides Silver Phoenix that she didn't care as much about the romance). But I'm also tired of the biracial relationships between a white person and Black person being so controversial. I get why it's such a tough issue when it's a white person and another culture, but I think Black-White relationships have been talked about enough on TV that we should all be able to move. Feature the relationships, but race shouldn't be a huge issue anymore. There will of course still be subtle incidents, but it shouldn't be the main focus, in my opinion. Bicultural relationships should be explored too; there are tensions between Blacks and Latinos, there are even intercultural tensions because many cultures value light skin over dark skin. People have been forbidden to date based on the SHADE of skin color. Yea how many times does that come up in YA? Doesn't need to be mentioned a lot, but it's an issue many teens of color may have to face, that should be reflected in books written for us.

And how about the humor? I L-O-V-E sarcastic/snarky main characters. Maybe authors don't want to perpetuate stereotypes that Blacks and Latinas are sassy, but y'know what, I think our people are funny. You have to develop a sense of humor to deal with all the extra stupidity we get. Luckily Mitali Perkins compiled a list of funny books featuring multicultural protagonists, and I definitely recommend Whale Talk, The Absolutely True-Diary of a Part Time Indian, Does My Head Look Big in This? and the Making of Dr. Truelove. But even Mitali's list is rather paltry, I believe there's only 19 books on the YA part and 16 for MG (on that side I definitely recommend Operation Redwood, 8th Grade Superzero and Watsons Go to Birmingham). Not to be greedy, but I need some more. When you compare the number of humorous titles about white people to the humorous titles about poc OVER TIME the numbers of deplorable. My brother and I both have a really good sense of humor and I 100% believe my brother doesn't read a lot of books about poc is because they aren't funny enough for him. He needs a slightly modified poc version of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

Publishers before you say no to yet ANOTHER chick lit (and not to get off topic but I have some thoughts on all things Jane Austen but that's for another post) with lots of romance, friendship and family dramas or a book with a snarky main character, re-consider saying no, if the main characters are protagonists of color, give that book a chance. Trust me, there are at least three kids in my household who want to read them.

I'm starting Daughter of Xanadu which sounds promising because I could use some good historical fiction and hey, it has romance. As for my sister, I'm giving her Jazz in Love and Fury of the Phoenix to read next. I think she'll really like them both.

Romance (might be a little, might be a lot, there's not enough to choose from to really distinguish)

His Own Where by June Jordan

If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson

Perfect Chemstry series by Simone Elkeles

Jazz in Love by Neesha Meminger

Wait for Me by An Na

The Agency series by Y.S. Lee

Silver Phoenix series by Cindy Pon

Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier

When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer (my #1 favorite romance, regardless of race)

Billi SanGreal series by Sarwat Chadda

Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins (if this book doesn't break your heart....)

Mismatch by Lensey Namioka

Perfect Shot by Debbie Riguad

Girl vs. Boy by Yvette Collins & Sally Rideout

Other by Karen Kincy

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

She's So Money by Cherry Cheva

Duplikate by Cherry Cheva

Hotlanta series

It Chicks series

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger

Jason & Kyra by Dana Davidson

Toads & Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson

A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame by Brenda Woods

Daughter of Xanadu by Dori Jones Yang

Belle by Beverly Jenkins

Subway Girl by P.J. Converse (the only romance book I've ever been beyond excited for the release)

Please help me add on to this list. I want to have at least 30 books on here so I can eventually read them all and by the time Valentine's Day rolls around next year, I can list my top ten favorites.

PS Now that I'm done rambling, read the much more eloquent Neesha Meminger express what I tried to say.

PPSS Am I the only who always wondered why the S.A.S.S. series never had a book set in Africa or South America?

My Issues with the Coretta Scott King Awards

No one seems to ever talk about the Coretta Scott King Awards. Well today I not only want to talk about them but I want to criticize (out of love), highlight and make predictions for 2011.

I admire the goal of the Coretta Scott King Awards. The CSK awards are given to African American authors and illustrators who make "outstanding inspirational and educational contributions." I do think the John Steptoe Award is run slightly better because no author can win more than once and the list of winners is far more diverse, but, there should be separate categories for this award. I have a problem with the way the books are chosen and how all children's books about African Americans are thrown together. I have a problem with the same group of authors winning the awards and receiving the honors (Walter Dean Myers, Jacqueline Woodson, Angela Johnson, Nikki Grimes). I have a problem with most of the books being historical fiction (I'm focused solely on the author awards because I'm not familiar enough with picture books to state my opinion on how they are judged).

Walter Dean Myers (for example) has won or been honored ten times. I'm not saying Walter Dean Myers doesn't deserve it, but that's just not fair. Yes I know life isn't fair but the way I see it is like this: there are so few books being written by African Americans for children and teens, that we need to spotlight as many of those authors as we can. Obviously they aren't all going to be good, but I refuse to believe that in 2010 the only good African American authors are Walter Dean Myers, Jacqueline Woodson, Angela Johnson, Mildred Taylor, Sharon Draper, Christopher Paul Curtis and Nikki Grimes. In fact, I know that's not true. I've reviewed enough books by African Americans to know that we have some absolutely brilliant authors who are not getting spotlighted. There's Zetta Elliott, Derrick Barnes, Dia Reeves, Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich, Rita Williams Garcia (I admit I was very surprised that only one of her books has won a CSK honor), Varian Johnson, Sherri Smith, Coe Booth, Ebony Joy Wilkins, Debbie Riguad, Charles R. Smith and many more. Each of those writers offers a different perspective on the Black experience, as in, the main character happens to be Black but it's not always about the racism. Those books also detail everyday life, first crush, first love, social justice, questions of faith, family issues, friendship, etc. These issues are not solely ones that Black people face but that doesn't make these authors any less talented, in my opinion, they are still contributing educational and inspirational stories simply by portraying us as teenagers first, Black people second. In the 21st century, I don't think I'm alone in saying that I want more of that. True most of the authors I mentioned above haven't published 20 something books like a Walter Dean Myers or even 5-7 like Sharon Draper, but like Christopher Paul Curtis some of them have published two or three books.

What I want to know is, can you only be treated as a serious contender if you write historical fiction? Does the CSK awards committee do more than glance at your book if it's not historical? Not since 2004 (The First Part Last which I LOVE) has a non-historical fiction book won. And if you don't write historical fiction, do you only stand a chance of winning after publishing 5 or more books? I'm thrilled Tanita Davis won a CSK 2010 honor (for Mare's War) and that Kekla Magoon won the John Steptoe New Talent Award (for The Rock & The River). They both deserved it and it's nice to have some new faces receiving recognition, both won for historical fiction titles.

I have a problem with a picture book for competing against a young adult book (note: If it's a picture book written for an older audience like Bad News for Outlaws, that's different and I don't mind). That's just not right. No other major award does that. Not the Newberry, Caledcott, Morris, or Schneider. Those awards are all dedicated to one group. The Pura Belpre throws all books written by Latino authors as well, which begs the question, why do the ethnic awards not distinguish between age groups? There should be a Coretta Scott King Picture Book Award, Middle Grade Award and Young Adult award. After all, how can you compare a picture book to a book written for teenagers? Or even a picture book to one written for junior high students? The writing and storylines are usually quite different. I hope I don't sound too harsh but maybe that's why no one pays as much attention to the CSK awards. They aren't run the way other awards are, something is missing, almost like a competitive quality.

