Kibkabe Araya's Blog, page 6

Banning Books Could Lead to Defunding Libraries

SHE LIT: Banning Books Could Lead to Defunding Libraries 📖 A rural Michigan town defunds its library over books with LGBTQ+ content. Plus, the latest in the Virginia book obscenity court case. View this email in your browser Public libraries becoming targets for collections that include LGBTQ+ books A rural Michigan town defunding its library over books featuring LGBTQ+ themes is the next level of book bans. Book bans are at their highest level, according to the American Library Association that marks Banned Books Week every year this month. From Sept. 18-24, we will mark a year where more than ever school districts are voting to remove books from campus libraries, lawsuits are being waged to remove books from public libraries and bookstores, and now those public libraries could lose community funding over a particular book. Patmos Library in Hudsonville, Michigan, was facing closure in early August after voters rejected a measure to renew funding for the library. The vote was blamed on a campaign waged by conservative Christians who believe books associated with LGBTQ+ themes are “grooming” children to be pedophiles, a QAnon belief that has become a mainstream conservative theory, according to media reports. Less than 1% of […]

Book Review: ‘The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School’ by Sonora Reyes

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes shows a Mexican American girl’s journey of realizing she’s queer and figuring out to hide her queerness at her new high school.  We first meet Yamilet “Yami” Flores punching a mirror out of frustration over quitting her job at a café because her ex-best friend Bianca walked in. Bianca had told the student body at their high school that Yami is gay, without Yami’s approval. In fact, Yami is still trying to figure out her sexuality and her identity and only confided in Bianca. The embarrassment convinces Yami to start at a new high school, Slayton Catholic. Attending school with her younger brother Cesar, who skipped a grade so he’s a junior too, will be a fresh start for Yami, who still needs another job to help pay for tuition since her grades failed to garner a scholarship the way Cesar’s grades did.  Right away, Yami is questioning her decision. The students at her old school are “mostly Black and Brown Chicanes,” while at Slayton 40 minutes away “there’s not a lot of melanin over there.” Yami jokes that she could sell sunscreen to her Slayton classmates to help pay for […]

Authors Argue B&N’s Stocking Policy Hurts Sales

SHE LIT: Authors Argue B&N’s Stocking Policy Hurts Sales 💸 Barnes & Noble doubles down on decision to restrict which children’s books get on store shelves. Plus, the latest bingeable book-to-TV series. View this email in your browser 📚 Subscribe to deep lit, she lit’s paid deep dive content on books📚 Bulk of middle grade, YA fiction must prove profitability for placement at bookstores Authors are fighting back against a Barnes & Noble stocking policy that they say hurts the sales of debut novels by people of color. Middle grade author Kelly Yang shared a viral video of her daughter in a Barnes & Noble bookstore reacting to how her new novel Key Player in her Front Desk series was not going to be stocked at stores with other books in the same genre. The rest of the video shows Kelly tearfully explaining that Barnes & Noble plans to stock only the top two books per publisher per season. She said her publisher told her that Barnes & Noble had decided to not stock the fourth book in her series, and many others in the middle grade and young adult genres, until the first editions sell successfully elsewhere. Other authors […]

Book Review: ‘Acne’ by Laura Chinn

Acne by Laura Chinn tells the story of the television writer/actress’ tumultuous childhood and young adulthood and how her struggles were reflected in a severe case of acne.  Laura Chinn created and starred in the 2019 Pop TV sitcom Florida Girls (think Broad City with Florida Woman adventures) that unfortunately received the ax during the Covid-19 pandemic. The entertainer, who has written for shows like The Mick and Children’s Hospital and acted in shows like Grey’s Anatomy and My Name Is Earl, actually was born in the Los Angeles area where she lived with her “hippie” parents and older brother Max. Though her mother is White and her father is Black, she doesn’t get a sense of her biracial identity until she’s eight-years-old. She never noticed the concept of race since everyone in her house has a different complexion. While Max has brown skin and is often confused for “Mexican or Hawaiian,” Laura has fair skin and dirty blonde curls, so she’s considered outwardly White. Growing up in La Crescenta, she is homeschooled with other kids in her neighborhood. Her childhood is disrupted when her mother announces the family is moving to Clearwater, Florida, the best place for Scientologists like […]

When Book Banning Turns Violent

SHE LIT: When Book Banning Turns Violent Safety concerns for writers of banned books take spotlight amid Salman Rushdie attack. Plus, new releases have us “walking” to the bookstore. View this email in your browser 📚 Subscribe to deep lit, she lit’s paid deep dive content on bookish content 📚 Safety concerns for writers of banned books take spotlight amid Salman Rushdie attack The freedom of speech through writing is being examined this week after award-winning novelist Salman Rushdie was stabbed multiple times at an event where he was speaking about his work. A week ago today, The Satanic Verses author was stabbed while on stage at the Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit education center in western New York that regularly invites authors and other creatives to provide lectures. Currently jailed, the assailant reportedly planned the attack after reading two pages of the author’s controversial 1988 novel. The novel provoked the Iranian leader in 1989 to deliver a fatwa ordering anyone the right to kill the author and his publishers. Despite feelings toward the book’s content and the author’s alleged behavior toward his ex-wife Padma Lakshmi detailed in her memoir, the literary community is shocked by the violent attack over a […]

