Suzy Davies's Blog: Book News - Posts Tagged "diversity"

Happy International Women's Day to all my readers, including men, and boys!

I would just like to state that it is my intention to celebrate the strengths of the masculine and the feminine in my books, in a way that acknowledges diversity.

We can deconstruct negative stereotypification of girls in Children's Books, by giving them central, active roles in which they are not always "rescued" and are not always princesses. They take responsibility for making their own destiny, through the decisions they make, and the actions they take.

"Snugs The Snow Bear," Book One of my Modern Children's Series, shows that girls are adventurous, and independent, and that boys may be sensitive, have feelings, and show them, too.

It is only when we stop labelling girls and boys with false images of themselves, that our children will be liberated, to have the freedom to be, discover who they really are, and fulfill their full potential.

Many books are educational in different ways, and in my opinion, teaching children about diversity is an important aspect of this.
With societal discrimination still rife - Racism, Sexism and Gender Inequalities, Class Conflict, Ageism, Lookism and so on, the value of a book that educates children about differences and diversity is clear.
What a good book does for children is expand their world, giving them "experiences" of different kinds of people. This raises awareness, and helps them see the value in celebrating differences.
My book, Snugs the Snow Bear, Book One of my "Snugs Series," applauds a male hero who is caring, kind and sensitive, at the same time as being courageous. It celebrates a young girl Carla, who may be shy, and less outgoing than her brother, but is highly intelligent. Mrs Merryweather, the grandmother in the story, drives a car, and is lively! My book challenges gender stereotypes and ageism.
These are just a few examples from my first book in "The Snugs Series," which has a culture and travel theme, so that the experience of reading the book is akin to going on a fantastic adventure! Travel is indeed a great educator, even when it is of the virtual kind.

It is well-known that the name of the author of “Harry Potter” books - J. K. Rowling - is such because Rowling wanted her name to appeal to boys who would read her books. Her publisher decided that to appeal to a young male audience, (as well as females,) who might be put off by the notion of a woman writing “their” books, it was better to use the initial “J” and add the “K,” perhaps for extra authority - Rowling did not have a middle name.

Any author of Young Adult Books has to make their own choices with regard to their pen name, if any.

But I have chosen to stick with “Suzy Davies” for my new release on Smashwords, “The Cave,” because if I am the only woman to write about the Thai Cave, (among a proliferation of male authors,) so be it.

My version of the Thai Cave story has all the so-called “masculine” elements of an action adventure story interwoven with a thread of mysticism and the supernatural.

In “The Cave” I bring bonds of family love, which the boys themselves acknowledge helped them through their challenges, to the foreground.

My book balances fact and fiction, thought and feeling, mind and body, the private sphere and public sphere, and questions gender stereotypes.

I have Hans Christian Andersen to thank for giving me the idea that mermaids helped the Navy Seals in their Heroic mission. The film, “Bend it Like Beckham” inspired me to create industrious Jintara, the heroine seamstress/artist in the story, who plays football as well as any boy hero. And little Lec, Jintara’s brother, and the hero of the tale, is strong and sensitive.

The Thai Cave could easily be reduced to a cliche - an epic tale of The Heroic - without acknowledging the women heroines whose power to love and to nurture brought those Wild Boars home.

Suzy Davies, Author, “The Cave” Copyright 2018, All Rights Reserved.

Reviewed by Melanie Kennedy for Readers’ Favorite

The Nightingale and The Sunflower is a short story by Suzy Davies and follows a family in Ukraine as they try to live their lives during the Ukraine-Russia War. Mom, Dad, and their three girls have to flee their home and move far away as their country is plunged deeper and deeper into conflict. A chance encounter with a soldier delivers sunflower seeds to Daniela. As they carry on their journey and meet other refugees, the sunflower seeds symbolize hope for the parents and children, displaced and missing their homes. Planting, tending to, and building structures for the sunflowers to grow and flourish brings the children and adults together in the little community. Together they paint an exceptional mural of a nightingale, celebrating its powerful and beautiful song and the effervescent colors of the mural become a beacon of hope in trying times.

Suzy Davies writes an extraordinarily hopeful and promising story for the people of Ukraine. The message in The Nightingale and The Sunflower is one of love and expectation. There is hope that the world will be a better place and that we can all build a better world for ourselves and future generations. The story transcends the Ukraine-Russia War and can be applied to any struggle humankind faces at this time. I cannot imagine what Ukrainians must be going through at this time, but I wish and pray that they can find even the smallest hope in their daily lives and be as brave and confident in a brighter future as Daniela is, thanks to the image of the nightingale and the sunshine from the growing sunflowers.