I don't expect the CSK awards commitee to read this post. Regardless I think the CSK awards would be much better if they did the following;

1. Separated into three categories; picture book, middle grade and young adult. Same thing for the Steptoe Award.

2. Promote more books that go beyond historical fiction. Or historical fiction books that portray a lesser-known historical event (examples: Black soldiers/nurses in world wars, 1863 Draft Riots, 1919 race riots, Black Panthers, Black WESTERN pioneers). If another slavery or civil rights book wins, I might throw something.


Those are two basic suggestions that would be fairly easy to implement. I'd even settle just for the first one being done. Bottom line: YA, MG and picture books deserve their own categories. If there are 4-5 books in each category that gives widespread recognition to many more authors and isn't that the whole point of the awards? We want to promote our amazing African American authors. We can't do that with the current way the awards are run.

A post that was hands down the most valuable resource was Kyra's post about who wins the CSK awards. She has charts! I got most of my statistical data from her post or the ALA website.

Predictions*

2011 Coretta Scott King Award

Who Will Win: It's a tie for me between Out of My Mind or One Crazy Summer. I haven't read Out of My Mind but Sharon Draper seems to always win or recieve an honors and people rave about this book. But One Crazy Summer (which I have read and adored) is historical fiction. Actually Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers has a really good chance too.

Who I Want to Win: Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes

2011 Coretta Scott King Honor: Whichever of the book that should win but doesn't (i.e. if One Crazy Summer wins, Out of My Mind will get an honor or vice versa). Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon (haven't read it yet but it's historical fiction about Zora Neale Hurston, what more could they want?). What Momma Left Me by Renee Watson, Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Who I Want Honored: Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves. Because it's so DIFFERENT and that's what makes it stunning. I

2011 John Steptoe Award

Who Will Win: Good Fortune by Noni Carter because she's a young writer who goes to Harvard and she wrote historical fiction about slavery. eh

Who I Want to Win: 8th Grade Superzero by Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich (I want this SO, SO, badly)

*Since I don't read picture books I can't say if they would win. I focused on YA/MG.

Below is how the awards would look if they were in seperate categories, again I left out picture books.

(Imaginary) 2011 YA Coretta Scott King Award

Who Would Win: Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers

Who I Want to Win: A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott. I'm not actually sure if it's eligible since it was self-published first in 2009, but since Amazon re-published it in 2010, it could be? Plus it's lesser-known historical fiction. If not, I would root for Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson. Sadly based on how the awards and their history, I don't think this book would stand a chance unless it was in the YA category. Which is unfortunate

YA Honors

Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson

Finding My Place by Traci L. Jones (not my favorite but again, it's historical fiction)

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

You Don't Even Know Me by Sharon Flake (haven't read yet but I know she's won or been honored before)

A Girl Named Mister by Nikki Grimes (because she always wins or is honored)

2011 MG Coretta Scott King Awards

Who Would Win: One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams Garcia

Who I Want to Win: I would be happy with One Crazy Summer but I'm rooting for Ninth Ward.

MG Honors

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

The Other Half of My Heart by Sundee Frazier (haven't read it yet but she's won the Steptoe so I could see her winning the CSK or at least being honored)

Cruisers by Walter Dean Myers (haven't read it yet but I'm convinced Walter Dean Myers is a CSK necessity)

What Momma Left Me by Renee Watson (very very good. I would be happy if this book won)

Zora and Me by Victoria Bond & T. R. Simon

2011 YA John Steptoe Award

Who Would Win: Good Fortune by Noni Carter

Who Should Win: Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves. No contest, this was my favorite YA debut of the year.

2011 MG John Steptoe Award

Who Would Win: Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Who Should Win: I LOVE Ninth Ward but I don't want it to win the Steptoe. This award belongs to Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich and 8th Grade Superzero, hands down.

So who do you think will win the 2011 CSK awards? Do you agree with my post? Disagree? And let me know what picture books would be strong contenders too.

To see a list of all YA/MG books that are technically eligible go here

Why Yes I Had to #SpeakLoudly and Have A Twenty Boy Summer

I wasn't going to post about this. I'm joining the Banned Books Challenge (post should be up this weekend!) and I figured my actions would speak louder than words. Plus I'm a book blogger. Doesn't that essentially mean I'm against censorship and book banning?

Well yes and no. I think every book blogger is against censorship and book banning but I still think I should speak up (pun not intended). This will be short because I'm sure (like mine) your Google Reader has over 200+ posts about Speak alone.

Speak is by Laurie Halse Anderson. I read this book the summer before my freshman year. I had never heard of it before, I didn't know what to read and it was on my library's recommended reading list (Whale Talk was also on this list and thus I will forever trust my library's recommendations. And Whale Talk is another banned book! But I digress).

I immediately figured out why Melinda wasn't speaking. But that's not as important. Wat's important is understanding why Melinda won't speak and trying to understand how you can prevent a situation like this from ever happening again. Or at least, create a comfortable environment in which people aren't afraid to admit they've been raped so the IDIOTS who raped them can GO TO JAIL. *deep breath* I admit to being frustrated with Melinda, why couldn't she just SPEAK? And then it hit me. When it finally hit me, it almost knocked me over because I realized I was being so unfair and judgemental of Melinda. Anyway, so many other amazing bloggers have reviewed Speak so I will simply say that it is a book that EVERYONE MUST READ regardless of what certain people think (I refuse to link to his article). Instead I urge you to read the author's response and google the hundreds of support posts being published (or just check out the comments section of the author's post). Don't forget to check out the Twitter hashtag #SpeakLoudly

Also, I would like to state that I'm a Christian. And I'm ashamed of Christians like a certain pastor and a certain professor. This is SO not the way to go.

As for Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. Since I'm not linking to that man's craziness, I will paraphrase a bit. Basically this professor thinks the book glorifies parties where teens get drunk and having protected sex.

I'm going to be completely honest. When I read that my FIRST thought was "there was sex in this book?" I kid you not. Yes this statement makes me seem unobservant, but it also speaks to how I honed in on the actual focus of the book. It's a story of grief, moving on, forgiveness, love. I was so concerned with Anna being able to move on after Matt's death. How do you move on after you finally realize you've been in love with someone for years and a few days after your secret, glorious relationship starts, they are gone forever? How.Do.You.Deal? The sad thing is, so many teens will have to deal with this. Tragic accidents, fatal illnesses, etc. This book details the different (and often ineffective) ways people grieve. After I thought back on it, I do remember sex occurring but it obviously made no impact on me. Neither did the drunk parties. Maybe because those happen in real life? Every teen is going to end up in those situations at one point in their life, unintentional or not. Oh and did I miss the part where having protected sex is a bad thing? That means a 99% less chance of pregnancy and STDs. That would be a good thing!

I know this whole post was rather incoherent but I just wanted to share my thoughts about this. Basically

CENSORSHIP=DUMB IDEA

Oh and professor? You just helped increase book sales for Speak, Twenty Boy Summer and Cat's Cradle. And yes, I am having an actual LOL moment (I doubt the professor knows what that means though....It has nothing to do with sex/drinking/porn, don't worry!). So THANK YOU because these books deserve to be read by teens everywhere and I'm glad your shortcomings are helping others.

