*beams*

Thank you Eugene! :)

any time! ;)

I don't know when I started becoming interested in "multiculteral" literature but I started making an effort to seek it out when I saw the prevalence of "white" literature that I was feeding myself.

Because of where I live, I look more for African-American and S. American authors to get a glimpse into a world unlike my own but reflective of the demographic of the area. I also love books that take place in Asia because of friends I have from Philipines and China.

I do think when we travel, whether we want to or not, we are reflective of our whole country and I would like to show something different than the Hollywood portrayal. I think of an article I read in a travel magazine? about young back-packers putting Canadian flags on their bags because they didn't want to be seen as an American-perhaps if they'd gone as Americans they would have openned some minds to alternative thought.

This is rambling, sorry. My other thought was that as we become more aware of this lack, we are able to inform the habits of those people that we have some influence over and, while it takes time,these changes may start being visable. A line in (I think) It's the Little Things says (paraphrasing): Black people are always aware of race, White people have to make a point to think about it.

the more people making a point to think about it and actively do something about it...that's progress.

the best thing you can do to be a good representative of any group you represent (whether intentionally or not) is simply to be the best person you can be and let that speak firstly for yourself, and secondly, for whatever larger whole you may represent.

thinking critically is never rambling. that's called intelligence and awareness!

Alexis, my to-read list is soon going to hate you.

I love this topic and the recommendations sounds great! This is actually something that's being talked a lot about on some of the blogs I read. Check out Taste Life Twice and Reading in Color. Also, if you're interested and not familiar with it I suggest checking out Justine Larbalestier's Blog and reading about the cover controversy over her new book Liar.

And my suggestions for some books with POC protags or POC authors:
Asian-American Protags in YA fiction Book List
Anything by Justine Larbalestier (try her Magic or Madness trilogy)
Returning My Sister's Face by Eugie Foster - Not YA, but I'd still recommend it. Beautiful short stories that retell and draw inspiration from Japanese myth and legends.

There are probably a lot more in my book list but as I don't sort my books by culture and book covers are not a lot of help I'd have to take a lot more time to sort them out.

This is a really interesting thread and I'm looking forward to checking out some of these books. Thanks to all who recommended them!

Lauren wrote: "A line in (I think) It's the Little Things says (paraphrasing): Black people are always aware of race, White people have to make a point to think about it.

the more people making a point to think about it and actively do something about it...that's progress. "

That's an excellent quote.. reminds me of Peggy McIntosh's essay "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack". Here's a link: http://www.amptoons.com/blog/files/mcint...

Heather,

Well, there is another way to think of it -- my world is made up of black people; the rest are "unblack" or "other".

Something I had to consider as I raised my interracial children and thought about what they would be reading.

I hadn't thought of it that way Lydia. What were some books you ended up encouraging them to read as a result?

I think it's just human nature to "other" things. We have to categorize and label. It's what we do.

Misty I agree with that sentiment. It becomes a problem when it builds walls and hinders our ability to relate to "other" in a positive and honest way.

Lydia, I like the way of putting that. Or my world is made up of people of many varied times, places, cultures and the joy it is to see the history that has shaped an individual.

There is much richness to be enjoyed if we look for it.

Loving some of these books I have picked up on the recommends of this thread.

Hey Eugene, for me, it was the black kids who beat my butt for seven years! And I'm still not over it! (Yes, I'm working on a YA that centers around that -- could only start it after years of therapy, of course! Tee,hee)

As a librarian I took a rather interesting course on multicultural literature -- the term was used broadly. I find I am really fascinated by Australian, Canadian, African, Indian, and Asian authors - both in YA and adult lit. I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with defining multicultural as those which are outside of your own -- however, subjective that may be. The goal is to simply entertain another range of books.

I must admit to you all, however, I despise Walter Dean Myers' work. And I really dislike the books for adults by black authors that seem to be extremely formulaic. My sister has been reading for quite awhile and I found that after a year, nothing felt new and exciting. I'm afraid that is the way I see what you might call Urban Fiction.

Lauren wrote: "Misty I agree with that sentiment. It becomes a problem when it builds walls and hinders our ability to relate to "other" in a positive and honest way."

I agree, but unfortunately, I think that's human nature, too. You can't label something as "other" without setting it apart from yourself, and once you do that, it is generally all downhill from there.

Lydia wrote: "I must admit to you all, however, I despise Walter Dean Myers' work. And I really dislike the books for adults by black authors that seem to be extremely formulaic."

I haven't read any Myers, but people normally speak so highly of him. And I think anything formulaic is baaaaaad.

Misty, Myers tends to write in the language of the streets and is rather graphic in his descriptions. I just don't like it and do not feel it is helpful. He's writing for a specific audience and it's not me and it's not my kids. My reaction is rather emotional, rather from a critical perspective.

Heather wrote: "I hadn't thought of it that way Lydia. What were some books you ended up encouraging them to read as a result?"

Heather, my daughters have read a real wide variety of books and, from my personal parenting perspective, nothing was off limits. At one point we used the ALA list of books recommended for college-bound students.

But remember, my daughters were raised in Alaska, so we had lots of time to read! LOL!

Hello all. I'm new to the discussion (and to the group, in fact - the discussion intrigued me so much, I had to join!) and I thought I'd pass along two potentially helpful resources.

