Blog Series: I Support #WeNeedDiverseBooks (Part 2)

As it turns out, I have a lot of thoughts about why diverse books are needed. Like, 1000 words a lot, and that was me forcing myself to stop. So I’m going to make this a series, of probably two more posts: one dealing with the few diverse books I read/the ones I’ve been lucky enough to read as an adult, and how they helped me heal, and another talking about the diverse kind of books *I* personally want to write. Maybe you guys will read them. Part One is here. 

 

Why We Need Diverse Books, Part 2: The Lack of Diverse Books

 

So here’s the deal: if I ever have children, I want them to be able to go into a library or a bookstore and see books with characters like THEM on the covers and in the pages. I had to wait until I was 14 to find those types of books. Before that, there weren’t LGBTQ YA books, at least, not that I knew about. And the truth is, I was too afraid to ask.

I was afraid to ask for books with characters like me. 

Truthfully, I’m not even sure I would have known what to ask for from my librarians, those ladies who saw me during my lunch period each day, and recommended me anything I asked for. Because of them I read HOMECOMING and DICEY’S SONG. I read JACOB HAVE I LOVED and TREE BY LEAF. I escaped into fantasy by reading Terry Brooks and others. High school was great for me in some ways; I had loads of friends and I loved my classes and the clubs I was in.

But I was beginning to realize I was…different, and I didn’t yet realize that different can equal good. So it was confusing. 

Then the Sweet Valley High books got a new series called SVH: Senior Year, new cover models, and new ghostwriters; for the first time, they weren’t outdated. They were diverse. It. Was. Awesome. We had POC main characters. We had interracial couples. A gay character. By then, I think part of me KNEW I was queer, but I wasn’t really ready; at the same time, it was GOOD to have that struggle, because it was helping me understand myself more. (Guys, I also wrote tons of SVH fan fic and it was awesome, or so I thought.)

Just because it was so much darn fun, and because it dealt with real teen issues like sex and grades and colleges (for its time, this series was so great, y’all) I read the Senior Year series until the end, when I graduated. (Also the twins were graduating high school, the end of an era, all that.) I was reading other YA books by then, adult fantasy, and slowly, women’s fiction and paranormal romance. I had opened so many reading doors, and was coming to terms with who I was. Getting to read books with characters like me helped SO, so much.

The point is, though, it shouldn’t have taken that damn long. Those shouldn’t have been the only books I read with LGBTQ characters. I shouldn’t have been afraid to ask any librarians for more. Sure, I was a scared kid and could have reached out, but we can do better by our kids. If I’d had FAR FROM YOU as a teen, I think it would have healed a huge part of me. I think a lot would have been different. I’ll never stop recc’ing that book, because somewhere out there is another me: very young and very scared.

Future generations of kids and teens should never be afraid to ask for LGBTQ recs. Or books about disabled characters or characters rising above being bullied, or from blended families.

We can do better. 

We MUST do better. 

In the last years, I’ve read books that featured characters dealing with bullying and poverty, LGBTQ characters, bullied characters, persons of color, blended families. I see so much HOPE and a real thirst for change from these authors and publishers. As readers, we all have to show a demand for diverse books to help publishers SEE it. And publishers that support diversity have to help facilitate a supply.

We’re seeing so MANY more diverse books getting published, whether traditionally, or through self-publishing. My next post will talk about the diverse books *I* hope to publish, and a little more about what we can do. For now, here are a few books that I’ve read and been either really impressed with the way they blended diversity in but didn’t make it ALL about a character’s differences…or they really saved me in one way or another.

Far From You by Tess Sharpe (I reviewed this book)

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch (I reviewed this book)

Freakboy by Kristin Elizabeth Clark

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Charm & Strange by Stephanie Keuhn (I reviewed this book)

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales (I talked about my experiences being bullied after I read this book)

These are just a few examples. I have so MANY more I want to read. What are your favorite diverse books?

If you’d like to add your voice to the We Need Diverse Books campaign, you can find more information at their Tumblr and Facebook pages.