Guess What This Post is About?

Hardcover (top left) Paperback (middle) Hardcover sequel (immediate left)

I've been getting a ton of emails asking for my thoughts on Cindy Pon's new covers (I'll respond soon). I saw them last night (well technically today because I saw them around midnight) and many people have already posted about the whitewashing of the covers. I've been silent. Why? Because this feels more personal. I became friends with Justine Larbalestier during the Liar controversy and before I read her book. I still haven't read Magic Under Glass (I promise it will be soon!) but I've been in contact with Jaclyn Dolamore and she's very sweet. However, we only started talking during the MUG cover fail. This time it's different. Cindy Pon has been a huge supporter of Reading in Color from the very beginning. She donated 3 ARCs of Silver Phoenix for me to give away, along with sending me an autographed ARC (I'm pretty sure it was my first one). Yet another book I have that I will treasure always. She's a wonderful person and so nice (I am especially in awe of her kindness in light of my cringe-worthy review of Silver Phoenix, which I really liked but it's not the most eloquent of reviews. Good thing I'm re-reviewing it). Therefore I didn't really want to post about this. However, I'm also drained. But I realized that whitewashing controversies don't hurt the authors (who knows, they might even help) and this is too important not to post about.

The beautiful Silver Phoenix cover has been changed drastically. The paperback version is coming out in February and it is a complete whitewash. I don't like it. The girl on the cover definitely looks white and I think it's rather plain. I did send a Tweet to Cindy Pon that I LOVE the Silver Phoenix hardcover and Fury of the Phoenix has a cool cover. I stand by that. I think the dagger gives it a very cool touch and I'm ambivalent about the half covered face. I don't hate it or love it, I would probably care more if the model on the cover was Asian. Maybe the model is Asian (anyone know?). However, it is most UNCOOL that the publisher feels it has to change the cover for the book to reach more readers. It is UNCOOL that Borders refuses to sell it and that only a few Barnes and Noble stores sell it. I HATE knowing that some readers probably do see the beautiful hardcover Silver Phoenix and walk right on by because they are turned off by 'pretty pink/Asian inspired fantasy'. I do wish the original hardcover showed how action packed the book is (hence the reason why I like the dagger) because I think that could draw in more readers. I HATE that Silver Phoenix and Fury of the Phoenix look similar to other YA covers.

Silver Phoenix has a cover that readers could be proud of, especially Asian girls. It's a unique cover that contains a great story. I'm not going to boycott the sequel. I NEED to know what happens next and I don't want anyone else to boycott the book, especially since the publisher did try to have an accurate cover (but then again that could be just as bad since the cover is still being changed). I want Silver Phoenix to find new readers, but I don't want it to alienate its original readers.

Here's what Cindy had to say

i feel so blessed to have gotten the original cover
so wonderfully created by chris borgman. it will
always hold a special place in my heart.
alas, despite its gorgeousness, Silver Phoenix was passed
on by borders and carried in only limited quantities
in select barnes and noble stores. she simply wasn’t
being picked up by readers as much as we’d have liked.

the truth is, Silver Phoenix looks like nothing else
that is being offered on the young adult bookshelves.
on top of that, my story is also “different”. it’s fantasy, which
is very popular right now. but asian-inspired and reads
more like a historical than the more familiar urban.
for every reader that told me s/he’s been waiting so long
for a book like mine to come along, i’ve had another tell
me, i never thought i’d like asian-inspired fantasy, but
really loved Silver Phoenix. (this always makes me so happy!)

i can’t help but wonder how many readers took one
look at my cover, made assumptions (it’s too *this*
or obviously not enough *that*) and decided it
wasn’t for them. i won’t lie. it breaks my heart a little.
the reason that i love fantasy so much is because despite
the fact that an author can take me to an entirely
different world or time, weave epic stories of good
against evil, astound me with mythical creatures, etc, the
fantastic is always grounded in the human experience. [....]

i’m very well aware of recent discussions
about whitewashing young adult covers as well as
#racefail debates, especially within the speculative
fiction genres. most of you know by now that the
author gets very little say in cover design. i was fortunate
enough to be consulted on many aspects for the original
cover. my debut cover couldn’t have been more fierce
or asian! and i’m so grateful to greenwillow books for spending
the time, money and effort to repackage my books.
with the hopes that it will be carried more widely and
perhaps draw a new audience that my original cover didn’t.

because what matters to me the most has always been
the story. i spent two years writing and revising
Silver Phoenix, went through the gut wrenching heartache of
querying 121 agents so ai ling’s tale could be read. and it’s a
dream come true to be published. i never did it for the money,
fame or glory (i laugh at the thought!). but on a personal level,
i want my stories to be read and on a professional level, read
widely enough that more xia fantasy books in the future is
a possibility. i do have other xia tales in me! =)

i would love to see more diversity in all ways being
published in children’s and young adult genres.
i think progress is happening, even if it may seem painfully slow.
especially when we feel passionate about it. but change doesn’t
happen instantly. i believe success can be achieved through many
small triumphs. and it can start simply with a story…

You can read the rest of her post here

So what am I going to do? Well I already had a giveaway planned that will be announced on Sunday, I'll be giving away a hardcover copy of Silver Phoenix. I wish I could afford to give more away. I'm going to make sure my library has it. When I buy the book I'll be giving away, I'll head to Borders and ask for it, just to be difficult ;) I am torn over whether or not I should email the publishing company. Thoughts?

What else is there to say? I've been ranting about this (whitewashing), discussing it and trying to find a solution for months. I honestly feel like I have nothing new to say about this issue. Instead I'll update this page with links to people talking about Silver Phoenix's covers. I still want to discuss this so I'll be visiting as many posts as I can, leaving comments and replying to comments left here. Don't be shy, if you don't think this is a whitewashed cover, say so! I promise I won't bite your head off :) If you think this is horrible beyond belief, share your anger! Tell me what YOU are going to do and link to your posts.

I'm tired of being tired.

Inkstone: I guess I still have one post in me

BookGazing: That Makes Six-Whitewashing Reappears

Jeanette Lin: Sad

Writers of Color 50 Book Challenge: Cindy Pon's Silver Phoenix

Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind: Dear Greenwillow Books

Babbling About Books, and More: Special Edition WTFckery

Say It Isn't So: Whitewashing. Who's to blame?

The Rejectionist: Insert Animated .gift of The Rejectionist Jumping Up And Down And Screaming Obscenities ( Short, not at all sweet and expresses my own feelings perfectly)

The Book Smugglers: Smugglers' Stash & News

My Words Ate Me: Racism on Covers

The Compulsive Reader: Reading Rants: Of Historical Fiction, Sarah Dessen and Strong Asian Heroines

PS I also admit that I don't always report on whitewashed covers. I comment on posts that talk about them but honestly it can get really depressing to talk about all the time. For the record, I don't think White Cat was whitewashed, I do think the Mariposa Club was whitewashed. However, I haven't read either book (yet!) so my opinion could change.