Book Review: ‘I’m Glad My Mom Died’ by Jennette McCurdy

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy is an eye-opening memoir examining the abuse the Nickelodeon star said she endured from the mother who forced her into Hollywood.  Jennette McCurdy starred in the Nickelodeon series iCarly (currently in reboot mode on Paramount+ without her) for five seasons from 2007-2012 as Sam Puckett, the supportive, food-loving friend of Miranda Cosgrove’s Carly whose internet show is a viral success. She even scored a spin-off with fellow Nickelodeon star Ariana Grande called Sam & Cat that only lasted a season from 2013-2014 with Ariana being on the brink of pop stardom. Despite finding herself famous at a young age, Jennette never wanted it.  Acting in Hollywood is her mother’s dream. The McCurdys live in Garden Grove, an hour and a half away from the entertainment epicenter in nearby Orange County, but they’re living the low-income life in Jennette’s father’s family home with Jennette, her mother Debra, sometimes her father, her mother’s parents, and her three brothers. By the time Jennette is two years old, Debra is battling breast cancer. As the family copes with the grim diagnosis, they start going back to church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints becomes […]

Introducing Deep Lit

SHE LIT: Introducing Deep Lit 🤿 Subscribe today to our longform content going deeper into literary trends and issues involving books written by women. Subscribe to deep dive stories about literary trends, issues focused on books by women I’m excited to announced the newest section on shelit.com: deep lit. As you may have guessed, this section is dedicated to the deep dives on literary works written by women, books and events targeted to female readers, and overall gender and racial equity, diversity, and inclusion in the publishing industry. These blog posts deserve a different spotlight compared to the smaller news bites and the weekly newsletter you’re reading now. It takes more hours to construct a piece of commentary that makes sense to readers who are still figuring out the situation involving authors and books they care about. Authors and their books are constantly in the news amid the evolving landscape of the literary market. We’re seeing more book bans than ever, more diversity and inclusion conversations, more concerns about the industry such as the trial going now over the potential Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster merger (planning a post as we speak), and other concerns like safety that […]

Another Famous Author Complains About Diversity

SHE LIT: Another Famous Author Complains About Diversity 😒 Joyce Carol Oates joins the ranks of James Patterson of bringing up the false strife for White male authors in publishing. View this email in your browser 📚 Join the #shelitbookclub! The August book club pick will be announced in the next three days. Details can be found here. Pity for White male authors continues as Joyce Carol Oates joins tone-deaf chorus Famous White female author Joyce Carol Oates tweeted a weeks-old op-ed from The New York Times about the banned books movement. Like famous White male author James Patterson earlier this summer complaining about the lack of “52-year-old White male authors,” Joyce stuck her foot in her mouth by expressing the hardships young White male authors are dealing with now due to the social justice movement around banned books. In her July 24 tweet that has an estimated 12,200 likes, Joyce says she’s been hearing from a literary agent friend that young White male authors are having a hard time getting their debut novels in front of editors. These editors, according to her tweet referring to one unnamed literary agent, are no longer interested in reading these works because of […]

Book Review: ‘Red Clocks’ by Leni Zumas

Red Clocks by Leni Zumas is a layered, multi-perspective story following the lives of four women in the Pacific Northwest who find themselves questioning the feelings they have about motherhood as the U.S. starts implementing restrictive reproductive laws.  The characters are labeled as their occupations. First, we have Ro, known as the biographer. She is in the process of writing a biography of a lesser-known 19th century female polar explorer named Eivør Mínervudottír. Still in mourning over her brother’s death, Ro gets up every day and teaches history at the local high school. Sometimes, she starts her mornings off at a fertility specialist’s office since she is trying to get pregnant in her late thirties with the assistance of a sperm donor.  “When Congress proposed the Twenty-Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and it was sent to the states for a vote, the biographer wrote emails to her representatives. Marched in protests in Salem and Portland. Donated to Planned Parenthood. But she wasn’t all that worried. It had to be political theater, she thought, a flexing of muscle by the conservative-controlled House and Senate in league with a fetus-loving new president. Thirty-nine states voted to ratify. A three-quarters majority… She […]

‘Nope’ Star Keke Palmer Wrote Books to Share Her Talent

SHE LIT: ‘Nope’ Star Wrote Books to Share Her Talent 💁🏾‍♀️ Keke Palmer defends her work in response to a viral tweet, but the actress has authored books that reveal her successes and setbacks in Hollywood. View this email in your browser 📚 Join the #shelitbookclub on July 31 as we discuss the novel Red Clocks by Leni Zumas amid the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Details can be found here. Keke Palmer already told us who she is in her memoir and Amazon story collection On this day as Beyoncé drops her long-awaited album Renaissance, let’s talk about Keke Palmer, who dominated the entertainment news this week, and tie that news to books. Coming off a weekend spooked by Jordan Peele’s western thriller Nope, media attention focused squarely on star Keke Palmer. Rarely does a megahit have three actors of color on billboards, which included Keke, Daniel Kaluuya, and Steven Yeun, but allegations of colorism overshadowed the Twitterverse similar to Jean Jacket in the film. A viral tweet where a tweeter brought up colorism in why Keke’s success may appear to not have the “mainstream popularity” Zendaya’s has […]