First, there is a Livejournal community that encourages individuals to read books by authors of color. The community was created as a response to the conventional challenge to read 50 books in a year, revising that goal to be to read 50 books by authors of color in a year. Now, I know that not all authors of color write "multicultural" books/"urban fiction" and by the same token, that many books that may be classified as "multicultural" or "urban fiction" were not written by people of color. Additionally, though authors of color do sometimes write about such issues as poverty, racism, multiculturalism, etc., they also write about other issues, invoking genres other than straight-up fiction. However, many of the reviews or short summaries posted by readers in the community would be relevant to this discussion. It's important to note that not all books discussed are YA (since this is a YA-focused group), but a great deal of them are. Here's the link: Writers of Color 50 Book Challenge.

Second, if you look to the right side of the community page, you'll see some links to recommendations. If you want one easy source to remember, look at the community's bookmarks on Del.icio.us (the community recommendations and the booklists posted in the community are all included as bookmarks, so the Del.icio.us page is a one-step hit on everything available). The bookmarks are here. Try expanding the list of "all tags" to pinpoint topics or author backgrounds of particular interest to you.

Neither of these sources is complete, of course, but this is a growing project and I figured some of you might be interested in these resources.

I have other thoughts but they are not forming cohesively in my brain right now (it's much too early in the morning for me!). I hope to keep up with this discussion thread, however, and so you may see me back here again. :)

Thanks Mona!

I just want to comment on the whole "multi-cultural" word issue (question? comment?). I would think multi-cultural would imply different cultures, regardless of the color of the skin. Thus, being American, I would classify books from England, Australia, Germany, even Canada as "multi-cultural".

Then there is multi-racial (or maybe multi-ethnic). This is implies different people of other races. I'm Korean by birth, Asian in general, and American by nationality. Multi-racial would indicate to me books about non-caucasians. So it could be set in the US, but a story about an African American, Latino, or Asian American would, to me, be considered multi-racial.

Depending on how you use either word, I don't necessarily infer that it's stereotyping. An African American growing up in the US is going to have a different experience than a Latino versus an Asian American (to that of a caucasian). Similarily, a caucasian American in China would have a different experience than I do, even though we're both Americans.

I would also like to add the Dragonwings Golden Mountain Chronicles 1903 series by Laurence Yep. Dragonwings itself won a Newbery Honor, ALA Notable, and International Reading Association Children's Book award.

The series deals with one family (and several generations) over the decades (1849-1995), starting in China and their subsequent move to the United States. It brings to light some of the realities, struggles, and issues facing all Chinese Americans (and Asian Americans in general)--not just the prejudices but the conflicts of being American and still wanting to retain the essence of what makes them "Chinese". How do you preserve your heritage, while successfully adapting to a totally different culture?

**I am also glad to read the good reviews of Kira-Kira, which I just recently purchased. And I can't recomend the Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry series enough. I read that in 6th grade and it's stuck with me all these years. I just recently purchased them for myself and to my delight, they are still as wonderful now as they were 20+ years ago.

Meghan wrote: "I just want to comment on the whole "multi-cultural" word issue (question? comment?). I would think multi-cultural would imply different cultures, regardless of the color of the skin. Thus, being American I would classify books from England, Australia, Germany, even Canada as "multi-cultural". "

That's how I approach it.

Misty wrote: "Meghan wrote: "I just want to comment on the whole "multi-cultural" word issue (question? comment?). I would think multi-cultural would imply different cultures, regardless of the color of the skin..."

I agree, Meghan and Misty.

Hmmm off hand when I was in college a long long time ago. I really liked books that brought you into someones culture. Usually they have to have a decent plot, some type of experience learned that I have no chance of ever experiencing in my own life. I really liked this book when I read it at school. Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers A Novel Hmm this was actually really interesting too but a little difficult to read. I think it's the Asian version of the Invisible Man, not the scifi book. No-No Boy

Fyi, I'm from a very multicultural background. I was born and raised in San Francisco. But I'm of Scotish, German, Hong Kong, Southern China heritage. My son is Korean tossed into the above. So we are really mutts in the grand scheme of culture. Then again if you are from an urban area you may have heard the word HAPA tossed around? Usually its for people of mixed cultures that involve Asian or Pacific Islands mixs.

Hmm life does give you perspective, especially growing up you usually have to fall into a certain category, they don't have a box on forms for "all of the above" when you pick race.

HAPA? I am so ignorant of most racial epithets. I remember the first time I hear someone say JAP on tv (meaning Jewish American Princess, aka spoiled), and I thought they meant Japanese, and I was so confused, as the girl was clearly not Japanese. :)

Haha Misty I think they would most likely refer to you as WASP or the other term I can't think off the top of my head.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Anglo...

Eeeh overall the classification thing of people is a joke.

Everyone is an American and culturally based on culture and norms. I'm sure I'm nothing at all like my grandparents. I'll admit I had a super racist grandma growing up who thought my mom should be her maid and what not. But thats a story for another day.

Misty plus for the longest time I think the Japanese were either referred to as the "japs" or "nips" dependent on your locale.

Michael wrote: "Haha Misty I think they would most likely refer to you as WASP or the other term I can't think off the top of my head.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Ang..."

Yeah, I know I have racist members of the fam, but either they keep their mouths shut until they blow, or they keep their mouths shut around me because they know what they'll have to listen to if they don't. And the WASP thing, that one confused the hell out of me, too, for the longest time. I had to google it awhile back. For the most part it fits (I am rather pasty, despite NA blood), but the P definitely does not fit. So I'm not a complete stereotype. Score one for me.