Apples, Bananas, Coconuts, and Oreos (An Apology)

Apples, bananas, coconuts and oreos. To most white people those are simply the names of food,but to people of color, those are names you get called for "acting white" or "not being (fill in the minority) enough". "Acting white" means you don't use slang when you talk, you want to get an education/get ahead in life and basically you don't fit in with the stereotype people have about your culture. Some examples: An African American who likes metal music, a Latino who doesn't speak Spanish, etc. These are all examples of people who would be accused of "acting white."



An apple is what Native Americans are called when they "act white", "red "on the outside, white on the inside. Banana is what Chinese people are called, "yellow on the outside, white on the inside." Coconut is the similar term for South Asians (I think it's only South Asians, correct me if I'm wrong) and Oreo is the term used for African Americans. I don't know what the name is for a Latino who "acts white". Besides the fact that the terms red and yellow being used to describe people's skin color can be seen as offensive, these terms all essentially mean that you are a sellout, someone who does not embrace their culture. Let me make myself clear, I'm no expert on these words and the meaning behind them. I am basing this off of my own experience as well as things I've read/heard/seen. I don't want anyone to think I'm an expert on this subject, but I do want to help readers understand these terms and why we shouldn't use them.



There's nothing wrong with being white. But it is an insult to be accused of acting white if you aren't white because it means you aren't proud of your culture. Not only that, it implies that only white people can be educated, listen to certain music, watch certain things, etc. Why is a Native American child called an apple simply because he or she wants to make something of themselves? It's ridiculous to accuse people of "acting white" who want to get ahead and lift up themselves and their people. Why is a South Asian who doesn't speak Bangla, Urdu, Hindi, etc. considered a coconut? Why can't an African American not like rap music without being called an oreo? Furthermore, why is wanting to better yourself considered something that only white people can do? At the end of the day, that's what's really troubling. The fact that POC seem to think that when you do well in school, volunteer, get a job, etc. you are "acting white" and not "acting black/Latino/Asian/Native American". What a low standard. Based on that thinking, there's no point in ever trying to get ahead because if we want to become presidents, CEOs, doctors, lawyers, nurses and have success in our careers, then we have to give up our culture. Well I refuse to accept that. Isn't it obvious that a POC with a strong work ethic is not "acting white", they just have a strong work ethic. Honestly, the naysayers who say that successful minorities are "acting white" are just trying to hold their race/culture back, they may not know it, but it's true. In fact, wouldn't you say that the successful minorities are making our race PROUD?! Regardless of how you feel about him politically, you have to admit that President Obama is a smart guy. I bet he was called an oreo when he was younger (I read his autobiography a really long time ago so I don't remember for sure) because he got good grades and went to college and then law school. Now look at him, PRESIDENT. Do you hear anyone calling him an oreo? (if people are still calling him an oreo, they are just dense). Instead people are expressing pride in how far he (and we) have come. There are many more examples of people like him, leave some names in the comments :)




I've been called an oreo before. As a former dancer I can hold my own, but I have a diverse taste in music. I love hip hop and some rap, but I also like some old school rock and I love salsa and merengue. I also listen to reggaeton, jazz and during my dance years I listened to classical a lot. I was called an oreo for knowing the song "Living on a Prayer", not only that but apparently, my singing along with the song with my white friends meant that I wasn't "black enough." *eye roll* I know people who have been called oreos for not using slang. Being a minority in this country forces you to learn two languages of sorts. As a Black American teenager (I'm also half Latino but I don't speak Spanish that well), I've learned that I can relax and use slang with my friends. We can talk about the subtle racism occurring in our school and laugh at the ignorant comments people ask ("why do you wear wigs everyday?", "why don't you talk black?"). Then you have to learn the language that everyone else speaks, proper English. When I'm not with my Black or Latino friends, I lose the slang especially when you are talking to an adult, but I don't use slang with my white friends either. I don't use a lot of slang to begin with, coming out of my mouth "finna" sounds ridiculous. I also don't know all the slang, once my friend called me a cluck. I had no idea what that was. Apparently, a cluck is someone who is clumsy. No idea where that comes from. I strongly disagree with the notion that not using words like "finna" and "cluck" means you don't know or respect your Black culture. It means you speak proper English.

I'm writing this post to explain and (lamely) apologize. The fear of being called an oreo is what holds me back from telling my friends about my blog. My friends don't even know that I like to read. It's why, though I may accept your friend request on Facebook, I will not talk about books or book blogs on my account. My Facebook account is basically for my friends that I see face-to-face. So I apologize for not joining your book group or becoming a fan of your blog, etc. on Facebook but I'm tired. Tired of being called an oreo simply because I refuse to let a stereotype box me in. I'm not perfect, I have thought the word oreo in my head when I meet Black people who don't want to associate with other Black people. I'm working on not thinking like that, it's not easy but it's necessary. "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me", I can handle being called a nerd and a bookworm, those terms don't hurt me as much. But accuse me of not being Black or Latina, of not respecting or making my culture proud? That hurts more that you will ever know. I may laugh it off but believe me, "oreo" is deeply branded into my mind and it has left scars.


I'm half Black and half Latina and I don't fit in with either. I don't speak Spanish so I'm never fully accepted by Latinos and Black people don't always accept me because of my class and the way I talk and the music I like, etc. I was once told by a Black person that the reason I couldn't get Double Dutch was because of my "Hispanic blood" (I think it just comes from me being clumsy), so I shouldn't "worry about it." So I'm not "Black enough" or "Latina enough" (it doesn't help that I don't have an hourglass figure), I can't win. But the trials of being mixed-race, biracial and multiracial are for another post on another day.



PS I wasn't born knowing most of these terms! I learned about apples from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and coconut from Shine, Coconut Moon by Nessha Meminger (and banana from the comments).


PPSS Never call a POC an apple, banana, coconut or oreo if you are not of that race. Obviously, you shouldn't use it in general but believe me, if a white person calls a Black person an oreo (or a Native American person an apple, etc.), they will beat you down (verbally or physically). Seriously people, how can someone who is not of that culture tell someone else that they are not "Black (or any other minority) enough"? Doesn't even make any sense and yet I know some white kids at school who talk about Black people being oreos (we don't have enough Asians or Native Americans for them to comment on), as if they even have a clue as to what being Black means. Oh please.

February=Time to Show We Love and Understand Black People.

February is the worst month of the year. Where I live, it's cold and dreary and there's little possibility of a snow day or any other day off of school (except President's Day). And I'm not a big fan of Valentine's Day but at least it tries to make this month more cheerful. To top it all off, February has been announced as Black History Month. Seriously? We get the shortest, most depressing month?!

I have a love/hate relationship with Black History Month. I love it because I get to find out about little known facts about Black people like this and watch cool documentaries and feel proud. But then after February, guess what? All that good stuff stops. Then it's on to Women's History Month. Don't get me wrong, I realize the importance Women's History month and all the other cultural months.

One day I was in class and a kid asked "why isn't there a White Heritage Month?" And other kids agreed! I'm pretty sure I just went into shock. Why isn't there a white heritage month, hmm maybe because it's WHITE MALE history month 365 days of the year! so I don't know, I don't think white males need a month dedicated to them, just a thought. Or when one of my white friends doesn't know who Malcolm X is and she's in high school! At an academically rigorous school I might add. WHAT?

I understand people mean well, but by regulating our culture to only be celebrated for a month, the problem grows worse. What's worse is that in schools, people view these months as a drag. I can't tell you how many well-meaning teachers assigned us Black History month projects and hearing the groans of my fellow classmates (and I was right there with them because the projects were usually the same old abolitionist and civil rights project, at least come up with something creative and different! I once did a project on an African American female composer, that was cool. Except then I had to write a paper. Not cool). Trust me, when you're the only Black person in the class and your whole class has to do a project about your people, you feel almost ashamed or embarrassed. Like, if this month didn't exist that celebrated my culture, we would have less work to do. I don't care anymore, but I would be turning red when we discussed Black History Month and projects/papers were assigned. Again, are we so unimportant that we only deserve a month? That our achievements only consist of 28 worthy events?

So I get it. These cultural months are necessary to educate those who would otherwise give no other thought to non-white cultures and to promote tolerance and show the diversity of America. But why can't the achievements of POC be celebrated all year round? Why must we be regulated to one month? I know white people mean well, but to me February is just a month where everyone gets to share how much they love Black people and how we have made so much progress and white and Black people understand each other so much better now. Please. There's still a lot of racial tension (hello whitewashed covers, Harry Reid and Peggy Noonan) and once February ends the posters, books, etc. will be put away for next February. I look forward to the day when cultural months are not necessary.

I certainly don't want to discourage anyone from celebrating us. I love seeing Brown faces everywhere, bring on the blog posts, book reviews, tv commercials, documentaries, newspaper and magazine articles! Just remember to keep celebrating ALL POC 365 days a year.

PS NEVER go up to a Black person and spout a random Black History fact (unless you are close friends and they know you are kidding). Otherwise, it's irritating. You don't see me telling you some fact about Italian Americans, do you? And yes, this has happened to me (someone felt the need to inform me of the importance of the civil rights movement, I kid you not!)

I'm done with my rant now. Moving on...

Here at Reading in Color I will continue doing what I do and making sure that I do have at least one review of a book with an African American main character a week. But I'm more excited about two projects I'm undertaking. I will spend one week reviewing books about Haiti (Everytime a Rainbow Dies, Ruined, Taste of Salt, Behind the Mountains, and Anacoana: Golden Flower) and include one way we can help the people of Haiti. I'm thinking of trying to do this more often with different countries, who knows maybe I could do all the countries in like 20 years? (I'm pretty sure there are no POC books set in Antartica or Switzerland). lol.

Also I'm working on finding the most diverse publishing companies (i.e. the publishing companies that publish the most diverse books). I'll be doing this for a month and posting weekly updates with the help of Doret. We will be looking at:

1. Promotion of the books (i.e. how many ARCs are sent out or guest blog pots or author interviews, etc. are done before/after the book is released)

2. How many authors of color does the publishing company have

3. How diverse are the stories?

4. How accurate are the covers and do they have a POC on them

The companies being evaluated are Random House, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Hachette, Penguin, Macmillan and Candlewick. we will only be looking at the YA/MG selections.

Next month I will be looking at the smaller, indie-presses.

Here are some cool links for the day

Spirit of PaperTigers Project which is a really awesome project run by PaperTigers, they donate a set of books to areas in need and the books all feature POC. Follow the link for more details

POC Faces on Book Covers: Poll Results Mitali Perkins shares the results of the poll she did about how likely POC faces on book covers are likely to sell. It's interesting and definitely leaves plenty of room to hope and work for a change!

It's Not Over: Publishing Needs to take the Hint (aka more cover failures) + POC Reading Challenge books needed!

Most of us (including me) have been celebrating over the fact that Bloomsbury is changing the cover of Magic Under Glass. But Bloomsbury is ignoring the point of this whole campaign, it's not just that the cover was inaccurate it's about the messages that the inaccuracy of covers portray. It's about publishing companies seeming to think that POC on book covers won't sell, especially in children's literature. That's a BIG problem. I want to know why do publishing companies think that? I would be most curious to see their survey results that say this, but more importantly, who cares? The publishing industry should be trying to publish books that reflect the world. The world is diverse so we need more diverse stories, especially in children's literature. I firmly believe that books teach tolerance, children won't learn to respect other cultures if there are few books about that culture. And the few books that are out there may have inaccurate covers! Bloomsbury's apology was not really an apology. They didn't acknowledge that they had done anything wrong, they were just sorry to 'cause offense.' Great, now explain why it happened in the first place and that it will never happen again. Are they even listening? I'm presuming Bloomsbury has read some of the articles about this issue, so they should publish a statement that's actually an apology and an explanation.

Here are some more examples of whitewashed covers that have been brought to my attention. And I'm kicking myself for missing the first one (I don't read much sci fi/fantasy so I probably would have missed the 2nd one).

1. The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stuart. Published by Little, Brown. Brought to my attention by Bookshelves of Doom (follow the link for more info and for illustrations that prove her point!). The books have feature a character named Sticky (I immediately thought of Sticky from the Proud Family, anyone know who I'm talking about? lol!) who is described as "a skinny boy with light brown skin [...] and a bald head." The illustrations inside the book portray this exactly right, an African American bald-headed boy. The covers (sorry for the small images!)? Not so much. They feature a white, bald-headed boy. There's only one bald-headed character in the books, so it

has to be Sticky. Now this is just stupid in my opinion. Why would you make a character look one way on a cover and another way in the inside illustrations? Think before you print, publishing companies, think!

ETA: I haven't read the books but my sister read the 1st one and thought it was ok. When I asked her about the cover she said that based on the description of Sticky she always thought he was Black.

2. The Dragon and the Stars Edited by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi. This is a sci fi/fantasy anthology of Chinese culture. It sounds amazing. The problem? (read the comments for a better explanation). The dragon on the cover is a Western dragon. Now I admit, I didn't know the difference, but it was explained to me and I did some research (like staring at the cover of Silver Phoenix, haha) of Oriental dragons. This was first brought to my attention and explained to me by Tarie. An Oriental dragon is long and thin with no wings (and I think a lot more colorful and pretty). And we all know what western dragons look like. Why would you put a Western dragon on a book about Chinese fantasy stories that include dragons? Seriously?!

These are the only two examples I currently know of. I'm disheartened and I'm sure there's more that I'm missing. I'm working on doing a post about the most POC-friendly publishing companies. We need to shine spotlights on the companies that do good and try and make the publishing companies that aren't very diverse see why this is important and yes we have to call them out.

So what can we do? Do what you did for Magic Under Glass. Blog about this issue, email publishers and buy/read/review books about POC! Which leads me to the POC Reading Challenge. I'm co-administrator of this challenge along with Pam and Katy and it's going to be awesome! I'm so excited, but I want to see more participation :) I want to have lots of prizes, but lots of prizes cost money. So I would LOVE you forever ;) if you could donate a book to the challenge as a prize. I'm going to contribute something too (that's what babysitting and summer jobs are for) but I want to have a diverse

round of prizes.

What do we need? Adult and YA books about POC only (or bookstore giftcards)! I'm not sure how many YA and adult fiction bloggers we have doing the challenge (and we may need some MG, I'll have to check). So authors and fellow bloggers (especially my bloggers of color), would you consider donating a book about a POC as a prize? Let's help get books about POC into the hands of readers who want to read about them. Now I totally understand if you don't want to because you only have one copy of a book, I have to own all my favorite books (even if I've already read them). But if you have extra copies of a book or you don't need to own your books and are willing to give it away (I'm awful because I don't like borrowing, I'd rather trade and be done!) it would so be appreciated! You can email me or leave a comment here or at the challenge blog or email Pam or Katy. Thank you in advance!

An Open Letter to Bloomsbury Kids USA. Other Publishing Houses Take Note

To Whom it May Concern,

Hello. My name is Ari and here at my blog I review YA books about people of color. Right when I was starting up my blog, controversy over your US Liar cover broke out. Allow me to jog your memory, since you've made the exact same mistake. Liar is about Micah a "nappy-headed", tomboy, African American girl. Your original cover had a white girl on it. After many bloggers protested, including the author herself you changed the US cover to the image of an African American girl, she even looks bi-racial, like Micah. Now I don't want this to be a history lesson, but I ask you, why have you made the exact same mistake? I'm talking about Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore. The main character, Nimira is described as "dark-skinned." The model on the book is definitely not dark-skinned. Do publishers even read the book when they make the cover? Here are some quotes to help you out. I'll help you out, on page 96, Nimira says "exposing my brown skin." (thanks Charlotte!) Hmmm, the model pn the cover does not have brown skin. And if you used a particularly light skinned model, well that still doesn't help since she doesn't look like a person of color and if the book describes her as dark skinned than use a dark skinned model (and I know they exist!)

Please note that I do not in any way blame the author. I've read her comments on the subject and I've seen her book trailer (perhaps you should watch it), she clearly states and shows that Nimira is dark-skinned (also look at her pictures of her characters). This is your fault, not Ms. Dolamore's. Through blogging, especially after the Liar issue, I've learned that the author has no say in his or her cover. I think that is so wrong and should be corrected. Perhaps then you (and other publishing houses) wouldn't continuously anger people and create covers that look nothing like how the authors envisioned. I also know that the the cover for Magic Under Glass was created before the Liar controversy. But that's no excuse. What would posses you to think you could get away with this? Do you really think your teen readers are that stupid and shallow that we will not read books with people of color on the cover? Newsflash: It's the 21st century, we have an African American president and as long as the book is good, no one cares about what the main character looks like! Furthermore, I think the cover of Magic Under Glass is gorgeous. I love the glass, the dress/corset and how the cover screams "historical fantasy." It would have been even better with a dark-skinned model. If you're not going to consult the author about the cover, at least read the book yourself so you don't look like fools when you make a cover that doesn't fit the book! Did you really think that since the cover of Magic Under Glass was finished before Liar, that you could get away with saying nothing? You should have AT LEAST recognized your mistake, apologized and promised to make the paperback version have a person of color on the cover (since it is very expensive to publish books and changing the cover even more so). Obviously, you thought we teen bloggers would simply not notice or even care. Well guess what, we do. Check out the comments of this post, I'm compiling a list of all the reactions out there on the blogopshere. This is not a one time issue and you will not be let off the hook.
ETA (really I just want to clarify): I do not think a boycott of Magic Under Glass is the best way to go as the author has worked really hard on her book and she wrote about a person of color and we should be grateful for that especially since the book has gotten good reviews. In fact, I'll probably review it (so at least this issue promoted some good discussion and hopefully change as well as introducing me to a new book I may have otherwise missed). We should keep blogging, emailing, writing about this issue.

I'm sure you can't imagine what it's like to wander through the teen section of a bookstore and only see one or two books with people of color on them. Do you know how much that hurts? Are we so worthless that the few books that do feature people of color don't have covers with people of color? It's upsetting, it makes me angry and it makes me sad. Can you imagine growing up as a little girl and wanting to be white because not only do you not see people who look like you on TV, you don't see them in your favorite books either. You get discouraged and you want to be beautiful and be like the characters in the books you read and you start to believe that you can't be that certain character because you don't look like them. I love the books I grew up with, but none of them featured people of color. I found those later, when I was older and I started looking for them. Do you know how sad I feel when my middle school age sister tells me she would rather read a book about a white teen than a person of color because "we aren't as pretty or interesting." She doesn't know the few books that do exist out there about people of color because publishing houses like yourself, don't put people of color on the covers. And my little brother doesn't even like to read, he wants to read about cool people who look like him, but he doesn't see those books in bookstores and now he rarely reads. He reads books where skin color isn't really mentioned at all (like Diary of a Wimpy Kid which is a funny book). I want my siblings and all other children of color to want to read books about people of color without feeling like they don't exist, that we aren't cool or interesting. If I can read a book about a white teen than why can't a white teenager read a book about a Black/Latino/Asian/Native American teen? We all go through the same experiences, we all face discrimination of some sort whether it be based on gender, race or sexual orientation. Sure, in realistic fiction teens of color are going to face racism, but that's realistic and it's something white teens should know. They need to recognize that racism isn't dead, but that skin color should not matter. We are all the same underneath. We also need more historical fiction that tells the full story of America, not just the white history of America and a little slavery and civil rights (for some suggestions read my post about the lack of people of color in historical fiction)And in sci fi/fantasy books, what does race matter? A Cherokee witch is just as cool as a white witch, a Latina vampire hunter can kick just as much butt as a white vampire hunter, etc. Their experiences are the same, there's no racial prejudice in fantasy worlds (there are some exceptions).

Bloomsbury, you've brought this upon yourself. As they say "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Well the joke's on me for believing that publishing houses actually cared about putting people of color on covers, that publishing houses would actually want diverse stories. And to think, before I started blogging, I assumed it was the author's fault. That they weren't writing the stories about people of color, that they could control their covers. now I know, the stories are being written, just not published and the author has no control over the cover. I'm considering becoming a CEO of a publishing house and being committed to having books about people of color as well as letting my authors help pick their covers.

I hope the other publishing houses take note, because they will be called out. I'm not just picking on you, Bloomsbury. Your problem is, you've done the same thing twice. I don't want to hurt the author, I really respect her and the book sounds good, but I can not (will not) buy a book that is supposed to be about a dark-skinned girl, when the cover features a White model. I hope you rectify this as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Ari Reading in Color

PS I'm including the images that have caused so much controversy and discussion since you seem to suffer from short term memory loss. I thank you for changing Liar, let's do the same for Magic Under Glass.

Really Bloomsbury? I'm Done. The Publishing World Needs to Take Note

Huge thanks to Ah Yuan for blogging about this issue and bringing it to my attention. Read her post here She first heard about the controversy here concerning the cover of Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore.

I'm not going to go into a summary of this book. It sounded decent but I probably wouldn't have read it. I would have read it however if I had known the main character, Nimira was dark-skinned I would have read it since I review YA books about poc. But wait! Look at the cover. Hmmm does the model look dark skinned to you? I think not. And you know what? This cover is really pretty, I like it a lot. The dress/corset of the model, the glass, it's very elegant and it screams historical fantasy (to me, which I love). If it had had a dark skinned model on the cover I would have been so excited that I would just picked it up right away! I'm so disappointed, I'm beyond furious, I can't even type. You know why this especially angers me?

1)The publisher of this book is Bloomsbury. You may be thinking that name sounds familiar? Ah yes, they are the publisher of Liar by Justine Larbalestier. Remember they put a white girl on the US cover when the book was about a Black girl? Justine blogged about it here and I blogged about it here After enough people grew outraged (and it really helped that Justine is so cool and was so against her US cover), Bloomsbury bowed to public demands and changed their cover. And Liar is a great book that deserved a great cover, read my review

2) WHERE IS ALL THE OUTRAGE?? I've read at least 3-4 book reviews of this book and none of these reviews said anything. Except Laura at Bib-Laura-graphy Bravo Laura! (Other bloggers may have as well, I just found Laura's blog when I Googled Magic Under Glass cover controversy, if you have blogged about it, let me know and bravo to you!). I'm disappointed that my fellow teen book bloggers didn't say anything about the cover. As I recall, not many said anything about the cover of Liar either.

Please understand, this is in no way an attack on the author. For all I know, Ms. Dolamore could have said something to Bloomsbury about the cover and expressed her dissatisfaction. And I don't want to hurt her/her book, but I personally, can not buy this book while it has this cover. I'll still read it and review it, but I won't support a publishing company that has once again put a white model on the cover when the main character is described as dark-skinned.

I'm done with Bloomsbury USA. I'll get one of their books from the library, but I will NOT buy a book from them. Or any other publishing house that does this. Join me.

So what can we do? I'll be updating this post constantly once I've calmed down and can I really think. For now, I would say:

1) BLOG about it
2) Email the Bloomsbury Kids staff (I don't know who to specifically email so I would just go with the general email address)
3) If you're going to ALA Midwinter, stop by Bloomsbury's booth and POLITELY give them a piece of your mind.
4) Go out and buy a book about a poc. Or if you really can't afford to do that, go to your library and get books about poc. If they don't have any, talk to the librarians.

Also, Zetta makes a good point in the comments. She left me a link to the author's sketches of her characters from Magic Under Glass. Nimira doesn't look dark-skinned in her sketches either, seems to me the author does have a different view of dark-skinned than I or perhaps she didn't add any color to the faces of her characters because she wanted the reader to be able to imagine them as whatever color they wished?
ETA: Bad statement, I apologize. The book trailer clears this up.

Leave me a comment with your thoughts and what you think we should do. Enough is enough. If you haven't yet, you MUST read this post by Colleen at Chasing Ray about Demanding Diversity in Publishing. Right before Martin Luther King Jr. Day too, it's a shame and this is definitely NOT his dream.

The Responses (this will be a list of all the blog links I find/are left here in the comments ). Please visit the posts and leave comments encouraging the bloggers for speaking out.

1. Bookish Blather: Racefail on Magic Under Glass. Excellent post and I'm so glad Angela will be joining in and helping to make some noise when the publishing industry changes skin color for a cover. "So while I hold Bloomsbury highly accountable for this cover, I also have to say that the blogosphere seems to have fallen down on the job a little bit as well. We can take a stand and start making noise now so that racefail like this becomes rare, rather than an all too common occurrence." Agreed!

2. Black-Eyed Susan's: No Magic for Bloomsbury:Whitewashing, Business as Usual-Great post that really expresses how angry I feel in a way that makes more sense than whatever I say :) "Clearly Bloomsbury doesn't take us too seriously. Obviously they think teen bloggers are too shallow and fickle to call them out. I am sick of the excuses and head plunking in the sand. Teens, particularly you teen girls, stop taking the disrespect. Stop allowing the publishing industry to treat you like silly little girls who gush and fantasize over one model of beauty. You have no problem telling adults otherwise when they are wrong in what they think about you so why do you accept them selling you a stick figure with perfect skin, gorgeous hair and white skin? Whitewashing is racist. It says no one is interested in any character other than the white standard. It says we do not value diversity. It says POC at best can be a sidekick. POC can earn the publisher money but we cannot represent them.Yes, stop allowing the disrespect because poc can represent! Show publishers that you will buy books about poc!

3) Book Covers that Lie, Yet Again: I will definitely be trying harder to pay attention to the book covers of the books I read this year. I said I would in the original post about “Liar”, but I know I haven’t been doing as much as I should have been. It’s easy to put up a blog post commenting on how you don’t like something or wish something was different. But actually doing something about it takes effort. I promise to try harder this year. If something isn’t right I’m going to say something about it. After I post this I’m going to email Bloomsbury and let them know that I’m bothered by the cover. Hooray for Jen!

4. Good Books & Good Wine's Cover Controversy?! -I wonder if the message sent is oh, a book featuring a dark-skinned character would never sell, because white people don't want to buy books with dark people on the cover. Therefore, we don't value non-white people as much as white people. Personally, I think that's stupid. I think we need to wake up and smell the coffee and realize it's 2010, characters come in all different shapes, colors and sizes. Diversity is definitely not a bad thing, and one's reading life can be so enriched with diversity! I know I'm not being very eloquent right now, but damn if I'm not angry that Bloomsbury seems to think I wouldn't buy a book with a girl on the cover who is a different color from me. That's messed up. Why would they assume white people don't care to read about people of color? Do they honestly think I don't read to learn about people with different life experiences with me?Or that I only want to read about people who are the exact same as me? Fuck that noise. I want diversity in my life- Amazing April!

6. Abby the Librarian's More whitewashing, Just in time for MLK Day And while I agree with all that and Bloomsbury really should have learned their lesson, I can't help but think that this is still all a symptom. Why is Bloomsbury publishing this book with this cover? Because they think it will sell more copies.

We vote every day with our credit cards and we need to be the change we want to see. And while I agree with all that and Bloomsbury really should have learned their lesson, I can't help but think that this is still all a symptom. Why is Bloomsbury publishing this book with this cover? Because they think it will sell more copies. We vote every day with our credit cards and we need to be the change we want to see. I'm not suggesting that we boycott a particular publisher or author. I hate that this controversy might adversely affect the sales of a debut author, especially since I know that oftentimes authors have little-to-no say about their covers. What I'm trying to say is that if we, as a community of readers, PURCHASE BOOKS by and about people of color, that is a surefire way to get publishers to publish books by and about people of color. We vote with our credit cards. I'm not urging you to vote against any particular titles, publishers, or book covers. I'm simply urging you to vote for books that feature people of color if you are, in fact, as outraged by this cover controversy as you claim to be
Love it Abby!

7. Bookshop's New Year's Resolution #7: Stop Buying YA from Bloomsbury: Having spent too much money last year on less-than-stellar YA debuts, I resolved for 2010 to buy fewer debuts unless I had reason to be really excited about them. The first exception to the rule was Jaclyn Dolamore's Magic Under Glass. I have been looking forward to reading this book for months.

This week I picked up my copy. And I learned that the heroine of the novel was from the Far East, had dark skin, and looked nothing at all like the white model on the cover of the book I bought.

My much-anticipated first YA reading experience of 2010 has been ruined by a disgusting example of Racefail from a publisher that really, really should have learned its lesson when this happened last summer. The people who were outraged over Liar were not minor inconveniences at whom you could wave a new cover until we went away. We learned the lesson of Liar, it seems, far better than you did.

This is the last book I will be buying from Bloomsbury Kids. As a publisher you have now proven to me that you do not respect the characters or the cultures I most want to read about. Bloomsbury does not deserve my money.

I will also strongly encourage the many YA fans and up-and-coming writers in my community not to submit their books to Bloomsbury. Instead I will encourage them to submit their novels to a publisher who wants more chromatic characters on their debut covers, not one who wants to erase the precious few we already have. A letter to Bloomsbury from Aja, one of the original bloggers to blog about this. Aja you rock my socks and thanks for posting about this and sharing your email!

8. Charlotte's Library Cover of Magic Under Glass: I remember thinking how glad I was that at least they had not made Nimira into an overly romanticised example of the "exotic other" (which was something that Dolamore managed to avoid in her book, but which I was a bit nervous about).

I wish I had mentioned this in my comments about the book. I do not think this is as catastrophic a race fail as the cover of Liar, but I am sorry that Bloomsbury didn't take advantage of the opportunity provided by the story to show a beautiful girl who actually is "dark." And I'm sorry I failed to raise the issue in my review, and with my silence indicated acceptance of this white-washing. Visit Charlotte's post to see a list of all the pages where Nimira is described as dark-skinned. Thanks for this post :)

9. Book Gazing: Bloomsbury-Any chance you can get smarter? It all comes back to the vicious cycle surrounding diversity. People who don’t like ‘gritty’ books won’t start buying more books with black characters on the cover until they see a more diverse field of books being published with black characters on the cover. Even if they’re out there (and they are) the majority of people don’t believe there are light hearted books featuring black characters and that’s something the publishing industry has to take responsibility for, as they’ve reinforced the image of black writing as gritty, hard hitting and harrowing (not bad things to be called, but they’re now preventing a whole market of readers who like lighter books from buying anything even remotely related to race (see Susan’s post for a better idea of this kind of thing). Publishers won’t start publishing more of these kind of books with black characters on the cover until people start buying the current books with black characters on the front and until they see the money they’re not likely to take a risk because this is capitalism my friends with all its flaws and joys. No one is taking a risk until they see the cash. Brillant post Jodie!

10. Storywings: My Two Cents: Magic Under Glass

One - we're living in the 21st Century for Christ sake, who the hell do Bloomsbury think they are?

Two - this poor author is going to get slammed and boycotted because of Bloomsbury, it isnt her fault yet its going to be her name that gets dragged through the mud.

Three - the sheer inaccuracy of the cover is just wrong.

Four - the fact that Bloomsbury obviously thought that they would get more sales with a white girl than a black one which is absolutely disgusting.

I live in a country so diverse that I've grown up not even seeing colour, every one is just a person so this is something that is very hard for me to understand. Bloomsbury, I lost a lot of respect for you today. If I ever get published, I don't care if you're my last option, I am not going to go near you. Thank you for your two cents Wings, it helps!

11. Justine Larbalestier, Race and Representation: I have one thing to say:

This is not about the accuracy of covers on books.

It’s not about blonde when the character is brunette, it’s not about the wrong length hair, or the wrong colour dress, it’s not even about thin for fat. Yes, that is another damaging representation, but that is another conversation, which only serves to derail this conversation.

The one about race and representation.

Sticking a white girl on the cover of a book about a brown girl is not merely inaccurate, it is part of a long history of marginalisaton and misrepresentation. Publisher don’t randomly pick white models. It happens within a context of racism. And that's what it's all about =)

12. Colleen at Chasing Ray, What's Going On: Some people truly just don't get it and trying to force them to get it is an issue that is going to get us way off track.

16. I understand Susan's desire to boycott Bloomsbury and her collective frustration. I really do. What concerns me is that there are authors at Bloomsbury who have beans to do with this, authors who have written books about dolphins or bugs or whatever and race has never been an issue for their books. So is it fair to affect them? I don't think so.

17. Having said that, I am sick and tired of books about kids with color that have a Caucasian on the cover. Why does this matter? Because you are saying that they are not good enough to be on the cover. You are saying you have to hide the dark skinned protagonist behind a light skinned one. You are saying that dark skin is something to be ashamed of.

18. Yes, you are saying all of that. Seriously, read all her points. Spot On!

13. Eva at a Striped Armchair: Reading in Color (RiC note: not about me! haha) : Yep, I had to try harder, especially at the beginning. I had to be more conscious of the books I was choosing to read (although now it’s become a habit). And I definitely didn’t love every POC book I read. But then, I don’t love every white author I try either. And here’s the thing…after several months of changing my reading, I’ve barely scratched the surface of all of the wonderful POC literature out there.

In fact, I fully intend to read this way for the rest of my life. And yes, I do plan to keep track, and to hold myself to that firm ratio. At least, until it becomes second nature (a few years ago, I did the same thing when I noticed I had read almost all male authors that year…now, at least half the books I read are by women, and I don’t have to pay attention to it). I’m willing to sacrifice a little of my reading spontaneity and whims (although really, not that much) in order to make sure that I’m aware of more viewpoints. It’s important to me in principle, and just as importantly, it has improved my reading tremendously! It’s funny what being aware of something does though…because in the last few months, the white washing of the publishing industry seems so much more obvious. Oh, and the white washing of the book blogosphere. Thank you Eva for being so honest and right on!

14. School for Activists: Whitewashing in the Publishing Industry: A response to Bloomsbury Fail It's not enough to call for black kids to be on the covers of kids books. We need to call for more books about kids of color that are not just about oppression. We need to call for fantasy/mystery/scifi/romance/genre fiction about kids of color who get to have some fun. We need to call for major mainstream publishing houses to start publishing such books. And we can't let them get away with sticking the lightest-skinned "ethnic-looking" person they can find on the cover when we make a fuss. I mean, come on, the girl on the new cover of Liar? She could be black, sure. But it's not super immediately clear is it? You're not wrong if you think that this was done on purpose.

It is RARE that I see dark-skinned unambiguously Not White kids of color portrayed anywhere in kids books (Kadir Nelson is an awesome exception to this) -- from the covers of YA books to the illustrations in picture books, most kids of color are depicted as extremely light skinned. Most black kids (especially the girls) are also depicted with straight hair. Not that light-skinned straight haired people of color shouldn't be depicted anywhere, but the huge preponderance of them in kiddie/YA literature about kids of color is motivated by racism. Publishers MUST be called out on this, and not just by a few kids buyers sitting down with their rep and saying so. Buyers need to refuse to buy any frontlist titles from Bloomsbury at all this season. Those of us who see a problem must unambiguously say so
Whoo hoo thank you for speaking out DontBoxSarah, this post is great! And from an interesting perspective of a book buyer for a bookstore who will boycott.

15. Multiculturalism Rocks! I Have A Dream: Feeding from Martin Luther King, Jr. words and vision, I dream that one day our actions will match our words; that one day when we tell our children that we do not believe in discrimination or in double standards, they will also witness it through the books that we read together; that one day reality will exceed the dream: we will gather not to denounce a cliché, a book cover misrepresentation or a ban on gay, multicultural or children books dealing with edgy issues, but that we will gather to celebrate joy, respect and diversity in all its forms.

Brightside of all this? The discussion and I've discovered some new blogs! Please read my new post as well, An Open Letter to Bloomsbury.

Sign this petition stating that you will buy a book with a person of color on it or a GLBT teen or disabled or overweight if they are accurately represented on the cover.